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. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:1-3)
Immediately before this, at the end of Luke 11, Jesus was proclaiming woes to the Pharisees and lawyers because of their wrong ways and by hindering people from coming to God. The Pharisees and lawyers were vehemently upset with Jesus and seeking to catch Him in what He might say to accuse Him. In the meantime we see crowds of people are drawing near. It would appear this was becoming quite the ordeal since so many thousands of people were gathered that they were trampling one another – I kind of imagine much like Black Friday shopping used to be when the doors to stores opened to those early bird shoppers gathered for the best shopping sales.
Yet, Jesus tells his disciples to beware the leaven of the Pharisees. In the midst of a pressing crowd, Jesus wanted His disciples to heed this warning, so it clearly was important to Him. He didn’t even wait until the commotion had died down or He and His disciples were alone, and the lesson was about hypocrisy.
The Rise of Hypocrisy
He goes on to include that what is covered up will eventually be revealed and that things can’t stay hidden forever. When you think of His warning to beware the “leaven of the Pharisees”, it creates this picture. Leaven is used in bread and it’s what makes it rise. When baked in fire, it makes the bread airy and fluffy, but without leaven the bread will be dense. Not much leaven is required for a whole loaf of bread to rise and when the leaven is added, it is covered up and put into a dark place to rise. Much like hypocrisy, what might start as a seemingly small thing, done in the covered up places of hearts – it will eventually rise and be uncovered to reveal that that little bit of leaven has leavened the whole lump and the substance is nothing but the air and fluff of hypocrisy.
This gave way to another aspect of the warning – THEREFORE whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the rooftops.
If gossip, slander, or other ill words are spoken in darkness, they find their way to be heard in the light. And this goes both ways – have you ever done a good deed or said something nice about someone in private and it ends up being known anyway? Jesus often healed people in private and it had a way of being spread around.
Ultimately, this warning is against hypocrisy and being careful what you say in light of it. A hypocritical word can and will bite you in the end because it stems from a double-mindedness, in which James tells us that a double-minded person is unstable in all their ways (James 1:8).
How We See Ourselves
Whenever we read the gospels, we clearly see that the Pharisees weren’t doing things right and Jesus points it out on many occasions, but the Pharisees don’t seem to see the wrong in themselves, do they? So often we tend to not want to put ourselves in the position of the Pharisees because it’s a place of correction from Jesus. Yet, in this instance, whether we do or not, Jesus is warning us about the hypocrisy that the Pharisees demonstrated. So whether we are actively in need of that correction or whether it’s only a warning right now – beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Jesus wouldn’t tell us to beware of something if it wasn’t a possibility to fall susceptible to it. We are all susceptible to hypocrisy, and I think even more so when we are professing to be Christians because sometimes we forget that our salvation and our sanctification is not by our works but by God’s work alone. In that failure to remind ourselves of that gift and grace, we can become piously pompous as we strive to appear holy even if we’re not taking the time to be transformed by the renewal of our minds.
How do we apply this warning then and avoid the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy? Abide in Jesus, letting the word of Christ dwell richly in you, and not only read what it says, but also do what it says.