Hypocrisy: The Sermon On The Mount

One day, Jesus led an immense crowd along with His twelve disciples up a mountainside to teach Christian ethics for believers and non believers. His teachings, or His sermon, are appropriately named the Sermon on the Mount. While the multitude of people stood in front, Matthew and the other disciples stood beside Jesus on the mountainside. In Matthew chapters 5-7, Matthew documented Jesus’ teachings that encapsulate His guidance about living a life that is dedicated to God and abundant in grace, love, and discernment. However, the life that is pleasing to God must also be free from hypocrisy. In Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus specifically speaks about the topic of those who feel superiority over others in terms of condemning, and ultimately judging,

others falsely. Jesus mentions the hypocrites of His time, the Jews, to emphasize the overall theme of not only using the gift of discernment on others, but also on oneself.

Historical-Cultural Context

Those who are quick to condemn and cannot extend mercy unto others, similar to the relationship between the Jews and Jesus, are incapable of distinguishing between judgment and discernment. The correlation of Jesus’ connection and experiences with the Jews along with the parallels of Israel’s history in the gospel of Matthew illustrates that the intended audience of the book was for the Jews. However, the Sermon on the Mount was not limited to one group of people. Originally, Jesus intended to pass on His words to His disciples to, in turn, teach others. Then, when Jesus was finished speaking, a crowd had gathered to listen out of intrigue. The assembled audience congregated to listen to Jesus, perhaps not to teach others, but to learn for themselves and gain knowledge about the plethora of topics covered in Jesus’ message.

In Matthew 7:1-6, the topic primarily focuses on the subject of judgment. The word ‘judgment’ itself can mean differentiating between two things or deciding between punishment or reward. In Matthew 7:6, Jesus orders, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” In order to obey Scripture, the audience of past and present times must have an understanding of what pearls should not be thrown and who the dogs that will attack are.

With this analogy, Jesus is commanding a discriminatory judgment on the representations of dogs and pigs. However, during the time of the Sermon on the Mount, the audience viewed the two animals dofferently as opposed to modern day. A dog was used as a figure of insignificance in first century Israel and it was considered to be the most inferior punishment to be devoured by dogs. So not only were dogs regarded with low esteem and considered to be street scavengers rather than friendly house pets, pigs were also seen as undesirable animals. Pigs met only half the requirements for a standard sacrificial animal, thus making them unclean animals. Therefore, unwanted people, or the dogs and pigs, rejected the pearls thrown before them, or rather, the word of God that was given to them. These non-believers then cast their disbelief of the gospel by trampling and disregarding the message. There are limitations to Christians’ discipleship because the pearls of wisdom from the Bible should be given to non-believers, but not to the extent that they will discard a Christian’s efforts in a violent, or undesirable way.

Literary Context

Of the five discourses of Jesus in the books of Matthew, chapters five through seven encompasses a comprehensive message of foundational truths. The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes. The eight Beatitudes, or blessings, discusses a topic that symbolizes a major biblical theme. A righteous person’s character is described in the beginning of the sermon and can be achieved by living according to Matthew 5-7. The middle portion of the sermon differentiates from the blessings initially framed and shifts to how a person acquires higher righteousness. Social, religious, and economic righteousness are outlined from Matthew 5:21-48 all the way to Matthew 6:19-34. Starting from Matthew 7:1, the subject of social righteousness is emphasized again about how one should and should not judge their neighbor. Even though the previous section discusses wealth and provision, 6:19-34, the overall theme of improving character to result in acceptable conduct is still prevalent.

Matthew 7:1-5 is concerned with foregoing personal judgment before harshly analyzing others without any reasoning. As Jesus brought the sermon to a close, He accentuated the importance of not being judgmental to His audience and highlighted the wrongdoings of the Pharisees, who were known for having a critical legalistic judgment of people in Israel. Matthew 7:6 corrects the misinterpretation of those that considered rejecting all discernment to be the true way.

The conclusion of Matthew condenses Jesus’ sermon and encourages His disciples to rely on God and not to negate God’s law. In conclusion, Matthew 7:12 states, “"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." The context that precedes and follows Matthew 7:1-6 strengthens the guidelines to follow the principles Jesus outlined in the Sermon on the Mount.

In terms of literary genre, the Sermon on the Mount is categorized under law because of the discussion about the fulfillment of the law. This law refers to the instruction and expression Christ’s character as well as God’s law. When Jesus mentions the ‘Law and the Prophets,’ He was referring to the Old Testament. In Matthew 5:17, He says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Hence, Jesus is not trying to eliminate the Holy Scriptures, but instead; He is proving his messiahship to the Jews and motivating believers to advance in the laws already established.

Word Study

An important word used in Matthew 7:1-6 is the word “judgment,” which is the Greek word “κρίμα” (Strong’s number: G2917). Transliterated to “krima,” the word is used 29 times in 28 verses in the Greek concordance, but occurs two times in Matthew. One meaning is “to condemn for wrongdoings” (Matthew 23:14), and specifically in Matthew 7:2, the meaning is “to make a decision.” Within the context of Matthew 7:1-6, the version of “κρίμα” being used is “the opinion one person places on another individual.” Judgment can be used in the sense of being a godly or judicial decree, but for the purposes of Matthew 7:2, Jesus is addressing the hypocrites who deny their responsibilities for their own faults and turn to make negative opinions concerning the faults of others.

