Mark 12:13-17 — 13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances,[a] but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius[b] and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.
In Mark 12:13-17, a certain characteristic of the Jewish religious leaders is on full display, namely hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is defined as the following by one leading lexicon– (BDAG) to create a public impression that is at odds with one’s real motivations. Hypocrites approach Jesus and come around the church with some other motive than to glorify God and edify the church. They always have themselves in the most significant position in their minds. However, we know from Matthew 6 that hypocrites are known for giving money to the poor, praying lengthy prayers and fasting weekly, but their motive is to be esteemed by men and so it is worthless and despicable religion in God’s sight. The reason being is that it’s all a show; it’s a pretense. Hypocrites serve to appease their guilty consciences and to be seen as selfless by men. Hypocrites love to talk a lot in order to demonstrate their premier knowledge and to try to prove they are more spiritual than those around them. Hypocrites boast of external acts of religion, but have serious and obvious flaws in their personal holiness. Lastly, hypocrites even teach things in the Bible with no determination to ever do what they teach. In hypocrisy, it is true that there’s always a public impression that is at odds with the real motivation.
Furthermore, what do we see demonstrated and taught repeatedly in the gospels? The hypocrite is worse off than the blatant sinner. Who received more ministry from Jesus?—Those like the woman at the well with five husbands or the chief priests of Israel? There is something in the hypocrite’s heart that is so repulsive to God that he can’t stand being around it. Now this is certainly not a message promoting sin so that grace may abound, but it is a message on making sure we consider religious hypocrisy just as rebellious and despicable as overt sin. The point is that we are not pleasing to God just because we do things. Rather, we are pleasing to God when, by faith, we are conformed to the image of Christ; when we are making no provision for the flesh and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit. You see, unbelievers can serve others tangibly; unbelievers can memorize Bible verses and systematic theology books; unbelievers can evangelize and take part in conferences and unbelievers can even teach the Bible. But no unbeliever can trust in God to the extent of dying to the flesh and walking in the Spirit. Thus the dividing line between hypocrite and non-hypocrite can never be external acts of religion, but rather humility and conformity to God’s word.