Luke #51 Beware of Hypocrisy

INTRODUCTION LUKE 12:1-12.

Under these circumstances is how chapter 12 opens.

The circumstances in view are those hostilities of the Scribes and the Pharisees.

Yet even with all their hostility, thousands of people had gathered.

The crowd was so thick, they were stepping on one another.

But in spite of this large crowd, Jesus turns His attention on His disciples.

Remember, I told you, at this point in His ministry, Jesus turns inward.

From this point on, His main objective was too prepare the disciples.

To prepare them for His death, His resurrection, and the gospel ministry.

As well as, to begin to prepare these men to deal with false teachers.

That is the heart of this lesson.

False teachers are hypocrites.

They look and act the part, but on the inside they are full of wickedness.

The good news is, with close scrutiny, when pressed, false teachers show their true colors.

That is exactly what we see in the gospels.

The Pharisees appeared to be the most holy and righteous men in Israel, even the world.

But when they encountered Jesus and true righteousness, the blackness of their heart came pouring out.

False teachers are both dangerous, and deceptive.

Therefore God’s people must be warned.

I rarely shy away from exposing a false teacher because of their ability to destroy lives.

BEWARE OF PHARISAICAL LEAVEN

Leaven is a familiar and common symbol of sin.

But the way it is used here and by Paul indicates that at least part of the time, it is a symbol of a particular kind of sin.

That sin being the sin of a perverted Judaism, a works based salvation.

Paul uses this same word to illustrated the danger of leaven when left unchecked in the Galatian church.

Galatians 5:9 LSB

A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

The leaven in this passage is very definitely the false teaching of the Judaizers, that salvation is by works.

Paul’s great fear was that this false gospel would spread throughout the entire region of Galatia and damn the people to hell.

The Pharisees were purveyors of a false mode of salvation.

The apostle Paul would also write, that those who peddle such a damnable message are to be accursed.

Galatians 1:8 LSB

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to the gospel we have proclaimed to you, let him be accursed!

Accursed literally means damned to hell.

So you can see that the Bible, ie the Lord has some pretty strong feelings about false teachers.

A false gospel is very dangerous, because like those who preach it, it sounds good and reasonable, but is full of death.

All of which is why Jesus says, their leaven is hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy comes from a greek word that is not translated, it is transliterated.

Hypocrisis is the Greek word.

It was used to describe the actors on a stage.

You remember the faces, one smiling and one frowning.

The performers held one then the other up in front of their faces to carry out the act.

But that wasn’t their true feeling.

They were neither happy or sad, it was an act.

Such is the case with the false teachers , they looked religious, they look pious, but in reality it was all an act.

But worse than that, their message was hypocrisy.

Their message sounds good.

Just do more good than you do bad, and you will be ok with God.

That sounds good, but it is a lie.

Religious gatherings all over the world fall into this category, and Jesus is warning the future apostles to beware.

HYPOCRISY EXPOSED

Verse 3 really gives us insight into the depravity involved in hypocrisy.

Notice how Jesus says “there nothing covered up”.

That really sums it up well.

Hypocrites and they hypocrisy are typically covered up.

The word translated covered up literally means intentionally hidden.

They hide their true intentions.

They hide their true character.

In fact, they hide the truth.

This is why Jesus was such an irritation to them, they couldn’t hide anything from Him.

On many occasions the gospel writers record that a Pharisee had a thought, and Jesus answered it.

Jesus knew what they were thinking.

Do you want to know the really scary part, He knows what you and I are thinking, 24/7, 365 days a year.

For example, Nicodemus came to Jesus and makes a statement.

And John records, and Jesus answered.

Now you might say big deal, Jesus responded to the statement.

No, Jesus didn’t.

The answer Jesus gave Nicodemus was in no way connected to the statement Nicodemus had made.

Nicodemus says we know you are from God.

Jesus answers, you must be born again.

You see the question that was nagging at Nicodemus was this, what must a man do to be saved?

But he never verbally asked the question.

On other occasions Jesus read their minds.

Matthew 9:4 LSB

And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?

Matthew 12:25 LSB

And knowing their thoughts He said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.

So the Bible is very explicit, Jesus, God in general, knows our every thought.

No matter how well we try and hide it, He knows.

And He will reveal it.

In fact, verse 2 is teaching us that there is not any secret that will not be revealed and known.

You cannot say it in the dark and it remain hidden.

Most crime, not all, but most, takes place at night.

Most evil, takes place at night.

Because the darkness helps to conceal it.

A thief breaks in at night, knowing that in the darkness it will be hard for any witness to identify him.

Drug dealers prefer to deal at night, knowing it is hard for anybody to see what they are doing.

But not even the darkest night can conceal anything from YHWH.

David understood this great truth.

Psalm 139:7–12 LSB

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I lift up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will bruise me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not too dark for You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

Our God sees all and will one day reveal it all.

Jesus uses some illustrations to make this point.

What is said in the dark, will be heard in the light.

What you whisper in the closet, will be proclaimed from the roof top.

Nothing is hidden from God.

And it is generally understood that it is at the judgment that all of these things will be made known.

Judgment is a difficult issue to process.

Certainly we know that the lost are going to be judged for their evil deeds and punished accordingly.

But the believer’s judgment is different.

Rewards shall be handed out based on our deeds as well.

And best I can tell, the bad that we do will impact our rewards.

The reason I struggle to understand this is because in heaven all will be perfect.

No tears, no shame, no guilt, so I really am not sure how to interpret the judgment of believers.

