Luke 12:1b-2 (ESV… he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
Hypocrisy is pretending to be something you’re not, which is what the Pharisees did. They acted as if they were righteous and holy, but they were full of sin. Jesus begins to talk about eternity and what we have to fear. Leaven easily spreads through a lump of dough. So Jesus is warning that we mustn’t be influenced by the hypocrites around us. At the judgement, the hypocrites will no longer be able to hide anything. Everything that they have tried to hide will be revealed in all its ugliness.
Luke 12:4-5 (ESV) “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
First Jesus tells us whom we are not fear. We are not to fear even those who may kill us for our faith in Christ. We are not to fear them because the worst they can to do is send us to heaven. We are to fear one person alone, we are to fear God. We are to fear God, because as judge of all, he has the authority to send a person to hell. The word fear in regard to God is repeated three times in this verse. We are to fear God for the greatest tragedy that could ever happen to a human being is to spend eternity in torment out of God’s presence in hell.
Luke 12:6-7 (ESV) Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Yet, God is not a vengeful God, He cares deeply about His creation, even the birds. And he cares even more about every human being he has created. He knows everything about you, even the number of hairs on your head, which changes daily, doesn’t it. So, Jesus tells us to fear not, because we are more value than those birds.
So, which is it? Are we to fear or are we to fear not? Since Jesus commands us to both fear and fear not, we must do both. We must allow the fear of God sending us to hell keep us walking close to him.And as we walk close to God, we have no need to fear, for we are headed toward heaven. Fear God alone.
A lot of people get Jesus’ point exactly backwards. They have no fear of God sending them to hell because they think they’re going to heaven, no matter if they believe in Jesus, no matter if they live a life of sin. Although they have no real fear of God, they worry about everything, which is a form of fear.
Do you want to get rid of worry in your life today? Make a choice to fear God alone and walk close to Him. As you are close to Jesus you have no need to fear or worry about anything, except the Lord.In this passage, Jesus is not speaking to the crowd, He is speaking to his disciples. When we learn to truly fear God, we become fearless of anything else. When we fear God alone, we can …