Episode 134: Luke 12 Part 1 Bunch of Hypocrites!

Jesus was talking to his disciples as a crowd gathers around them and he begins to teach them to not be like the Pharisees. In chapter 11 Luke gave his version of Matthew 23 where Jesus pronounced the “Woes” on the Pharisees. What he is doing is exposing their hypocrisy. A hypocrite is simple terms is someone pretending to be something they are not. It’s a term that comes from Greek theatre where men played all the roles and they would wear a mask to pretend to be someone or something else. The Pharisees, along with the religious leaders, were pretending to serve God and to love God but in reality they were doing the opposite. They were doing everything for power and prestige, to be seen by those in their community yet they didn’t care for the people in their community at all. They felt as though they were “above” the “sinners”! So Jesus explains to his disciples that their righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees because they will soon be taking over the Kingdom of God and they will be the ones people look to for help and guidance, especially when persecution comes. I’ll challenge you like Jesus challenged his disciples, “Be real!”