Luke
12:1–12 What
we will study tonight in Hypocrisy and Fear …01. Beware of Hypocrisy (Luke 12:1);
02. God Knows Everything (Luke 12:2-3);
and 03. Fear God Not Man (Luke 12:4-12).
01. Beware of
Hypocrisy (Luke 12:1)
Luke
12:1 “In the meantime,” The
beginning of this pericope is essentially a summation of what we studied last
time as we looked at the criticism that Jesus had of the Pharisees and the
lawyers in Luke 11:37–54. Remember, Jesus
pronounced three woes against the Pharisees (Luke 11:39–44), three woes against the lawyers (Luke 11:46–52),
and then Dr. Luke records for us that the
Pharisees and the lawyer’s response to these woes was the plotting to kill
Jesus (Luke
11:53–54).
Luke
12:1 “when an innumerable multitude of people” τῶν μυριάδων
τοῶ ὄχλου/τοὺς μαθητάς—Throughout this chapter, there will be references to the crowds
and the disciples. The discourse begins with Jesus speaking to his disciples
while a vast crowd (thousands, a much larger crowd than the one at Luke 11:29)
gathers.[1] “innumerable” in the
Greek is των μυριαδων G3461 μυρίας murias, moo-ree´-as; from 3463; a ten-thousand; by extension a “myriad”
or indefinite number:—ten thousand.[2]
It means a very large crowd apparently drawn together by the violent attacks of
the rabbis against Jesus.[3]
Jesus warns His
disciples to Beware (προσέχετε), which in the Greek is an imperative. Jesus
is commanding His disciples to Beware
or put your
mind for yourselves and avoid[4] the leaven
or the teachings of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy. In the Bible, leaven or yeast is always used to refer to
something that is evil (cf. Mark 8:15; 1 Corinthians 5:6–7). In Matthew 13:33 and Luke
13:20-21, some have misunderstood this to mean that the Church
will grow to encompass the whole earth, but leaven always is negative and has a
bad influence when it is present, so Jesus was saying that there is a leavening
influence in the Church.[5] Referring to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees as leaven illustrates that
their hypocrisy
is like leaven,
which starts out small and spreads stealthily throughout. But just as the leaven is hidden in
bread and cannot be seen, so too is the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, hidden by a veneer of religion. We saw this last time when Dr.
Luke records for us that Jesus said, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but
your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.” (Luke 11:39) We see this as well in Matthew 16:6–12 when His disciples
“understood that He
did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine
of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:12) Because of their position on Jewish society, their outward
actions couched with wickedness led the people into sin (Luke 11:44). Jesus reveals and uncovers this hypocrisy that was not only found in
the Pharisees, but in all people. It is found in the flesh, the old man that
Paul tells us to “put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man
which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 4:22-24) because we were “crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away
with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:6) (Cf.
1 Corinthians 5:7–8; Ephesians 2:15;
Colossians
3:9-11; 1 Peter 2:1)
02. God Knows
Everything (Luke 12:2-3)
Though it is hidden
now, there will come a time in the future when the false teachings and the
hypocrisy of the Pharisees will be revealed. But the words and the teachings by
His disciples, now spoken in the ear in inner rooms will
be proclaimed on the housetops, widely known throughout most
of the world. The housetops at this time were flat with the houses low to the
ground, making it possible for whoever was on the top of the house speaking
could easily be heard in the streets below. Jesus is telling the disciples that when they preach Jesus, it will
reveal peoples hypocrisy, thus generating persecution (Luke 11:49–54), but
that the integrity of His disciples (or even their own hypocrisy) will come to
light. Even during persecution (Luke 11:49–54), the
disciples of Jesus are to avoid hypocrisy even if it means you will be
persecuted or killed because of your faith.
03. Fear God Not
Man (Luke
12:4-12)
Luke
12:4 “I say to
you,” Jesus speaks with authority as the Word of God in flesh (John 1:14).
Luke
12:4 “My
friends,” Here Jesus calls His disciples “My friends”, an intimate statement that is to
prepare them for the difficult words that follow.
Luke
12:4 “do not be
afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can
do.” (Cf. Matthew 10:28) The followers of Jesus are to
follow the examples of the prophets mentioned in the previous chapter (Luke
11:49), to not become afraid of [6]
those who can kill you but to “Be faithful until death”
(Revelation 2:10)
because that’s the worst that they can do to you and it “will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10-to the
church at Smyrna)
Luke
12:5 The fear of man can evoke hypocrisy from a follower of Jesus (Luke 12:4),
but the fear of God is to take precedence over the fear of man because God
alone has the authority and power over both Heaven and Hell. We see this so perfectly displayed in The Death of Thomas Cranmer, a reformer
who first displayed the fear of man.