According to the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, the term “κρίμα” embraces a variety of meanings such as “decision, verdict, and also controversy, dispute.” The first definition refers to a settlement about right and wrong.

The second definition is a commandment concerning a decision in the court, and the third alludes to judgment that results in a disagreement over a condemnation or a sentence. The first definition explains both divine and human judgment and its effect on those who act at variance with Scripture or disobey the will of God. Whether the judgment is divine or human, there will be controversy over how a situation is handled and whether or not the decision corresponds with the moral sense of right and

wrong.

The word “hypocrite” is also an important word in this passage. Otherwise known as “ὑποκριτής” in Greek (Strong’s number: G5273), it can be transliterated to “hypokritēs.” The word is used 18 times in the Greek concordance and 14 times in Matthew. One meaning is “to give an answer in interpretation or public speaking, another is “to be an actor or reciter of poetry, and lastly, “a pretender.” The last definition coincides with the modern translation that relates to

the negative connotation of someone who sins and deceives others to believe they are different than who they are.

In Matthew, and specifically in the Sermon on the Mount, all verses refer to one who pretends. The Pharisees, or hypocrites, that Jesus was referencing, were unable to ‘take the plank out of their own eye’ (Matthew 7:5). They were claiming to be able to aid somebody else to identify sin when the hypocrites were merely unqualified pretenders that needed to rid themselves of sin prior to recognizing insufficient sin in others.

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis defines “hypokritēs” as a “pretender, hypocrite, a godless man.” All definitions are similar to the overall definition of a pretender, especially in regard to the contrasting attitudes and actions of the Pharisees. Even currently, when someone can honor God externally, but not internally, they are hypocritical by saying they worship the Lord when they are only claiming to. Hypocrisy is not simply a conscious act of dissimulation, but a perverse blindness.

Interpretation of the

Passage

In Matthew 7:1, Jesus proclaims, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” The passage itself speaks to anyone who is perceived to be critical of any person’s actions, words, or deeds. However, Jesus warns to judge carefully and justly without becoming hypocritical. If someone judges with prejudice, they too will be committing a sin worse than that which they are accusing. People are given the responsibility to judge others only to help others, especially to become aware of their own sin, provided that the person judging “first take the plank out of your own eye.” The hypocritical, condemning attitude does not demonstrate mercy or forgiveness. Only God can judge absolutely, but in other circumstances, judging is appropriate when there is discernment and humility. To see clearly and help others, as Jesus has instructed, will allow people to “remove the speck from your brother’s eye” so followers of Christ can make correct judgments within ourselves and for others.

The use of the word “brother” in Matthew is important because it is a term of endearment that signifies that the speaker is communicating to someone more than an acquaintance. Specifically, Jesus was speaking to His brothers in faith who He established trustworthy relationships with. Since Jesus was close with His brothers, Jesus knew they would not judge Him because they were believers, unlike the non-believers Jesus associates as the hypocrites in His sermon.

Matthew 7:6 does not appear to make sense in the context of the chapter. However, the verse correlates with Matthew 7:1-5 because by showing judgment, the topic of the previous verses, to those who do not believe in the word of God are equivalent to lowly animals who are unable to show appreciation of value (pearls). Correcting those who will not receive correction is useless, so Christians should discerningly continue to offer their wisdom and pearls to those willing to receive it.

Timeless Truths/Application

Even though the Sermon on the Mount occurred approximately two thousand years ago, the message and lessons Jesus taught transcends time. When Jesus spoke about judgment, for instance, His words have remained relevant even today because judiciousness will always occur, no matter what time period it is. In the first two words of the passage, Matthew 7:1 preaches, “Judge not.” Contextually, Jesus is not condemning all judgment because otherwise, people would not be able to decipher right and wrong. Instead, He was focused on the sin of the hypocritical attitude people might have when personally analyzing others. For instance, when approached with the opinions of other people from other religions, judgments are often made concerning the individual faith and relationship with God of that particular person. Whether the disagreement is about religion or any other topic, people should not put their opinions above others simply because they think their opinion is right. Personally, when people speak to me about their opinions that are based on a religion that I do not practice, I tend to be more discriminatory because I put my beliefs in Christianity above theirs. This is wrong of me to do so because my reasonings or perspective is not higher than the person that contradicts my point of view. People, including myself, cannot seek to find fault in others in order to condemn them, but should practice discernment and ‘taking the log out of our own eye’ before searching for fault in the eyes of other people. For this reason, we should not be habitually critical of someone when our own sin needs corrected too.

In Matthew 7:6, Jesus cautions, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” Before being able to help another person, there needs to be consideration for that person’s circumstances to determine if they are willing to receive the help being offered to them. People cannot persist in offering valuable knowledge or gifts to those who are unappreciative, disrespectful, or belittling. The ‘dogs’ and ‘pigs,’ or the worldly people, will attempt to diminish the effort to share the pearls that God bestows people with. For example, this could be a person’s life, knowledge, or time. In my experience, I have had harmful and negative relationships that resulted in the separation with the only relationship that is meaningful, the one between Christ and myself. Instead of being receptive to the gifts I offered them in our relationship, they did not see the value of forming a healthy relationship. On the other hand, I should have discerned who I was offering my time and dedication to as well as what I was sharing with those individuals. And in order to decipher who the dogs, pigs, or pearls are, I and other people have to use our gift of judgment wisely.