Luke 12:1

Beware of Hypocrisy

1 In ^athe meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, ^b“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 ^aFor there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.

3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God

4 ^a“And I say to you, ^bMy friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, ^afear Him!

6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two¹ copper coins? And ^anot one of them is forgotten before God.

7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Confess Christ Before Men

8 ^a“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me ^bbefore men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.

9 But he who ^adenies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

10 “And ^aanyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

11 ^a“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.

12 For the Holy Spirit will ^ateach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 But He said to him, ^a“Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

15 And He said to them, ^a“Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.

17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’

18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, ^a“Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; ^beat, drink, and be merry.” ’

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night ^ayour soul will be required of you; ^bthen whose will those things be which you have provided?’

21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, ^aand is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Worry

22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, ^ado not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.

23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and ^aGod feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?

25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

26 If you then are not able to do the least, why¹ are you anxious for the rest?

27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even ^aSolomon in all his glory was not¹ arrayed like one of these.

28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of ^alittle faith?

29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.

30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father ^aknows that you need these things.

31 ^aBut seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

32 “Do not fear, little flock, for ^ait is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

33 ^aSell what you have and give ^balms; ^cprovide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.

34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant

35 ^a“Let your waist be girded and ^byour lamps burning;

36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.

37 ^aBlessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.

38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

39 ^aBut know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would¹ have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

40 ^aTherefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

41 Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

42 And the Lord said, ^a“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food¹ in due season?

43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

44 ^aTruly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

45 ^aBut if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,

46 the master of that servant will come on a ^aday when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

47 And ^athat servant who ^bknew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

48 ^aBut he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

Christ Brings Division

49 ^a“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

50 But ^aI have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is ^baccomplished!

51 ^aDo you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, ^bbut rather division.

52 ^aFor from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.

53 ^aFather will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Discern the Time

54 Then He also said to the multitudes, ^a“Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is.

55 And when you see the ^asouth wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is.

56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern ^athis time?

Make Peace with Your Adversary

57 “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?

58 ^aWhen you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort ^balong the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.

59 I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.”

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Luke 12:1 Mean?

Luke 12:1-3

We need to understand that it is God's purpose, because He is love, to do everything in His power to cover sin. He does not want people to be exposed. He will do whatever He can to keep us from being embarrassed, but if we refuse to repent, then He will follow through with this principle. Because He loves us so much, He will embarrass us to tears to get us to repent.

He will hold us up to shame and scorn, as He did to His beloved David, who would not repent after committing adultery with Bathsheba. Eventually, God had to send a prophet to bring him to repentance, warning David that, athough what he did was done in secret, but what will happen as a result will be done in public.

What we do means a lot—because there is a God who loves us! He does not want to see us as victims of our own sins. He also does not want to see innocent people victimized even by things that we do privately, in secret. There is no such thing as "the perfect crime." The effect of what we do is going to show—unless a variable occurs to forestall it, we repent, and God is willing to cover it.

However, all the while, that sin is like an active, living organism which affects other organisms (usually, other human beings). We need to ask ourselves: "Why are we so insensitive and so indifferent to the things we do?" It is, of course, our self-centeredness.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Every Action Has a Reaction

Luke 12:1-7

Hypocrite originally had a neutral sense, “someone who answers,” and hypocrisy meant “answering.” Initially, these words were used of the normal flow of question and answer in conversation or discussion. They later became connected with question-and-answer sections in plays, naturally followed by the idea of acting a part. Eventually, “hypocrite” came to describe one who is never genuine but always play-acting. The basis of hypocrisy is insincerity.

Hypocrites inhabit every walk of life, trying to impress others in an attempt to hide who they really are. In the Christian life, a hypocrite is someone who tries to appear more spiritual than he really is. Such a person knows that he is pretending and hopes he will not be found out. His Christianity is a shallow charade.

As the crowds following Him grew, Jesus decided to warn His disciples of this spiritual pitfall. They could easily surrender to human nature, giving in to the temptation either to gain popularity by pleasing the crowds or to avoid trouble by pleasing the Pharisees. Human nature drives us to want people to like and admire us, and it seems so easy to “act the part” that others want to see.

Jesus compares hypocrisy to leaven, symbolizing sin (I Corinthians 5:6-8; Galatians 5:9). Like leaven, hypocrisy begins small but grows quickly and quietly, infecting the whole person and eventually the whole society. When a person is puffed up with pride, hypocrisy flourishes and character deteriorates (I Corinthians 4:6, 18-19; 5:2). Like all sin, it must be stopped before the underlying pride has an opportunity to spread (James 1:14-15). The longer he waits to deal with it, the worse it gets. Nothing can really be hidden (Mark 4:22), which makes hypocrisy foolish and futile. So why keep pretending?

Jesus was perhaps concerned that His disciples might be tempted to compromise the truth to avoid offending the crowds or the Pharisees (see Luke 8:16-18; 11:33). Many who profess to be God's ministers do something like this to remain in their pulpits. God's truth is like light, not leaven, and it must not be hidden.

Jesus mentions “fear” five times in these verses, teaching that a basic cause of hypocrisy is the fear of men. People will do almost anything to avoid embarrassment or harm. When we are afraid of what others may say or do to us, we try to impress them to gain their approval, and our human nature will stoop to deception to accomplish its purposes. Sadly, many of the Pharisees were more concerned about reputation than character—what people thought about them than what God knew about them. The fear of men always brings a snare (Proverbs 29:25), and Jesus wants His disciples to avoid it and be stable in their faith. As Scottish novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott, wrote, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.”

Martin G. Collins
Beware of Hypocrisy