Luke 12:1

Fear God, Not People

12:1 Meanwhile, ¹  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ²  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ³  the yeast of the Pharisees, ⁴  which is hypocrisy. ⁵ 

Matthew 16:6

16:6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees ⁶  and Sadducees.” ⁷ 

Mark 8:15

8:15 And Jesus ⁸  ordered them, ⁹  “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees ¹⁰  and the yeast of Herod!”

Mark 8:2

8:2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days, and they have nothing to eat.

Mark 4:15

4:15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan ¹¹  comes and snatches the word ¹²  that was sown in them.

¹ tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.

⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

⁵ sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.

⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

⁷ sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Grk “was giving them orders, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

¹⁰ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

¹¹ sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Matt 13:19 has “the evil one,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

¹² sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.