Instruction To His Disciples About Living In The Light Of Eternity (12:1-12).
Approaching the detail of the section the first thing that Jesus wants to do is make His disciples think in the light of eternity. So He warns them to beware of the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees, as illustrated in the previous passage, and of becoming like them and thinking like them (like all Jews they had been brought up to respect and take heed to these ‘great men'), and then puts their whole situation in the light of the Judgment Day that is coming. They are to live in the light of that Day. In that Day all will be opened up and laid bare, and all hypocrisy will be seen for what it is. Thus His disciples must take heed to live in the light of that fact. And while those same Scribes and Pharisees might prove in the future to be their enemies they are not to fear, for they themselves are His ‘friends' and God cares intimately for them.
Indeed God is the One Whom alone they should fear, because He alone is the One Who can punish after death. Yet though they should indeed fear Him, they are nevertheless to recognise that God is also on their side and is watching over them, and is with them in all that they do. For in their ‘reverent fear' they should bear in mind that His care of Creation is such that He observes even the smallest bird and that therefore, because they are His, and in their case He is their Father, He knows all about them. He even knows the very number of the hairs of their head, so important are they to Him. (What other father counts the number of hairs on his son's head?).
They must therefore be bold in confessing His Son before men, so that He, as the Son of Man portrayed in Daniel 7:13-14, may confess them before the court of heaven. Meanwhile they can be sure that they need have no fear of mere earthly courts, for if they are called to give account in earthly courts, His Holy Spirit will Himself be there to guide their defence, and He will tell them what to say.
Thus if they are faithful to Him they need have no fear of either Heaven or earth. Before the heavenly court they will be defended by the Son of Man Himself, and before earthly courts by the Holy Spirit. People in such a favourable position have nothing to fear. (Note the transposition of ideas, ‘fear not men -- fear Him -- confessed before Him -- defended before men'. All will be well for those who fear Him).
But in contrast those who deny Him before men, or who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, may be sure that their judgment will be swift and sure.
This whole passage is an interesting example of typical Jewish methods of teaching, the stringing together of connected ideas in order to produce the bigger picture, and it is essentially a unity. Note the magnificent series of contrasts, demonstrating both the positive and the negative sides of His message, and emphasising the choices that all men must face up to and make. His words were spoken to the professing people of God in order to distinguish those whose profession was real and those whose profession was false:
The Contrasts In The Light of Which They Should Live.
· What is covered, will be revealed, what is hidden will be made known.
· What is said in the dark, will be heard in the light, what is whispered in private rooms, will be proclaimed from the house tops.
· Do not fear him who can kill the body -- fear Him Who has power to cast into Gehenna.
· He who confesses me before men I will confess--- he who denies Me before men I will deny.
· He who speaks a word against the Son of Man can be forgiven-- he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven.
We must now consider the analysis of the passage.
Analysis.
a When the many thousands of the crowd were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one on another, he began to say to his disciples first of all, “Beware you of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).
b “But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, and hid, that will not be known, wherefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers will be proclaimed on the housetops” (Luke 12:2-3).
c “And I say to you my friends, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” (Luke 12:4).
d “But I will warn you whom you shall fear. Fear him, who after he has killed has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, Fear him” (Luke 12:5).
c “Are not five sparrows sold for two pence? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not. You are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7).
b “And I say to you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him will the Son of man also confess before the angels of God, but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God, and every one who shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:8-10).
a “And when they bring you before the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you shall answer, or what you shall say, for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Luke 12:11-12).
We note that in ‘a' they are to beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who have authority over people's religious lives and in the parallel they will be brought before the synagogues and authorities for judgment. Furthermore the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is set in contrast with the openness of the Holy Spirit. There will be no play-acting with Him. In ‘b' everything which has been spoken is going to be revealed and in the parallel all men will be judged by their confession or otherwise of Him and by their blasphemies. In ‘c' they are not to be afraid of those who kill the body, and in the parallel this is because they are not forgotten in the sight of God and the hairs of their head are all numbered. Central in ‘d' is their need to reverently fear God.
The instructions now given follow a general theme, majoring on the fact of judgment to come, with the first verse connecting back to what Jesus had previously said to the Scribes and Pharisees at the end of Section 4. This warns against the danger of following them in their hypocrisy.
He points out that to do so would in fact be foolish in the light of the Judgment to come. For eventually everything is going to be revealed and made known, and then all hypocrisy will be laid bare. In the light of this they should therefore not be afraid of those who might seek to kill them (these same hypocrites), but are rather to fear the One Who determines what happens after death, and to remember that He in fact cares for them and has even numbered the hairs of their head. What could be more sure than that?
This, however, depends on them boldly confessing Him before men, for if they do then He will confess them before the angels of God. On the other hand those who deny Him will be denied before the angels of God. And finally He warns that those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will never find forgiveness. When the Judgment comes they will be without hope. On the other hand, those who hear the Holy Spirit, and who go before earthly courts for His sake, will find the Holy Spirit there inspiring them as their Great Defender (John 16:7-11).
This last arises because the thought of those who might kill their bodies, and of those who might seek to make them deny Him, has triggered the thought that those who do boldly confess Him may well be brought before the authorities and charged. So He wants them to know that if that happens they need not worry, because when it does the Holy Spirit will be with them and will teach them what to say. For whereas the Holy Spirit of God, God's power revealed in decisive visible action, is against those who reject Christ to their eternal loss, He is very much on the side of those who confess Jesus Christ.