The book of Matthew is the first of the four Gospels, which record the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Matthew’s Gospel sits at the meeting place of two covenants. The Old Testament ends with the yearning for God’s promised Messiah; Matthew writes into this context to prove that Jesus is the one the Jews have been waiting for.
Matthew was one of the twelve disciples, and so his book is a first-hand record of Jesus’s words. He presents these as five major discourses, interspersed throughout the story of Jesus’s life on earth.
A core tenant of Jesus’s teachings is that God is concerned with the heart of our actions. Throughout his Gospel, Matthew repeatedly contrasts genuine inner faithfulness with performative outward displays and calls us to pursue the former.
The world according to Matthew was Israel under Roman rule. The Pharisees were one of several sects in society. They were primarily made up of middle-class business men who place an enormous amount of importance on keeping Jewish rules—including additional oral rules that had been added to God’s law.
Matthew lifts up Jesus and the Pharisees as case study examples in this lesson of hearts. The Pharisees regularly clashed with Jesus because their outward religion concealed an empty faith that did not seek after the kingdom of God. Instead of giving them the reverence they desired, Jesus exposed the emptiness of their teachings.
Matthew was writing his Gospel to a primarily Christian-Jewish audience and I wonder if that’s why he keeps circling back to this lesson of genuine righteousness. The Jews knew the Scriptures, but they were prone to wandering away from the truth that God cares about the heart, not just external action (Matthew 15:8–9). They were fallible, like the Pharisees—performing the actions yet disconnected from the heart.
Matthew writes to them with good news—Jesus is the promised Messiah! He has instituted a new relationship between God and humanity! But under this new covenant, as under the first, God demands genuine hearts who worship him in truth. He’s not interested in outward action if it belies a twisted heart.
Jesus’s key teachings on this lesson come from the Sermon on the Mount, which is the first of the five discourses recorded in Matthew (Matthew 5–7).
In his sermon, Jesus clarifies that the command against murder includes all the ways we devalue an image-bearer of God. While murder is the ultimate example of saying someone else’s life doesn’t matter, we undermine the dignity and value of others when we ridicule them, hold grudges, call names, seek revenge, or lash out. Similarly, Jesus expands the command against adultery to include lust, a seemingly private sin.
He challenges the hypocrisy of doing the right things for the wrong reasons. “Don’t give or pray or fast for the praise of man,” he says. “Let God be audience enough for you” (Matthew 6:1–18, author’s paraphrase).
Jesus’s teachings are, of course, for all who listen, but this lesson is especially convicting for the Pharisees. All the things they value—the praise of man, outward piety, good social standing—are condemned by Jesus as hypocrisy. As the religious leaders of the day, they of all people should have been on the look-out for the promised Messiah. Instead, throughout Matthew’s Gospel, we see the Pharisees repeatedly plotting ways to catch Jesus out, rather than listening to what he taught.
Jesus sums up their issue in Matthew 23:5: “They do all their deeds to be seen by others” (ESV). The Pharisees were so obsessed with meticulously keeping trivialities—even going so far as to tithe their herbs—but they neglected the key components of their faith; the things that matter to God, like “justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23 ESV).
When Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9–14), the Pharisees question whether it’s lawful to heal on the Sabbath. “It’s lawful to do good on the Sabbath,” Jesus tells them. Where the Pharisees saw the man as a test for Jesus to fail, Jesus had compassion for him.
And now—what about us? If the religious leaders of his day could call for the death of the Son of God, then it is perfectly possible for us to profess faith and yet be found wanting. As I reflect on sources of pride in my own life and examine where my motivations are not genuine, the following principles emerge.
1. Be honest about your sin.
The rich young ruler was adamant that he had kept all the commandments all his life. But in only a couple of words, Jesus reveals his idolatry (Matthew 19:16–22). Pride is an ink that spills into every crevice—reaching its fingers into our thoughts and choices, convincing us that we are righteous and blinding us to our vices. We deceive ourselves when we think we’ve got sin conquered without Jesus.
In Matthew 9:11, the Pharisees are disdained that Jesus is keeping the company of “tax collectors and sinners” and he instructs them: “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13 ESV).
Only those who are aware of their sin can enter the kingdom of God.
2. Don’t get worked up about appearances.
In Matthew 21:28–31, Jesus tells the parable of the two sons. One says he won’t work in his father’s vineyard (but later does), and the other says he will work in the vineyard (but never does).
We can have all the right rhetoric—the Christianese, the big theological words—but if it’s not hooked to a heart seeking God, those words are empty. There are many who profess to follow God but don’t actually seek him and do his will.
It doesn’t matter how many Bible verses we can quote, how many theology books we’ve read, how long our prayers are, or whether we’re regularly in the spotlight at church. God wants us to draw near to him (James 4:8).
3. Remain rooted in the Word of God.
In Matthew 15:1–20, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their hypocrisy in enforcing human teachings that undermine the Word of God.
The world is full of accepted hypocrisies: gossiping behind someone’s back, virtue signaling on social media, politicians with campaign promises they know will never work. In all the noise around us, it’s tempting to minimize, or even celebrate, sins.
We need to return to the grounding Word of God over and over again, being constantly reminded of his truth amidst the lies we’re hearing.
C. T. Studd, missionary to China, wrote a poem with these familiar lines: Only one life, ’twill soon be past / Only what’s done for Christ will last.1 Ultimately all hypocrisy will be exposed. What remains is the good and faithful work of hearts bent to God.
Jesus and John the Baptist lived very different lifestyles, and both were criticized for it. John was criticized for his ascetic lifestyle, and Jesus was considered a glutton and drunkard for feasting with sinners (Matthew 11:18–19). But both of them were wholly concerned with doing God’s will and furthering his kingdom on earth. Though their outward actions differed, their motivations were both upright.
At the end of the day, God looks at hearts. It doesn’t matter what we do or don’t do for the praise of other people; the Father looks at our motivation, and that is how we can please him.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8 ESV
Reflection
In light of the above, consider the following questions to reflect on your own heart motivation.
- What accepted hypocrisies have you been tempted to partake in?
- Think about your recent interactions. Have you, whether in word, action, or thought, treated someone as though their life is worth less than yours?
- In what ways are you tempted to “perform” your faith? Consider your motive in prayer, fasting and giving; particularly when it’s done in a public sphere. Are you thinking about how others perceive you or are you looking to God?
Notes
- C. T. Studd, “Only One Life, ’Twill Soon Be Past,” ca. 1904. ↩︎
Photo credit: Emilee Carpenter
Corine loves Jesus, rocks, and books. She is a geologist by trade, and also enjoys writing a newsletter, Sunshine Theologians, where she shares what she’s learning in her faith journey. She lives in Ireland with her husband and the world's best cat.
