Simply Jesus – Week 16 | Judged In The Light Of The Son

When politics and religion start to look like cover-ups and performance, what happens to people trying to follow Jesus? This sermon zeroes in on a sharp moment in Mark where Jesus warns about the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod—not literal yeast, but hypocrisy, self-deception, and the hard-heartedness that can infect even those closest to him. Instead of pointing fingers at outsiders, the passage turns the spotlight on the disciples who’ve seen miracles yet still don’t understand. The message traces how self-righteousness and national or institutional identity become substitutes for honest faith, and why only the work of Jesus—his life, death, and the revealing light he brings—can soften our hearts. You’ll hear a clear, compassionate case for sincerity: living exposed to the light of the Son rather than covering our faults. There’s an unsettling comfort here, and an invitation to see what it really looks like to be judged by that light.