Sunday, June 04, 2023

Again: What's Jesus Mean His Followers are "Hypocrites !" ?

"And He was also saying to the crowds, 'When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, "A shower is coming," and so it turns out.  And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, "It will be a hot day," and it turns out that way.  You hypocrites !  You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time ?' "    --  Luke 12:54-56


If He'd wanted, God could have phrased Romans 2:13 and James 1:22-25 in terms of "hypocrisy."  Those scriptures contrast "hearers" and "doers" of God's word: which would be anyone's definition of "hypocrisy."  It was certainly Jesus' definition of hypocrisy in Matthew 23:3.

And any of Jesus' fallible followers are capable such hypocrisy, at a moment's notice.  At Antioch, Paul had to call out Peter for falling into it: and Barnabas as well, Paul's own fellow missionary (Galatians 2:11-13) !

But Jesus only rebuked His followers once for hypocrisy: and it wasn't for failure to do His word.  He could have dinged any of them, any of us, on that score, at virtually any moment.

His unique use of "hypocrisy" on that occasion was about His followers' failure to Spiritually "analyze" the time in which they were living.

That's significant.

It's especially significant for His followers living in these last days before His return.

Amen.

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