Basic HTML Version
True Sign
247
The disciples were inclined to think that their Master should
have granted the demand for a sign in the heavens. He was able to
do this, and such a sign would silence His enemies. They did not
recognize the hypocrisy of the critics. Months later, Jesus repeated
the same teaching. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy.”
Luke 12:1
.
Self-deception of Self-centered Motives
Leaven works without being noticed, changing the dough to its
own nature. So if we allow hypocrisy in the heart, it permeates the
character and life. A striking example was the practice of Corban, by
which people concealed a neglect of duty to parents under a pretense
of liberality to the temple. The scribes and Pharisees concealed
the real tendency of their doctrines, instilling them skillfully but
deceitfully into the minds of their hearers. This deceptive teaching
made it hard for the people to receive the words of Christ.
The same influences are working through those who try to ex-
plain the law of God to make it conform to what they do. Such
people do not attack the law openly. They put forward speculative
theories that undermine its principles. They explain it in a way that
destroys its force.
The Pharisees’ hypocrisy was the product of their self-seeking.
This led them to twist and misapply the Scriptures. Even the dis-
ciples of Christ were in danger of cherishing this subtle evil. The
reasoning of the Pharisees, who often wavered between faith and
unbelief, influenced the followers of Jesus to a great degree. In their
hearts, even the disciples had not stopped seeking great things for
themselves. This spirit stirred up the strife over who would be great-
est. This put them so much out of sympathy with Christ’s mission
of self-sacrifice. As leaven will cause corruption, so the self-seeking
spirit, if we cherish it, brings about our defilement and ruin.
Today, as long ago, how widespread is this subtle, deceptive
sin! How often our service to Christ is marred by the secret desire
[188]
to exalt self! How ready the thought of selfpraise and the longing
for human approval! The love of self, the desire for an easier way
than God has appointed, leads us to substitute human theories and
traditions for the divine principles.