But this text is clearly dealing with the false teachers and their judgment.

For all their efforts to look good, YHWH will expose them.

And they will be judged accordingly.

HYPOCRISY FEARED

During the ministry of Jesus, the Pharisees put fear in the hearts of all the people.

They so hated Jesus, that they made it well known, that if you followed Jesus you would be put out of the synagogue.

This was tantamount to suicide.

if you were excommunicated from life in the synagogue, you were effectively cut off from all of life in Israel.

Everything in Jewish life revolved around the synagogue.

If you were not a member of the Synagogue, you could not get work, could not buy and could not sell.

Nobody would talk to you.

You were treated as if you were a leper.

For example, Nicodemus was a wealthy and powerful Pharisee.

But because he chose to follow Jesus, he was cut off.

He lost his position, his property, his wealth, all respect and became a vagabond.

Eventually he was beaten to death by an angry Jewish mob.

This was what the threat of the Pharisees was all about.

Joseph of Arimathea was also a Pharisee, wealthy and powerful.

But for a time he was a secret disciple of Jesus out of fear of the rest of the Pharisees.

Jesus knows the threats, and he knows the future.

Jesus knows the fate of Nicodemus, long before Nicodemus becomes a believer.

Jesus knows the beginning from the end.

Jesus knows the disciples, those future apostles, will all be persecuted, most of them will die a martyrs death, they will all suffer for His names sake, and a lot of that from the Jews.

Romans also persecuted and killed Christians.

The point is, Christians had enemies all around.

Therefore Jesus offers these important words of encouragement.

Don’t fear those who can kill the body.

Fear the one who can cast you into hell.

And really this was probably more of a message for others that were listening.

We know that there were many, many thousands of Jews who were partial to Jesus, but were literally too scared to follow Him.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews reaches out to those in that condition with passion.

This is really relevant for us today.

Many won’t come to Christ out of fear of being ostracized by their friends and family.

Still to this day, Jews are considered dead to the family if they convert to Christianity.

The moral of this story is that it is better to suffer in this life and enter into eternal life, than to have it good here and forfeit your soul.

Jesus asked in Mark 8:36

Mark 8:36 LSB

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?

Paul would write in Romans 8:18

Romans 8:18 LSB

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

So don’t fear the Hypocrites.

Don’t fear their threats or reprisals.

Jesus then introduces another illustration to make His point.

Five sparrow were sold for two assaria.

This was a very small denomination coin, worth only 1/16th of a danarius.

A denarius was a days wage.

So an assaria was about 30 minutes wage.

Minimal is the point.

Sparrows are worth very little, almost nothing, and yet the Lord takes care of them.

In fact, not one single sparrow is forgotten by God.

God feeds them and cares for them.

Yet, mankind is far more important than a sparrow.

In fact, God is so focused on you that He knows how many hairs are on top of your head.

The point is, God is fully involved in your life because you are far more valuable than any sparrows.

Take heart, God is on your side.

FEAR NOT THE HYPOCRISY

Therefore the believer can live without fear.

For the American Christian, this was not really pertinent for most of our history.

We have long enjoyed religious freedom.

But the winds of change are blowing, and we may wake up to find ourselves living in the shadow of persecution just as they did in the first century.

Thus the assurance Jesus is about to share is very relevant.

Don’t be afraid to confess Me before men, and I will confess you before My Father.

We need not fear, and we can therefore openly and boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I remember about a year ago our team was coming home from India.

But we were all on separate itineraries, and I was travelling alone.

On that trip the police had shut us down twice while we were holding church services, so we had been a bit on edge.

As I sat down on the flight from Bangalore to Delhi, the man next to me was reading a spiritual book on Zen.

I used that to strike up a spiritual conversation and shared the gospel.

He claimed to be a Christian, but I wasn’t fully convinced.

But we had a good conversation.

but then when we exited the plane, I asked if he knew where I needed to go.

He said he would show me.

But then, as we entered the concourse, he flagged down a police officer, said something to him in Hindi, and promptly walked off.

The officer sternly said, follow me.

Now, my first thought was, I am in trouble now.

Delhi is not real accepting of Christians, far less so than Bangalore.

It was a little scary, but I kept telling Myself, My God is bigger than they.

In the end, the police officer pointed me to where I needed to be.

I share this, because my initial reaction was fear, but my faith that God has my back, calmed my fear.

Folks, the bottom line is this, even if persecution comes.

Even if it takes my life of yours.

That isn’t loss.

Paul says to live is Christ and to die is gain.

So in reality, they cannot really hurt you or I or any other believer.

Because greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world.

Many people are bothered by this next line, if you deny Me then I will deny you.

The problem is, Peter denied and Jesus didn’t deny Peter, in fact Jesus restored Peter.

Let me explain something that is only clear when you understand the grammar.

The word “denies” is an aorist participle.

What that means is this, and action has taken place in the past, and continues forward into the future uninterupted.

In other words, this kind of denial Jesus is referring to, is a constant and continuous state of mind.

He is describing a person who has outright rejected Him.

That was not Peter.

Peter’s denial was a lie to save his own neck.

It wasn’t a rejection of Jesus.

There is a difference.

CONCLUSION

In these last few remarks Jesus affirms the conditions I described earlier.

And He encourages His followers, those disciples.

I am with you through the person of the Holy Spirit who will guide you through all difficulties.

So don’t worry, God has your back.

And what does it matter any way, to die, is to enter into eternal life.

I promise you, nobody wants to come back having once tasted glory.