Luke 12:1 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Luke 12:1

Comments

(Synoptics: Luke 12:1-3)Having condemned the Pharisees and lawyers so forcefully for their self-righteousness and sham, the Lord next gives this warning to his disciples about their teaching. It is hypocrisy and therefore is to be completely disregarded; there is no profit in it at all. We have just seen how worthless it is, because their whole system of doctrine is distorted by the evil motives that drive them. They are willing to sacrifice all truth in the interests of promoting themselves and their reputation. And yet, when Christ spoke these word, they were still legitimately in charge of religious affairs, and had to be listened to. The believers of those days sometimes had to put up with this from their official teachers. They could survive under a very poor ministry, but only if they had their eyes open. We thank God that we live in a different age, where the people of God are no longer a mixed multitude, and where the churches can appoint their own teachers, based on their understanding of the truth and ability to teach, and do not have to accept those who are not qualified to teach. Nevertheless the Christian will always have to deal with the problem of false teaching while he is in this world of darkness. If it does not find its way into our local church, it still tries to reach us from outside.This word is spoken to the disciples, but in the presence of the multitude which is very great at this time; the people are flocking to Christ because of his fame and his miracles and pressing upon him, to the extent that they trample on one another. ‘Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.’ The leaven stands for the doctrine of the Pharisees – it is an apt analogy. Leaven is mixed throughout the lump of dough and has its influence throughout. It is a picture of something with a powerful effect that permeates a substance and profoundly changes it. That is exactly the effect of doctrine. Whereas leaven or yeast works throughout the dough to produce the loaf, doctrine works within the minds of the people of God, and according to its nature produces a body that is conformed to the image of Christ, or corrupt in some way. The warning is given because whatever doctrine is accepted among the people of God will determine the nature of the local church. If error is allowed to come in, it will certainly be visible in the final product. The leaders of the church are responsible for ensuring that nothing harmful comes in. False teaching must be identified and corrected before it can do harm.

Application

But this leaven, Christ warns, is hypocrisy. What does that mean? It means that the poison of hypocrisy is in it and influencing it. Hypocrisy is a constituent part of their doctrine, and what it produces will show the same pattern in some form. Is hypocrisy something which is possible to teach? Yes, because man is predisposed towards it by nature. He does not want to come to God, to submit to his authority, to put away the corruption of sin. The pure doctrine of Christ purges the soul and does not allow falsehood to remain unchallenged. But the doctrine of hypocrisy makes it easy for the old nature to continue to operate, and hypocrisy which is a tendency for all who are fallen, is allowed to remain and grow. Teaching alone cannot turn a child of this world into a child of God. There must be the work of the Spirit in the heart and the new birth, and a conversion experience. But without true doctrine, the Spirit will not work, and the effect will be to produce more of the same, more men and women made in the image of Adam, and in this case of the Pharisees.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Luke 12:1 Commentary and Bible Study