Unleavened

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

UNLEAVENED

Luke 12:1-3

12:1 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. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 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.

NIV

Hypocrisy is the key here. Building those facades so others are only looking at the shiny new exterior while the inside is still the old rotting interior. That is what Jesus was saying about the Pharisees, but also that they were like yeast. Hanging around them, it is easy to become like them. Their form of religion is infectious. This is how it can be when we join some fellowship, church or denomination. We are infected with their brand of religion which may be nothing else then like the Pharisees, all good looking on the outside, but no real spiritual life in the inside. But the rest of what Jesus said is rather haunting. It does not matter how good looking we are on the outside for nothing concealed will remain some as it will be made known. God knows our heart, our very thoughts and it is absolutely impossible to conceal anything from him. So why do we try so hard to conceal all our sin from each other? If we are afraid of what others might think of us, then we have indeed been infected with the yeast of the Pharisees. If we want others to think we are “Good Christians” while we are in fact struggling with some area in our life then of what value are fellow believers and for that matter what value do we have? True spiritual life is without hypocrisy. True fellowship, Koinonia, carries the meaning of social intercourse which is in fact an intimate act which would prohibit hypocrisy. If we cannot hide it from God then why should we hide it from others? The answer to that is because we all do it, and that is just the way it is. We have no true fellowship because the infection has spread throughout the whole assembly. Honesty is a forgotten trait, at least as far as the whole is concerned. There are a few people, hopefully at least one, our spouse, who know who we really are. They know our faults, our temptations, our weakest link in our daily walk and still they love us as a true believer of God would. Within marriage there absolutely cannot be any of the yeast of the Pharisees. But that is also the way it should be in the assembly.  If it is not that way then that kind of Christianity will be exposed in the end. Maybe that verse of scripture where Jesus tells those who did all that outward stuff that he never knew them speaks directly to those who were infected with the yeast of the Pharisees, hypocrisy. How do we get rid of this yeast? Where can we begin? Do we need to start over, a church of true believers? A real church, a true fellowship where there is no yeast at all, where all the people of God are unleavened.