Mt 23:27-32
[Jesus said,] 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. 28Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, 30and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ 31Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; 32now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”
Hypocrites: The Greek hypocritai (“hypocrites”) refers to persons who “pretend” or “act a part” and was used of theatrical actors in Jesus’ time.
Since Israel had neither a theater nor dramatic traditions and regarded the amphitheater as a pagan institution, it would appear that “hypocrites” would hardly be used for theatric “pretense” or “playing a part.” Rather it would be used with the odor of deceit and malice, as we usually find in the gospels. The singular hypocrites would render the Hebrew hanep which the Jews used for the godless, the lawless, or the deceitful.
The Pharisees are the prototypical hypocrites of the gospels. They are self-righteous and ostentatious, they teach people false religious beliefs, and they try to trap Jesus. They are hypocrites who would correct the defects of others while failing to detect the monstrous and, therefore, more evident failures on their part. Jesus exhorts his listeners, especially those who aim to be teachers and leaders, to examine themselves and to make authentic efforts to correct themselves.
Hypocrisy rears its ugly head when there is discrepancy and contradiction between the inner and the outer person, between hearts and lips, between words and deeds. Jesus teaches that it is imperative that a person have good eyes and heart (for gathering information and making judgments), and good mouth and hands (for speaking of good things and acting on them). Only when the person acts consistently can he truly be authentic. Otherwise, he is only stage-acting. God, who knows what lies in the human heart, cannot be deceived. The fullness of our hearts will flow in our words and actions, which in turn will manifest either our authenticity or our hypocrisy.