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Chapter 25Erquickstunden.1.25

Von der Heuchelei. Gesehen und doch nicht gekannt

The Hidden Heart

Hypocrisy is a matter of the heart that only God can truly discern.

Oh, how full the world is of hypocrites! Who sees them? I and you. Who knows them? God alone. You can hide the rogue from people, but not from God.1 People look at the outward show of works; God looks at the depths of the heart. But listen—I'll show you where the hypocrite is to be found.

The Pharisee Within

We all harbor a Pharisee in our hearts, and we must acknowledge our own sinfulness rather than judging others.

Not in the hair, and not in the habit either (for the tonsured and the hood-wearers are the worst knaves), but in the heart.2 Luther says that everyone carries an unshorn monk in their breast.3 Well said. And everyone carries a Pharisee in their heart.✦ Why look for the Pharisee in Jerusalem? He's as close to you as you are to yourself. Mark this: wherever a person loses himself, there the hypocrite is sure to be found.4 What did that Pharisee say?✦5 I thank you, God, that I'm not like other people. Luke 18:11. Do you also recognize what is human about you? To err is human; do you also recognize that you're a sinner and capable of failing? Anyone who excludes themselves from the number of sinners excludes themselves from the number of human beings. For there is no one on earth who does good and does not sin. Eccl.6 7:21. There is no difference here: we are all sinners and fall short of the glory we should have before God. Rom.7

The Judge and the Accuser

Judging others usurps God's role as Judge and mimics the Devil's role as Accuser.

3:25.✦ No one is better than anyone else; if you consider yourself a saint, you're certainly a hypocrite.8 Note one more thing: where God and the Devil are one, there's certainly a hypocrite.9 God is a Judge. It is the Lord who judges me (1 Corinthians).✦ 4:4.✦ The Devil is an Accuser. He accuses the godly day and night before God (Revelation).✦ 12:10. That Pharisee was the tax collector's judge and accuser—God and devil.10 You dare to judge your neighbor; tell me, do you also know the depths of his heart?11 If you say no, then why do you judge? Who told you to judge without grounds?12 If you say yes, then you're making yourself God. God alone has held this honor until now: that He searches the heart and the kidneys. Ps.13 7:10.

The Call to Self-Examination

Instead of judging others, the Christian is called to identify, fight, and overcome the hypocrisy within their own heart.

Jer.✦ 17:10. You accuse your neighbor before God; tell me, what's driving you? Love can't do that, because love is compassionate and covers a multitude of sins; how much more should we want God to spare rather than punish?✦ Is it hatred and envy that does it? Where does that come from? From the devil. A person who begrudges his neighbor salvation is a devil.14 Have God and the devil become one in you? Then you're the worst hypocrite under the sun. After that, examine yourself, my Christian; and if a knave still lurks in you, take pains to know him thoroughly, to feel him deeply, to fight him eagerly, and to overcome him bravely.15 God help you.16

Read the original Latin

Ach wie ist die Welt so voll Heuchler! Wer sieht sie? Ich und du. Wer kennt sie? Gott allein. Vor Menschen kann man den Schalk bergen, vor Gott nicht. Menschen sehen auf den Schein der Werke, Gott auf den Grund des Herzens. Doch höre, ich will dir weisen, wo der Heuchler zu finden.

Nicht in den Haaren, auch nicht im Rock (denn die Platten- und Kappenträger sind die ärgsten Schälke) sondern im Herzen. Ein jeder, sagt Luther, trägt einen ungeschornen Mönch im Busen. - Ist wol geredt. Und ein jeder trägt einen Pharisäer im Herzen. Was suchst du den Pharisäer in Jerusalem? Er ist dir so nah als du dir selber bist. Merk eins: wo sich der Mensch verliert, da findet sich gewiß der Heuchler. Wie sagte jener Pha risäer?

Ich danke dir Gott, daß ich nicht bin wie andre Leute Luc. 18, 11. Erkennst du auch das, was menschliches an dir ist? Fehlen ist menschlich; erkennst du auch, daß du ein Sünder bist und fehlen kannst? Wer sich ausnimmt aus der Zahl der Sünder, der nimmt sich aus der Zahl der Menschen. Denn es ist kein Mensch auf Erden, der gutes thue und nicht sündige Pred. 7, 21. Hie ist kein Unterschied, wir sind allzumal Sünder und mangeln des Ruhms, den wir an Gott haben sollten Röm.

3, 25. Kein einiger Mensch ist besser als der andre; hälst du dich für einen Heiligen, so bist du gewiß ein Heuchler. Merk noch eins: Wo Gott und der Teufel eins sind, da ist gewiß ein Heuchler. Gott ist ein Richter. Der HErr ist es der mich richtet 1 Cor. 4, 4. Der Teufel ist ein Ankläger. Er verklagt die Frommen Tag und Nacht vor Gott Offb.

