The Leaven of
the Pharisees, Beware!
Luke 12:1-9 In the 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, “Beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 For 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 “And I say to you, My 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, fear Him!
6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper
coins?[a] And not 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 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before
men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But
he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
In
another place they receive the condemnation of Jesus in this life. Woe or weal?
Woe is a bad thing to hear from the lips of Jesus. At the end of this age, what
will you hear?
Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees
Matthew
23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the
Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they
tell you to observe,[a] that observe and do, but do not
do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy
burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but
they themselves will not move them with
one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they
do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the
borders of their garments. 6 They love the best places
at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the
marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ 8 But you, do not be called
‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ,[b] and you are all brethren.9 Do not call anyone on
earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called
teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.11 But he who is greatest
among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself
will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees [one who looks into a mirror and finds someone else—they claim to
be one thing but the evidence shows them to be something else., hypocrites! For
you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who
are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make
long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.[c]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and
when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides,
who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by
the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ 17 Fools and blind! For which
is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies[d] the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by
the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is
obliged to perform it.’ 19 Fools and blind! For which
is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?20 Therefore he who swears by
the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.21 He who swears by the
temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells[e] in it.22 And he who swears by
heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have
neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and
mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others
undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain
out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but
inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.[f]26 Blind Pharisee, first
cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean
also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear
beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of deadmen’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly
appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn
the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived
in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the
blood of the prophets.’
31 “Therefore you are
witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the
prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure
of your fathers’ guilt.33 Serpents, brood of vipers!
How can you escape the condemnation of hell?34 Therefore, indeed, I send
you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and
crucify, and some of them you will scourge
in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all
the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the
blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and
the altar. 36 Assuredly, I say to you,
all these things will come upon this generation.
All throughout the history of Israel, the
men with the leaven of the Pharisees had taken and killed God’s spokesmen—from
all the way back to Abel to the most recent one recorded in the scriptures.
These sorts of men were to blame—don’t do what we do, do what we say.
But when he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to
them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
For I say to you, that
unless your righteousness exceedsthe righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Then the Pharisees went
out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Now when the Pharisees heard it they
said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub,
the ruler of the demons.”
How is it you do not understand that
I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the
leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”12
Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of
the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.
[ The Pharisees:
Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar? ] Then the Pharisees went
and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.
Then the scribes and Pharisees brought
to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,
But some of them went away to the Pharisees and
told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered
a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.
Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had
given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that
they might seize Him.
The Pharisees therefore
said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the
world has gone after Him!”
[ Walk in the Light ]
Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees
they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of
the synagogue;
Luke 18: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Also He spoke this
parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised
others: 10 “Two men went up to the
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and
prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other
men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I
give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector,
standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat
his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other; for
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted.”
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