Scripture Reading: Luke 12:1-5
“Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear! “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.’
Introduction
The word ‘thousands’ reflect an Old Testament term ‘myriad’ which usually denotes tens of thousands. Here it means a very large number. The emphasis is huge numbers of people came to hear Jesus. It is a representation of the church. Large numbers of people will come to hear Jesus. Who are these people? They are:
The common people
The sick
The curious
The religious elite.
And in this select group of people, the one that Jesus picks on is the religious elite. Jesus calls them the Pharisees. The problem of the church, more often than not, is not the common people; the community people. They are not the problem maker. God’s work has always been redemptive in nature. God has always manifested himself as YHWH with a seeking heart. The underlying issue with the Pharisees is God’s love for lost sinners, while the Pharisee’s love was something else and not lost sinners. As to the sick Jesus always would have them come to him. Jesus has no problem with the sick. Once, Jesus was in a house filled with a large crowd that the outsiders couldn’t enter anymore because of the crowd. Four people went up the rooftop and lowered down a paralyzed man on a stretcher. Jesus had no problem with that sick man. He graciously said to the paralyzed man; ‘son, thy sins be forgiven thee’. The curious are also not the problem in the church. There is Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Zaccheus, the tax collector, some women of the household of Herod the King. In the end many of these curious believed and advanced the kingdom of God. The curious when converted are used by Jesus in great measure. There are people who saw our church and come and visited us out of curiosity. I would say Jesus has no problem with these people. The problem among the crowd in the church is the religious elite. Jesus condemned the religious elite.
I am in the category of the religious elite. So as I shared this message, I am speaking to myself. The reason I am sharing this is because of what I had gone through in 2012. I have seen the ugliness and the evil of the spirit of the Pharisees and also as I read the bible in this past 5 years, I realize YHWH really had a problem with the Pharisees. I read it in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah and many Old Testament prophets. I am definitely not perfect. I confess I am drawn into the spirit of Pharisees and even though I don’t want to be one, unconsciously I become one many times. Only the Spirit of God can reveal and cleanse me from the sins of the Pharisees. The Pharisee is a very judgmental person, like Saul of Tarsus. Like him, we thought we are doing God a favor by persecuting the sincere Christian and preventing the move of God.
The religious elite of Jesus’ day are the Pharisees and the Sadducees and possibly the Scribes. I would like to share a few points on the leaven of the Pharisee.
1. The Sadducees and the Pharisees
During the time of Christ and the New Testament era, the Sadducees were the aristocrats. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priest, and they held the majority of the 70 seats of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin. They worked hard to keep the peace by agreeing with the decisions of Rome (Israel at that time was under Roman control). They were the compromisers and they seemed to be more concerned with politics than religion. They played politics in the church. It is said that politics in the church is much uglier than the politics that is in the secular world. Because they were accommodating to Rome and were the wealthy upper class, they did not relate well to the common man, nor did the common man hold them in high opinion. It is said that in France, the citizens had great animosity towards the church because of the leadership of the church. The common man related better to those who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. Though the Sadducees held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin, history indicates that much of the time they had to go along with the ideas of the Pharisaic minority, because the Pharisees were popular with the masses. Actually this reminds me of the structure of the church today; the elders and the pastors. In most churches the elders are the rich, aristocrats and the pastors are the executive that runs the church.
How about the Pharisees? In contrast to the Sadducees, the Pharisees were mostly middle-class businessmen, and therefore were in contact with the common man. Sound so much like the church my daughter is attending. The Pharisees were held in much higher esteem by the common man than the Sadducees. Though they were a minority in the Sanhedrin and held a minority number of positions as priests, they seemed to control the decision making of the Sanhedrin far more than the Sadducees did, again because they had the support of the people.
The word Pharisee is derived from an Aramaic word meaning, “separated.” They were a group that held to: (a) the belief of immortality of the soul, (b) the resurrection of the dead, and (c) punishment in future life. The doctrines of the Pharisee are sound. The soul can never die but will be ushered to heaven or hell. Also the soul will be resurrected, one to eternal life and another to eternal damnation. Again, sound doctrine. There is a future punishment. It is appointed upon men once to die and after that judgment. But the Pharisees also added an enormous amount of traditional customs that was passed down from one generation to the next. This is not from God. The purpose is to control. We are not called to control people. They will say, ‘You are not allowed to have entertainment on the Lord’s Day. You must wash your hand before you eat. You cannot swim on Sunday; it is the Lord’s Day. You cannot drink. The wine that Jesus drank at the marriage in Cana is unfermented drink. Come on. It is wine. Jesus drank wine. Period. Your wedding dress must be covered up to the neck. The lower neck cannot be exposed. You are only allowed to mix around with a select group of Christians. They were the worst persecutors of Jesus and the objects of His strongest criticism. Unknowingly many Pharisees of today are the worst persecutor of the church of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees accused Jesus of Demonic Practice. When we have the Rodney Howard Brownne revival, there are people that say, it is from the devil. The move of God was so powerful and yet they say it is from the devil. The revival fire was snuffed out in my ex church during the Rodney Howard Brownne revival in Singapore because they felt that Rodney is greedy for money and took the side of certain ministers which they don’t like. When we started the G12, we are called a cult group. Do you know that this church is classified as a cult group because once I believe in the method of G12? When I aligned myself with the LSBC, I was said to have left the Pentecostal belief and no more speak in tongues. If this is not persecution of Jesus, then what it is? The Pharisees plotted Jesus’ Death. The Pharisees of today plotted the destruction of many godly sons and daughters of God. Jesus’ strongest words of condemnation were aimed at the Pharisees. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to (Matthew 23:13).
