Jesus is facing more and more opposition from the religious leaders as He heads to Jerusalem where He’ll be crucified. Following a very stern charge of hypocrisy towards one of His detractors, Jesus tells a series of parables many don’t want to believe have any association with the topic that brought them up. Using themes that were exclusively images of evil in the Old Testament and into the New, we need to realize that the church isn’t a place where we are safe from the hypocrisy that dominates our natures. We come to Jesus in need of mercy for this very reason. The fine line between a contender and a pretender in the kingdom is the person who chooses to receive it. Any hypocrite can claim they are righteous. It takes a righteous person to admit they’re a hypocrite and seek the daily cleansing and restoration that only comes by asking.

1. The charge of hypocrisy is universal to the human race.
2. The reality of hypocrisy is as true outside the church as it has been within it.
3. The cure for hypocrisy is to receive and relate the mercy of the only Man who wasn’t a hypocrite.