Luke 12:1 ...He began to say to His disciples first, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Matt 23:27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you resemble white-washed graves, which outwardly appear beautiful but inwardly are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. (28) So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
In 12:1 the Lord gave a warning concerning religious hypocrisy. Actually, all religions lead to hypocrisy. Nowhere is hypocrisy more prevailing than in religion. Religion is a field, a realm, for hypocrisy to prevail. Consider the hypocrisy in the Jewish religion when the Lord Jesus was on earth. What hypocrisy there was among the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers! In Matthew 23 the Lord pronounced woes upon them for their hypocrisy. In 12:1 we see that the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees was equal to leaven. In the New Testament leaven signifies the element of corruption. The Pharisees were false and practiced falsehood to the uttermost. Their falsehood became a hypocrisy that was the leaven, the element of corruption, in the Jewish religion. All of the Lord's disciples were Jews. Since they all came out of a Jewish source, they had a deep appreciation of the Jewish religion and a high regard for the Pharisees. They thought that the Pharisees were those with a high morality. Therefore, He said to the disciples, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." In 12:2-12 the Lord went on to tell His disciples that the hypocrisy of religion would eventually lead to the persecution of His sincere and honest followers. Religious hypocrisy always becomes a source of persecution to the genuine followers of Jesus. As those who would be in the New Testament jubilee today, we need to beware of the hypocrisy in religion, for this hypocrisy will become a source of persecution. As the genuine followers of the Lord are enjoying the jubilee, they will be opposed by the hypocritical ones in the hypocritical religion. This opposition will develop into persecution, a persecution of the genuine followers of the Lord Jesus who are experiencing the New Testament jubilee. (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 246-247. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