On March 21, 1556, a crowd of curious spectators packed
University Church in Oxford, England. They were there to witness the public
recantation of one of the most well-known English Reformers, a man named Thomas
Cranmer. Cranmer had been arrested by Roman Catholic authorities nearly three
years earlier. At first, his resolve was strong. But after many months in
prison, under daily pressure from his captors and the imminent threat of being
burned at the stake, the Reformer’s faith faltered. His enemies eventually
coerced him to sign several documents renouncing his Protestant faith. In a
moment of weakness, in order to prolong his life, Cranmer denied the truths he
had defended throughout his ministry, the very principles upon which the
Reformation itself was based. Roman Catholic Queen Mary I, known to church
history as “Bloody Mary,” viewed Cranmer’s retractions as a mighty trophy in
her violent campaign against the Protestant cause. But Cranmer’s enemies wanted
more than just a written recantation. They wanted him to declare it publicly. And so, on March 21, 1556, Thomas Cranmer was taken from
prison and brought to University Church. Dressed in tattered clothing, the
weary, broken, and degraded Reformer took his place at the pulpit. A script of
his public recantation had already been approved; and his enemies sat
expectantly in the audience, eager to hear his clear denunciation of the
evangelical faith. But then the unexpected happened. In the middle of his
speech, Thomas Cranmer deviated from his script. To the shock and dismay of his
enemies, he refused to recant the true gospel. Instead, he bravely recanted his
earlier recantations. Finding the courage he had lacked over those previous
months, the emboldened Reformer announced to the crowd of shocked onlookers: I come to the great thing that troubles my
conscience more than any other thing that I ever said or did in my life: and
that is, the setting abroad of writings contrary to the truth, which here now I
renounce and refuse, as things written with my hand [which were] contrary to
the truth which I thought in my heart, [being] written for fear of death, and
to save my life. Cranmer went on to say that if he should be burned at the
stake, his right hand would be the first to be destroyed, since it had signed
those recantations. And then, just to make sure no one misunderstood him,
Cranmer added this: “And as for the pope,
I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy and antichrist, with all his false doctrine.”
Chaos ensued. Moments later, Cranmer was seized, marched outside, and burned at
the stake. True to his word, he thrust his right hand into the flames so that
it might be destroyed first. As the flames encircled his body, Cranmer died
with the words of Stephen on his lips: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. I see
the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”[7] [8]
(Cf. Acts
7:60) Thomas Cranmer first feared man, then repented and feared God.
Jesus said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:35) and “He who loves his life will lose
it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
(John 12:25) In
Scripture, we are given an excellent example those who did not fear a man, who
at that time was the most powerful man in the world, and we have it recorded
for us in Daniel
3:1-30. King Nebuchadnezzar made a 90-foot tall golden statue (Daniel 3:1)
that he required everyone to worship (Daniel 3:5) “and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast
immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” (Daniel 3:6) When the three Hebrew children Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah refused to bow down, though threatened with being cast into the
fiery furnace, they “answered and said to the
king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able
to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us
from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do
not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.””
(Daniel 3:16–18)
The Greek word for hell in Luke 12:5 is (G1067 γέεννα gĕĕnna, gheh´-en-nah) Gehenna, comes from the Hebrew גֵּי־הִנֹּם, “Valley
of Hinnom.” Gehenna was located southwest of the Temple in Jerusalem and it
formed the boundary line between Benjamin and Judah (Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16).
Later under the rule of King Ahaz (2 Chronicles
28:3) and King Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:6), they began to sacrifice
their children on to the red-hot arms of Molech in Gehenna. Then, under the
reformation of King Josiah, “he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of
Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to
Molech.” (2 Kings 23:10) Later it became the city dump, into which the bodies of
criminals, carcasses of animals, and all sorts of filth were cast. From its
depth and narrowness, and its fire and ascending smoke, it became the symbol of
the place of the future punishment of the wicked.[9] (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:29;
Matthew 10:28; Matthew 23:15; Matthew 23:33;
Mark 9:43; James 3:6)
Luke
12:6-7a “Are
not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten
before God. But the very hairs of your head are
all numbered.”
These two
copper coins are worth about 1/16 of a denarius (a day’s wage), and used only here and in Matthew 10:29. Since God takes care
of common little birds (cf. Luke 12:22), He will also care for His own, even
knowing the number of their hairs.[10] “Do not fear therefore”
We are commanded not to fear man, but the motivation to stand firm is not
because it is a command, but because of God’s love for us, for “you are of more value than many
sparrows.” (Luke
12:7b) Our father who knows about the sparrows knows and cares about
us.[11]
Luke
12:8–10a “Also
I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will
confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be
denied before the angels of God. “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son
of Man, it will be forgiven him” Here Jesus states that His
followers have to make a choice, to acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah or
deny that He is the Messiah and face eternal damnation. Jesus
is making the connection of the disciples’ faith and or fear and their salvation,
and all this is revealed when facing persecution! To deny Christ is to deny Him publicly and before God, much like
Peter (Luke
22:54-57; Mark 14:69-70; Matthew 26:73-75; Luke 22:59-62;
John
18:13-27) and Thomas Cranmer, but that shows us that no disciple is exempt
from the temptation to fear and hypocritically deny Jesus. Another martyr that had his faith revealed without hypocrisy
during persecution was a man named William Hunter, and like Thomas Cranmer
lived under the rule of Bloody Mary. William Hunter had been trained to the doctrines of the
Reformation from his earliest youth, being descended from religious parents,
who carefully instructed him in the principles of true religion. Hunter, then
nineteen years of age, refusing to receive the communion at Mass, was
threatened to be brought before the bishop; to whom this valiant young martyr
was conducted by a constable. Bonner caused William to be brought into a
chamber, where he began to reason with him, promising him security and pardon
if he would recant. Nay, he would have been content if he would have gone only
to receive and to confession, but William would not do so for all the world.