12, 10. Jener Pharisäer war des Zöllners Richter und Ankläger, Gott und Teufel. Du unterstehst dich den Nächsten zu richten; sag mir, kennst du auch seines Herzens Grund? Sprichst du nein; warum richtest du denn? Wer hat dich heißen richten ohne Grund? Sprichst du ja, so machst du dich selbst zum Gott. Diese Ehr hat Gott bisher allein gehabt, daß er Herz und Nieren prüft Ps. 7, 10.

Jer. 17, 10. Du verklagst deinen Nächsten bei Gott; sag mir was bewegt dich? Die Liebe kanns nicht thun, denn die ist mitleidig und deckt zu der Sünden Menge; wie vielmehr daß Gott schone als strafe? Thuts der Haß und Neid? woher kommt der? vom Teufel. Ein Mensch, der seinem Nächsten die Seligkeit nicht gönnt, ist ein Teufel.

Ist denn Gott und der Teufel in dir eins worden? so bist du der ärgste Heuchler unter der Sonne. Danach prüfe dich mein Christ; und so noch ein Schalk in dir steckt, befleißige dich denselben gründlich zu erkennen, innig zu empfinden, eifrig zu bestreiten, tapfer zu übermannen. Sott helf dir.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Luke.18.11 — The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed these things toward himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.'
  2. ↩Luke.18.11 — The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed these things toward himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.'
  3. ↩Rom.3.22-Rom.3.23 — For The righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, for there is no distinction. Rom.3.23 — For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
  4. ↩1Cor.4.4 — I am conscious of nothing against myself, but I am not thereby justified; the one who examines me is the Lord.
  5. ↩1Cor.4.4 — I am conscious of nothing against myself, but I am not thereby justified; the one who examines me is the Lord.
  6. ↩Rev.12.10 — Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
  7. ↩Jer.17.10 — I, the LORD, search the heart, test the kidneys, and give to each person according to their ways, according to the fruit of their deeds.
  8. ↩1Pet.4.8;Prov.10.12 — Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, for love covers a multitude of sins. Prov.10.12 — Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Early modern Schalk means the knave/rogue—the hidden, deceitful self—not mere playful mischief.
  2. 2 ↩Platten- und Kappenträger: clergy/monks marked by the tonsure (Platte) and the cowl or hood (Kappe); Rock is the outer habit or robe.
  3. 3 ↩ungeschornen Mönch: a monk not outwardly tonsured; the point is the inner false religious, not a literal monk.
  4. 4 ↩wo sich der Mensch verliert can mean where a person loses himself, goes astray, or loses self-knowledge; the rendering keeps the reflexive self-loss, which fits the hypocrisy chapter.
  5. 5 ↩Source prints 'Pha risäer' as a line-break split of Pharisäer; translated as the unbroken word.
  6. 6 ↩Pred. = Prediger (Ecclesiastes). The verse pointer continues in s7.
  7. 7 ↩Citation ends at Röm.; the following section opens with 3, 25., while the wording closely matches Romans 3:22–23.
  8. 8 ↩Early modern ‘Kein einiger’ read as ‘kein einziger’ (not a single one); ‘hälst’ = ‘hältst’.
  9. 9 ↩‘Wo Gott und der Teufel eins sind’ means where one person tries to play both roles at once—God’s judge and the Devil’s accuser—as the following sentences develop.
  10. 10 ↩Apposition to the previous section: God is the Judge, the devil the Accuser; the Pharisee presumed both offices toward the tax collector (cf. Luke 18).
  11. 11 ↩Herzens Grund: both the 'depths/bottom' of the heart and the wordplay on Grund that returns in s5 as 'grounds/reason.'
  12. 12 ↩ohne Grund plays on Herzens Grund in s3: without 'grounds' and without knowing the 'depths' of the heart.
  13. 13 ↩Herz und Nieren is the biblical Hebraism (heart and kidneys/reins) for the inmost self; many modern English Bibles render it 'hearts and minds.'
  14. 14 ↩Seligkeit here means eternal blessedness/salvation, not mere worldly happiness.
  15. 15 ↩Early modern Schalk = knave/rogue/deceitful self, not modern 'joker/prankster'. Rendered as 'knave' for the inner hypocrite.
  16. 16 ↩Source reads 'Sott helf dir.' Most plausible intended reading is 'Gott helf dir' (God help you); 'Sott' treated as corrupt or orthographic/OCR form of Gott.

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