2. Spirit of the Pharisees
A survey was conducted and it revealed that 51% of Christians polled all possess attitudes and actions that are more like the Pharisees than they are like Christ. In other words, the attitudes of most Christians were described as self-righteous and hypocritical. No wonder Gandhi said, ‘I love your Christ but I don’t like your Christian.’ According to the study, only 14% of Christians surveyed reflected attitudes and actions that better resembled that of Christ. What breaks the heart of Jesus is that the Pharisee in many of us is killing the missions and effectiveness of the church. And yet the Pharisees were, to some extent, well-meaning people. They studied the word and knew it as well as anyone. Their downfall, among other things, centered on their self-justification and self-importance; I am always right. You don’t know who you are dealing with. I believe the only way to be not caught in the spirit of the Pharisees, is to have an honest heart and stay close to God, willing to obey when warned by Jesus in the Word.
So how do you know how much Pharisee resides within you?
Based in part on the research and the survey, here are 6 things today’s Pharisees say.
a. “If He Knew The Bible As Well As I Did, His Life Would Be Better.”
Yup, that is a Judgmental and self-righteousness Pharisee. We really want people to read the Bible. But when you get smug and superior about reading the bible, you miss the point.
b. “I Follow the Rules.”
And if you do, awesome. But that’s not what got you into Christianity is it? You got in because of the mercy which Christ extended to you when you broke the rules. That is the elder brother spirit.
c. “You Shouldn’t Hang Around People Like That.”
One of the reasons many churches aren’t growing is because Christians don’t know any non-Christians. We are called the salt of the earth. Salt needs to get out of the box to season food. And Jesus paid a price for that among religious people. They couldn’t fathom why he would hang out with tax collectors, hookers, and other notorious sinners. When was the last time you hung out with a hooker? When did you reach out to the drug addict? How about those pregnant without marriage? Convicting, isn’t it? Disturbing, isn’t it? Yes, it is.
d. “God Listens To My Prayers.”
I came from a church where the leadership frequently says, ‘God listens to my prayer. My prayers are powerful. My discernment most often than not are correct’. I have to be honest that the church I come from is one of the most pharisaical churches I ever seen. Pastor Lily and I have to undo many Pharisees attitudes that we have developed over the years being in that church. Prayer is amazing. But the biblical portrait of prayer is about broken people embracing the mystery and majesty of a forgiving God more than God listens to my prayers. When prayer becomes a predictable formula that manipulates or controls God, you can be pretty sure you’re no longer praying.
e. “They Just Need To Work Harder.”
Jesus loved the poor and had compassion on broken people. Many Christians today don’t. When the poor suffers, we say they are lazy. They just are not hard working enough. Yes, I am very familiar with the passages in scripture that talk about hard work and prudence. But when I allow my relative ‘success’ to serve as a basis to judge others… I miss mercy. Compassion should be a hallmark of Christians. The early church’s compassion in the first few centuries after Jesus’ resurrection was one of the key reasons the Christian faith spread so rapidly, even amidst extreme persecution.
f. “Of Course I’m A Christian.”
Religious people say things like “Of course I’m a Christian’. You know what it means? I have the favor of God. It reminds me of the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son. They have somehow earned the favor of God by their obedience and faithfulness. True Christians, by contrast, are filled with wonder, amazement, and gratitude that God would accept them despite their brokenness? When asked whether they are Christian, they say things like “I know, isn’t that unbelievable? Can you believe that God would extend his mercy to someone like me through Christ? I am amazed! Grateful! Overwhelmed!”