Upon this the bishop commanded his men to put William in the stocks in his gate
house, where he sat two days and nights, with a crust of brown bread and a cup
of water only, which he did not touch. At the two days’ end, the bishop came to him, and finding
him steadfast in the faith, sent him to the convict prison, and commanded the
keeper to lay irons upon him as many as he could bear. He continued in prison
three quarters of a year, during which time he had been before the bishop five
times, besides the time when he was condemned in the consistory in St. Paul’s,
February 9, at which time his brother, Robert Hunter, was present. Then the
bishop, calling William, asked him if he would recant, and finding he was
unchangeable, pronounced sentence upon him, that he should go from that place
to Newgate for a time, and thence to Brentwood, there to be burned. About a
month afterward, William was sent down to Brentwood, where he was to be
executed. On coming to the stake, he knelt down and read the Fifty-first Psalm,
until he came to these words, “The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
Thou wilt not despise.” Steadfast in refusing the queen’s pardon, if he
would become an apostate, at length one Richard Ponde, a bailiff, came, and
made the chain fast about him. William now cast his psalter into his brother’s
hand, who said, “William, think on the
holy passion of Christ, and be not afraid of death.” “Behold,” answered William, “I
am not afraid.” Then he lifted up his hands to heaven, and said, “Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit;”
and casting down he head again into the smothering smoke, he yielded up his
life for the truth, sealing it with his blood to the praise of God.[12]
In 1532, Thomas Harding, who with his wife, had been accused
of heresy, was brought before the bishop of Lincoln, and condemned for denying
the real presence in the Sacrament. He was then chained to a stake, erected for
the purpose, at Chesham in the Pell, near Botely; and when they had set fire to
the fagots, one of the spectators dashed out his brains with a billet. The
priests told the people that whoever brought fagots to burn heretics would have
an indulgence to commit sins for forty days.[13]
The next person that suffered in this reign was James
Baynham, a reputable citizen in London, who had married the widow of a
gentleman in the Temple. When chained to the stake he embraced the fagots, and
said, “Oh, ye papists, behold! ye look
for miracles; here now may you see a miracle; for in this fire I feel no more
pain than if I were in bed; for it is as sweet to me as a bed of roses.”
Thus he resigned his soul into the hands of his Redeemer. [14]
Luke
12:10b “but to
him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.” We studied this when we looked at Luke 11:14-23 | The
Saints and the Ain’ts where we saw that blasphemy of the Holy
Spirit is committed by believing that the miracles of Jesus are done by the
power of Satan (Matthew 12:22–30)
and it is known as the unpardonable (or unforgivable) sin (Mark 3:28–30).
Luke 12:11-12 Jesus commands them to not worry about how or what you should answer, or what
you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you
ought to say. In
contrast to the enemies of Jesus who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will help His followers in what they
need to say when brought before leaders. This is the only verse recorded by Dr.
Luke in his gospel account where we see anyone other than Jesus is said to
teach the disciples. This
is the only verse in Luke where anyone other than Jesus is said to teach (διδάσκω), but after the Spirit
comes on the disciples at Pentecost, they will be found teaching often, showing
the triumph of the Spirit over fear and anxiety as they confess Christ before
people. After Pentecost (Acts 2), we see that this changes in the other
book written by Dr. Luke, where the Spirit “whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26) We
see an example of this in Acts
4:1–21. When
you are a follower of Jesus, despite the persecution that comes, you can say
with Paul “But none of these things
move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race
with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to
the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts
20:24) “For I am ready not only to be bound, but also
to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13) And in his last letter written to young Timothy, not
long before he died, Paul wrote “I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that
Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7–8)
[1] Just, A. A., Jr. (1997). Luke 9:51–24:53 (p. 495). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
[2] Strong, J. (2009). A
Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible
(Vol. 1, p. 49). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[3] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:1). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[4] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:1). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[5]
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/smith_chuck/StudyGuides_Matthew/Matthew.cfm?a=942033
[6] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 12:4). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
[9] Vincent, M. R. (1887). Word studies in the New Testament (Vol. 1, p. 40). New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons.
[10] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R.
B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge
Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 237–238). Wheaton,
IL: Victor Books.
[11] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Mt 10:29). Nashville, TN:
Broadman Press.
