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Luke 12:1–3
“In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy’ ” (v. 1).
First-century Jews tended to highly respect the Pharisees and lawyers or scribes, seeing them as experts in the law of God. Often, people viewed them as exemplars of holiness, and the Pharisees and lawyers enjoyed being put on a pedestal. We see this reflected in Jesus’ words when He condemned these leaders for wanting the best seats and greetings in the marketplace (Luke 11:43). His strongest words of woe, however, associated them with the figures who killed the prophets of old (Luke 11:47–48). He even quoted the Wisdom of God as predicting their persecution (Luke 11:49). His quote is not found in the Old Testament; nor is it located in any other Jewish sources. It seems to be just a summary of the Old Testament’s statements on the murder of prophets and the resistance of the people to God’s Word (e.g., 2 Chron. 24:20–22; Isa. 6:8–13). In any case, saying that the Pharisees and lawyers were in league with the murderers of old was revealing, since the Pharisees and lawyers would have likewise condemned the acts of earlier generations in killing the prophets. Jesus was saying that they were wrong to think that they would have done any differently.
Consequently, the Pharisees and their associates were actually not exemplars of holiness. In today’s passage, Jesus makes this clear by warning His disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees (Luke 12:1). Although leaven is not always a negative image in Scripture (e.g., Matt. 13:33), it is here, for it refers to something that both spreads and contaminates. Jesus says that the leaven of the Pharisees is their hypocrisy. Their hypocrisy, of course, lay in their making themselves out to be models of holiness when in fact they were not. This hypocrisy could spread as they disseminated their teaching and made disciples. People would start putting on the appearance of holiness without actually possessing it. When hypocrisy is embraced and never dealt with, it cannot help but influence others to become hypocrites.
The Pharisees were able to hide their true unrighteousness under a facade of external religious scrupulosity, but that could not continue forever. That is Jesus’ point in Luke 12:2–3. He notes that there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed and nothing said in private that will not be announced publicly. Hypocrites might be able to hide their unholiness for a time, but if they do not repent, it will one day be revealed. At the judgment, the true state of everyone’s heart will be shown, and hypocrites will be able to feign holiness no longer.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
To be a hypocrite is not the same thing as being a Christian who fails to live up to Scripture’s standards of holiness. Hypocrites do not admit their sin, but Christians acknowledge where they fall short, and they repent. It is better to confess and repent now than to put on a pretend show of holiness that will be revealed as hollow at the last day.
for further study
- Psalm 26
- 1 Peter 2:1
the bible in a year
- Nehemiah 1–3
- Acts 2:1–13
- Nehemiah 4–8
- Acts 2:14–3:10