Jesus warns his disciples to be on guard for the yeast of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy. The more people around, the more the temptation there is to hypocrisy.
The word “hypocrisy” from the Greek means putting on a play or a drama; putting on a mask; acting.
This will be a danger to Jesus’ disciples, to play a part, to pretend; so he warns us to be aware and on our guard.
Symptoms of hypocrisy:
- doing things for people to see – putting on a show
- more interested in the outside than the inside; in appearances rather than in substance
- how do I look, rather than how am I
Scriptures:
- Luke 12:1-3
- Matthew 22:15-22
- Matthew 23:1, 5, 7-11, 25-28;
- Galatians 2:11-14