The Pharisees were well intentioned enemies of Jesus followers and the early church. From their perspective they were vehement defenders of the Bible and protectors of their traditional way of life, warding off this dangerous new movement. They could not tolerate any dissent from their views. Only they were correct. Jesus had just left the home of one such man when he talked to his disciples about their hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.”

Luke 12:1-3

The Pharisees’ hypocrisy was not only in deed but also in word. Their private opinions were contradictory to the things that they preached to other people. Jesus wanted his disciples to know that mixing with them meant risking exposure to that sort of attitude. Like yeast mixed into flour, a little would soon permeate the whole.

But “what is whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” applies to us as well. If we show our character to be consistent and true in all situations and fully without hypocrisy, we will be known for that as much as the Pharisees were known to be two-faced.

Ethan Kirl