Quotes About Hypocrisy for Preaching and Self-Examination
Jesus's own words on hypocrisy, sharper and more specific than almost anything said about it since.
No New Testament writer is harder on religious hypocrisy than Jesus himself, and no accusation he levels lands more often on people who are trying, sincerely, to be good, which is exactly the audience most sermons on this topic are preaching to.
The quotes below are grouped around two failures scripture names separately: performing righteousness for an audience, and holding others to a standard you exempt yourself from. They are related but not identical, and conflating them softens both.
Quotes about hypocrisy
Scripture is quoted from the World English Bible (public domain). Every non-scripture quote names its specific source so you can verify it before you preach it.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead people's bones, and of all uncleanness.”
Jesus — Matthew 23:27 (WEB)
“You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.”
Jesus — Matthew 7:5 (WEB)
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”
Jesus, quoting Isaiah — Mark 7:6 (WEB)
“These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”
Isaiah — Matthew 15:8 (WEB)
“They bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on people's shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.”
Jesus — Matthew 23:4 (WEB)
“Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
Jesus — Luke 12:1 (WEB)
Using these quotes in preaching
- 1These are all Jesus's own words, aimed at people who saw themselves as devout, not as villains. Preached to a churchgoing congregation, they are self-examination texts before they are anything else.
- 2Matthew 7:5 works as a corrective to any sermon on hypocrisy that has drifted into pointing outward: Jesus's own example puts the beam in the speaker's eye first.
- 3The "whitened tombs" image (Matthew 23:27) is vivid enough to stand alone, but it lands harder set against the specific behaviors Jesus names two verses earlier, tithing herbs while neglecting justice and mercy (Matthew 23:23).
- 4Luke 12:1 calls hypocrisy "yeast": something that spreads quietly through a whole community rather than staying contained in one person's life. Worth pausing on if the sermon is about a church culture rather than an individual.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say about hypocrisy?
Jesus's harshest public rebukes are aimed at religious hypocrisy, most concentrated in Matthew 23, where he repeatedly calls the scribes and Pharisees "hypocrites" for performing righteousness while neglecting justice, mercy, and an honest heart.
What is the "beam and speck" passage about?
Matthew 7:3–5, where Jesus asks why we notice a speck in someone else's eye while ignoring a beam in our own. It is specifically about judging others while excusing an equal or greater fault in yourself.
Why does Jesus compare hypocrisy to yeast?
In Luke 12:1, Jesus warns the crowd to "beware the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy". Yeast works invisibly through dough, and the image suggests hypocrisy spreads through a community quietly rather than announcing itself.
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Related quote themes
Quotes about Sin
Scripture on sin honestly named, plus Augustine and Luther on the specific, personal shape it takes.
Quotes about Guilt
Scripture on the weight of unconfessed guilt and its release, plus the burden that falls from Christian's back at the cross in The Pilgrim's Progress.
Quotes about Jesus
Jesus's own words about himself, plus C.S. Lewis's well-known argument that a merely good teacher is not on the table.
Every quote theme
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