3. Jesus’ picking on the Pharisees
We are told to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. In the NLT translation it is ‘yeast’. The Greek word used here refers to fermented dough that was mixed in with new dough and used as a rising agent. Those who are baker understand this truth better than I. The small amount used in baking would permeate the entire batch of new dough. It is the Pharisees that permeated the congregation of the Jews to crucify Jesus. I have seen repeated hundreds of times, with no exaggeration certain members in my ex church that are marked and the whole congregation avoided that person because a Pharisee disapproved of him. And the marking is not one year but years and decades. A church that is filled with people that are very judgmental is a Pharisee church; why can’t we just pray for these people that has not failed in one way or another. Why can’t we counsel them with love hoping they repent? The term ‘leaven’ (Zume) is used in two senses in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Firstly it gives a sense of corruption and therefore, a symbol of evil. Jesus is very clear. The Pharisees, though religious elite are corrupted people and therefore a symbol of evil. They are simply evil. They way they planned to trap Jesus and bribe to capture Jesus are nothing but evil.
Secondly it is a sense of permeation and therefore, influence and not a symbol of evil. I believe in this second point, the common people that are influenced did it out of ignorance and they are not a symbol of evil. That is why Jesus said on the Cross, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ Again the problem is the Pharisees.
Now what is the problem with the Pharisees?
The first problem of the Pharisees is they have hidden sins. Maybe they stole money from the Temple. Most likely they love money. Maybe they commit immorality without of the common people’s knowledge. Maybe they kill innocent people. As to their hidden sins, Jesus promised that what is covered up will be made known. The problem with the Pharisees is that they have a hidden sin and yet they act as if they are the religious elite to lord over others. That is why Jesus called them hypocrites. These Pharisees make sinful human attempts to completely conceal their sins and bad attitudes, but they cannot. Verse 2 says, ‘nothing covered will not be revealed’ points to an eschatological judgment. Jesus knew the true motives and thoughts of the human heart and mind, and one day all will know! The divine judgment will reveal the true intent and thoughts of the evil heart.
The second problem of the Pharisees is their permeation and therefore influence. The leaven refers to the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees. It is not so much on what they teach on the pulpit (because Jesus even himself says that what the Pharisees and Sadducees teach you learn from them), it is more on their character and personal beliefs, and scheming and plotting. The worst part is they are like the leaven or yeast which describes their widespread effects on the congregation of Jesus.
Thirdly it is “nit-picking” legalism instead of the love and care for the poor and needy people in God’s name. They form a lot of rules and regulation that were not prescribed by the Word of God. They impose burden of regulation upon the congregation while they themselves do not follow. They have two sets of rules; one for the congregation and another for themselves. I come from a church where it is a sin to go to cinema. I think for the first 30 years of my Christian life, I thought it is a sin to go to Cinema. I also come from a church that it is a sin to drink wine, alcohol.
Fourthly they are called hypocrites. Hypocrisy comes from two Greek words ‘to judge’ and ‘under’. They judge with a mask. This word ‘hypocrisy’ is a theatrical term that speaks of ‘actors’ playing a part behind a mask’.
I speak to all of us who consider ourselves a leader in some way or another in this church. We must not harm the common people, the sick and the curious that comes to our church. Jesus condemns hypocrisy. We must be careful that this sin does not enter into our lives and ministry. Hypocrisy means acting as if you are what you are not – for example acting publicly as a godly and faithful believer, when in reality you harbor hidden sin, immorality, greed, lust or other unrighteousness. The hypocrite is a deceiver in the area of observable righteousness. Hypocrisy involves living a lie. It makes one co-worker an ally with Satan, the father of lies. Jesus warns his disciples that hypocrisy and hidden sin will be exposed, if not in this life, certainly on the Day of Judgment. What is done secretly behind closed doors will be at one point openly revealed. Hypocrisy is sign that one does not fear God and does not possess the Holy Spirit with his regenerating grace.
When they try to harm others, they do it under a mask, with scheming and plotting. I know of a minister who stayed up all night planning and scheming how to outwit a missionary that goes to China’s underground churches to minister. That minister is a powerful preacher, that raised the dead. That minister was angry with him because he did not produce receipt for the money given to the underground churches. How to you go to the poorest of the poor, underground churches and demand a receipt when the government of China is always spying on you. That is a judgmental spirit; spirit of Pharisees. Jesus said what they did; one day will be revealed. If you study this commentary; it is saying one day the works of the Pharisees will be proclaimed upon the housetop. Every Jews understand Jesus’ saying. In Palestine the houses had flat roofs that were used as places to eat, sleep and socialize in hot weather. This then is a metaphor of people talking to their neighbors and the report speeding all over town. What they did will be proclaimed over all town.
Jesus told us that the religious elite will harm the congregation of Jesus. They will even kill some. But Jesus had a word for people that were harmed by the religious elite: ‘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. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell: yes, I tell you, fear Him.’
