After his confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus now addresses the crowd.
In the first verse Luke tells us that first of all, Jesus began to speak to his disciples saying, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” to educate them in simplicity and sincerity so that they would not be like the scribes and Pharisees who pretended to be what they were not (Luke 12:1).
It is against this hypocrisy that Jesus Christ wants to warn (prevent) us in today’s Gospel when he says, “Nothing is hidden that is not to be revealed, and nothing is secret that is not to be manifested” (Lk 12:2). Yes, everything will be revealed. For this reason
we must try to live our lives consistently with what we profess and proclaim. Of course this is not easy, but we need not fear, for our God knows our frailties. As John Paul II said, “God’s love does not impose burdens that we cannot carry (…) because for everything He asks of us, He will provide the necessary help. Nothing happens without His will. Even the hair on our head is counted! Yes, we are very precious in God’s eyes. We need not fear, for His love has no limits.
The second verse is an invitation to courage and confidence in times of persecution. No disciple is more than his master; therefore, if Jesus was called Beelzebub, his disciples should expect no better treatment. They, however, must speak frankly and openly: there is nothing occult, which is not to be revealed, so that what they have heard in secret they will reveal from above the rooftops, “Therefore whatever you have spoken in darkness will be heard in the light, and whatever you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be announced from the terraces.”
The disciples should not be afraid of those who can only kill the body, but not the soul; on the contrary, they should fear the one who can send body and soul to ruin in Gehenna. Jesus assures the final outcome to the testimony of faithful disciples, 12:8-9. The disciples are not to fear anything or worry about their existence, but are to rely on the provisions of their heavenly Father who oversees all things; the sparrows in the fields are worth a trifle, since five of them can be bought for two pennies, yet none of those little birds are forgotten by God: therefore the disciples are to be quiet and confident because they are worth more than many sparrows and because all the hairs on their heads are counted.
Messages of life
– Jesus does not want to scare us: “My friends, do not be afraid.” Each of us is a precious person, whether we believe it or not.
– Each of us carries a rare pearl inside, which the trials of life purify and make more and more splendid. It is our faith that helps us to show ourselves for who we are and to deepen our relationship with the One who always calls us “friends.”
– Under his ever benevolent gaze we place our person. Under his gaze we discover who we really are.