Hypocrites - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

The Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites."

Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
Mark 7:1-2, 6; John 18:28

Hypocrites
At another time the Lord said that the Pharisees were sitting in Moses' seat, meaning that they had taken the place of teaching the people God's will for them. But the Lord condemned them for elevating their own traditions above the commandments of God. He stated that "there is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man" (Mk. 7:15). Observant Jews to this day have many ceremonial regulations about washings and other such details that go far beyond the commandments of God.

When we look at the scene in John cited above, we see hypocrisy of the most dreadful kind. After having given Jesus a travesty of a trial, the highest Jewish religious authorities bring Him from the high priest's palace to the judgment hall of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. They refuse to enter the Praetorium because according to their traditions this would defile them, and they would be unable to eat the Passover. They wanted the Roman governor to crucify Jesus who had confessed under oath that He was the Son of God—a confession that was wholly true. They brought lying accusations against Him, seeking His life, but by not stepping into the judgment hall they expected both to have Jesus killed and yet remain pure—undefiled to eat the feast!

What hypocrisy! What wickedness of priests and teachers of the Law who should have pleaded for mercy! What would we have done?

Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.