At that time, Jerusalem was a center of the Jewish religion and of a high culture with material possessions. Those living in Jerusalem cared for religion and for earthly possessions in order to enjoy a better life. Therefore, as the capital of Judea, Jerusalem was characterized by religion and culture with its enjoyment of material things.
In chapters eleven through fourteen the Lord Jesus was training His followers to live a life of the highest standard of morality so that they might be brought into the full participation of the New Testament jubilee. We have seen that this teaching was given on the way to Jerusalem.
As the Lord and His disciples were on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, His heart was set on one thing, and the heart of His disciples was set on another thing. The Lord’s heart was set on His death. He was going to Jerusalem to die to the religion and culture found there. He was not going to Jerusalem to participate in those things. In Jerusalem the Lord would die to religion and culture; He would die to this present life and all earthly possessions. The Lord’s disciples had something very different on their heart. Their concept was that their Master was going to Jerusalem to receive the kingdom. This enables us to understand why John and James, the sons of thunder, asked the Lord that they might sit with Him on His right and on His left in His kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). Their hearts were full of the thought of the kingdom. Their Master had been a great success in Galilee and now, they thought, was the time for Him to go to the capital, to Jerusalem, to take the throne and receive the kingdom.
But in the Lord’s heart was the thought of going to Jerusalem to die. The Lord did not appreciate either religion or culture with its earthly possessions. Therefore, in chapter twelve Luke puts together certain instances in order to show that the Lord had no heart for religion or for the earthly possessions in Jerusalem.
In 12:1 the Lord gave a warning concerning religious hypocrisy: “At that time, when a crowd of many thousands were gathered together so that they trampled on one another, He began to say to His disciples first, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” In particular, the Lord tells us to beware of the hypocrisy of the Jewish religion, for He speaks of “the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Actually, all religions lead to hypocrisy. Nowhere is hypocrisy more prevailing than in religion. Religion is a field, a realm, for hypocrisy to prevail. Consider the hypocrisy in the Jewish religion when the Lord Jesus was on earth. What hypocrisy there was among the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers! In Matthew 23 the Lord pronounced woes upon them for their hypocrisy. Here in 12:1 the Lord exposes the hypocrisy of the Jewish religion.
In 12:1 we see that the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees was equal to leaven. In the New Testament leaven signifies the element of corruption. Here the Lord warns us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. The Pharisees were false and practiced falsehood to the uttermost. Their falsehood became a hypocrisy that was the leaven, the element of corruption, in the Jewish religion.
All of the Lord’s disciples were Jews. Since they all came out of a Jewish source, they had a deep appreciation of the Jewish religion and a high regard for the Pharisees. They thought that the Pharisees were those with a high morality. But as the Man-Savior was approaching Jerusalem, the center of hypocritical religion, He began to expose the hypocrisy of that religion to His followers. Therefore, He said to the disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
In 12:2-12 the Lord went on to tell His disciples that the hypocrisy of religion would eventually lead to the persecution of His sincere and honest followers. Religious hypocrisy always becomes a source of persecution to the genuine followers of Jesus. As those who would be in the New Testament jubilee today, we need to beware of the hypocrisy in religion, for this hypocrisy will become a source of persecution. As the genuine followers of the Lord are enjoying the jubilee, they will be opposed by the hypocritical ones in the hypocritical religion. This opposition will develop into persecution, a persecution of the genuine followers of the Lord Jesus who are experiencing the New Testament jubilee.