Those who are sincere and honest and loyal to Jesus, God know. Jesus addressed them as ‘friends’. It is a tremendous affirmation of Jesus’ disciples. We are not to fear these religious elite. Fear is not and should not characterize believers, but rather awe and respect toward God, which are always wise and appropriate. Circumstances and even evil people are temporary, but God and His judgments are permanent and affect the body (physical and temporal) and the soul (spiritual and eternal). These Pharisees and religious elite can terminate our physical life, but only God can give eternal life. In this world, whether you like it or not, there is only a monotheistic God (one God) and we attribute all causality to YHWH. God allow evil to exist (the evil of the religious elite and the Pharisees and Sadducees) to serve His purposes. God is the one who sends the Pharisees to hell. It is a scary thought that it is the religious elite that will be sent to hell. The Pharisees will be in hell. Hell comes from the term Gehenna which in the Old Testament is the valley of Hinnom. They will be burned.
The religious elite have a habit of excluding a select group of people, hating them. Winston was very honest last Sunday. He said that he was truly on fire for God when he came to know Jesus but it is the leadership that stumbled him. Look at the deception of the religious elite. Isaiah 66:5-6 says, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble (with awe-filled reverence) at His word: “Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My Name’s sake, have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy.’ But they will be put to shame. The sound of an uproar from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the LORD providing retribution to His enemies.’
Those who hate you (the religious leaders) thought they are doing God a favor by their zeal in persecuting you. But God will ultimately come through for those who are persecuted by these religious elite and they instead will be put to shame. They will be an uproar with God providing retribution to all the enemies of the congregation of the church. The religious elite are deceived by their own self righteousness and their ‘zeal and knowledge’ of God. The religious elites know the word better than the congregation. They profess to do it to honor God or because they suppose God requires it. It means that even while they were engaged in this cruel persecution, and these acts of the habits of excommunicating their brethren, they professed to be serving God, and manifested zeal in his cause, thinking God is pleased with them. I am very sure my ex leaders think I am the worst sinner and they are executing God’s order to persecute and put me to shame. They believe they are doing it to honor God and God demands that they treat me with this manner.
It is a funny thing. Those that really love to serve God are always persecuted by religious elite. But God has this to say to those truly devoted to him. He gives assurance that there shall be a day of justice in which His servants shall be vindicated and those who have persecuted them shall receive their just compensation of divine retribution. The devout presently suffer persecution at the hands of their countrymen; they are hated, they are ostracized, they are mocked for their devotion to the Lord and their continued confidence in His promises. But there is coming a great reversal: those who presently engage in mocking the Lord and His servants shall themselves be put to shame.
In conclusion I would like to give the testimony of a minister who once was a Pharisee. He used to condemn Bill Hybel’s ministry. This is his testimony.
I am a recovering Pharisee. I cannot read Matthew 23 without thinking about who I used to be shortly after meeting Jesus. I became obsessed with religious rules and legalism and forgot all about the grace that God had poured out on me through Jesus. As I look back on that time in my life there are eight things that really defined me…
#1 – I was way more obsessed with the sins and shortcomings of others and made it my obsession to point out their faults so that I did not have to deal with my own. (Matthew 23:27-28)
#2 – I made it my goal to catch people doing something wrong and condemn them rather than seeing them with the same eyes that Jesus saw me with, thus causing me to be broken for them and reach out to them with compassion and a genuine concern.
#3 – I would not associate with anyone or any group that did not acknowledge that I was completely correct in my view and interpretation of the Scriptures…and, if they didn’t see just like me I would attack and malign them as often as possible. (Kind of goes against what Jesus said in John 13:34-35).
#4 – I only hung out/associated with people who thought just like me!
#5 – I was known more for what I attacked rather than what I built up!
#6 – I boasted in the knowledge that I possessed and looked down on those whom I perceived did not know as much as me.
#7 – I could not acknowledge anything that the Lord might have been doing that did not fit into my system of the way I believed God should do things.
(I can literally remember a group of guys I was hanging out with in the mid 90′s who were always bashing Bill Hybels, so I joined in and began to talk about this church up in Chicago that was “compromising the Gospel.” Then I went to a conference and heard him live, then I read some books by him and then I made a discovery that Bill Hybels had more people in his restrooms between services every Sunday than all of us had in our churches combined…and then I discovered that God worked outside of the framework of my mind!!! That was one of the most sobering realities I’ve ever had to deal with…and I am so thankful for Bill Hybels and what the Lord has used him and Willow Creek to accomplish! If you are a church planter you should know that Bill Hybels and Rick Warren took some bullets years ago that we do not have to take today because they were willing to endure the pain!)
#8 – I did not mind throwing out false accusations against those whom I felt were not getting it right! (John 8:48-51)
