The fig tree represents a hypocrite who gives the appearance of being something he is not. This hypocrisy characterized the religious leaders of Jesus' day and characterizes many today. The Jewish leaders professed a relationship with God but were shallow, simple, and phony with outward show but no real conviction. They lacked truth, righteousness, and goodwill. Though they professed a desire for the Messiah, they rejected Christ when He came. Hypocrisy dominated their spiritual matters. The arrogant priests, scribes, and elders with their elaborate Temple rituals were leaves on a fruitless tree. Their hearts remained malicious, lacking true devotion for God and His truth. Jesus Christ called the religious leaders hypocrites, noting that all their works they do to be seen by men. Like the fig tree, they stood in conspicuous places with leaves but no fruit. Jesus Christ quoted Isaiah condemning them as hypocrites who draw near with their mouth and honor with their lips but whose heart is far from Him. God described to Ezekiel that they come and sit as His people, hearing words but not doing them, showing love with their mouth while their hearts pursue gain. Mainstream Christianity today shares this hypocritical condition, appearing as leaves waving in the breeze with services strong on show but weak on substance. The emptier a church is spiritually, the phonier its outward appearance. Jesus Christ's actions signify the hypocrisy of those appearing to bear fruit but not doing so. A person living a hypocritical life will discover he has deceived himself worse than others. If one cheats others, judgment from God may involve others cheating him. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The wicked servant finds himself with the hypocrites because he has led a double life, pretending to serve God while actually laboring at cross-purposes to God by abusing God's other servants. Like satan, he has disguised himself as a minister of God. As a result, he has scattered God's people rather than gathered them. Unlike the wise servant, the wicked servant walked according to his own desires, all the while feigning faithfulness to God and His work. The wicked servant, like all hypocrites, has led a mock life, one of pretense.

A hypocrite is a deceiver, double-dealer, fake, or pretender. Secular definitions describe a hypocrite as a person who pretends to have values, moral, or religious beliefs that he or she does not actually possess, especially when actions belie stated beliefs, or as one who feigns a desirable attitude while private life belies public statements. A hypocrite deliberately professes to be good when aware that he is not. Synonyms include insincere, false, two-faced, dishonest, deceitful, deceptive, truthless, feigned, and counterfeit. Antonyms include sincere, heartfelt, genuine, and honest. The primary motivator of hypocrisy is pride, and the major resulting sin is a lie that breaks a commandment. In the Old Testament, hypocrite and hypocrisy translate the Hebrew word chaneph or choneph, which means to cover, to hide, to obscure, hence to pollute, to be degraded or defiled, to make profane, or to seduce. The Hebrew word rendered as hypocrite means profane man, one defiled in mind and conscience yet concealing it and pretending to be outwardly what he is not inwardly. A profane man violates sacred things, stains what is beautiful and glorious, and equates hypocrisy with profanity of any kind. Other related concepts are common and unholy. In the New Testament, the word hypocrite derives from the Greek theatrical term meaning actor or to play a part. Hypocrites pretend to be something they are not. In the Gospels, hypocrites pretend to be paragons of religious virtue while lacking genuine spiritual virtue in the inner being. Jesus stated that this people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Hypocrites paraded charitable deeds, praying, and fasting as a theatrical display to win the praise of men while seeking to appear godly yet remaining blind to the truth of God. They were ostentatious when giving alms and when fasting disfigured their faces. They tried to trap Jesus by hypothetically pretending to be perplexed about religious issues. The hypocrisy of the Gospels is the appearing before men what one ought to be but is not before God. The term hypocrite refers to a person who does good acts for appearances only, not out of compassion or other good motives. Actions may be good, but motives are hollow, and these empty acts are the only reward. Jesus teaches that motives for giving to God and others must be pure. Good deeds should be performed quietly or in secret with no thought of reward. Jesus instructed checking motives in generosity, prayer, and fasting. Those acts should be God-centered, done to glorify God rather than to make oneself look good. The reward God promises is not material and is not given to those seeking it. One method of detecting a hypocrite is by unmerciful judgment of others. The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. He seeks to confirm his standing by destructively accusing others and falls into self-deceit. The Pharisees are the prototypical hypocrites of the Bible. They were model citizens and accepted leaders because of zeal for the law, but pride motivated them. The Pharisees dedicated their lives to observance of every rule and regulation the scribes devised. They were dedicated legalists for whom religion meant observing every detail of the law, and they were men in desperate earnest about their faith. The Pharisees simultaneously developed all the faults of legalism and all the virtues of complete self-dedication. A Pharisee might be an arrogant legalist or a man of burning devotion to God. The Talmud distinguishes seven kinds of Pharisees. The shoulder Pharisee wore good deeds upon his shoulder to be seen by men. The wait a little Pharisee produced excuses for putting off a good deed. The bruised or bleeding Pharisee shut his eyes to avoid looking at a woman and bumped into obstructions. The pestle and mortar Pharisee, humpbacked Pharisee, or tumbling Pharisee walked ostentatiously humbly and tripped