Context No. 2794 of 4322 · Luke

Luke 12:1-5: in context

1Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 4“I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

A crowd of thousands is trampling to get near him, and Jesus turns first to his own disciples with a warning: beware the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing covered up will stay hidden; whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you whispered in an inner room will be shouted from the housetops.

Hypocrisy is called yeast because it works out of sight and spreads quietly through the whole loaf. Jesus' remedy is the certainty of exposure: since everything hidden will come to light, live now as someone already fully seen. Then he resets the scale of fear for a frightened people. Do not fear those who can kill the body and after that do no more. What a human enemy can do is small beside the God who holds authority over Gehenna. Let the fear of God crowd the fear of man down to its true size.

Do I live as if my hidden self will one day be brought into the light, and do I fear the right things?

Sources

Luke 12:2: "But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known."
Proverbs 29:25: "The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in the LORD is kept safe."
Hebrews 4:13: "There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do."