Every Time the Gospels Say Hypocrite, Jesus Is the One Saying It
He saved his harshest words for religious insiders who did not practice what they preached.
finds.life.church · Sick of Hypocritical Christians? Jesus Is TooThe word "hypocrite" appears 17 times in the gospels, and every time the speaker is Jesus.
Craig Groeschel, the pastor who wrote the article this piece draws on, notes that Jesus uses the word for people who "do not practice what they preach ... everything they do is done for people to see" (Matthew 23:3, 5).
His sharpest example comes in Matthew 23, where Jesus says "woe to you" seven times to the "teachers of the law and Pharisees." He calls them hypocrites and says, "You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean."
In the next verse, he adds that on the outside they appear righteous, but on the inside they "are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." As Groeschel puts it, "Jesus never spoke more harshly about anyone than He did those He called 'hypocrites.'"
Questions people ask
Who were the Pharisees?
The Pharisees were an influential Jewish religious group in Jesus' time, known for strict observance of religious law and tradition. In the gospels, they often appear as religious authorities who debate Jesus about proper behavior, Sabbath rules, and purity.
What are the gospels?
The gospels are the first four books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each tells the story of Jesus' life, teachings, death, and resurrection from a different perspective, with Matthew containing most of the uses of the word hypocrite.