And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. (Luke 11:37-38)
The Pharisees made a similar observation about Jesus an His disciples during a previous encounter. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. (Mark 7:2-3) Now, Jesus is eating a meal in a Pharisee's house and doing the same thing again. Jesus knowing what the Pharisee wass thinking responded, similarly to the way He responded before. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. (Luke 11:39-41) In other words, So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over. (Luke 11:41)
God does not care about the "show", what people see us do, but rather about the "heart", why we do the things we do. (Hebrews 4:12) “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Luke 11:42-43) Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.” (Luke 11:44 NLT) "Everything that looks good isn't good!" Everything the Pharisees were doing wasn't necessarily bad, just unnecessary and the more important things they were neglecting. Jesus used the example of tithing, which is very important, but we also have to treat each other justly and lovingly. Doing one thing while not doing the other is of no value temporarily or eternally.
Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.” And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” (Luke 11:45-52)
Well, Jesus is spreading the reprimands all around, first to the Pharisees and scribes, and then the lawyers. The lawyers here are experts in religious law. Remember, the Jews had over 600 "laws" they obeyed, many self imposed and religious traditions that they added to what God had commanded. (see THE GOSPEL: Traditions vs. Obedience) Someone had to be knowledgeable of all those laws in order to instruct the Pharisees if a law had been broken or not. Jesus judged them accurately; first, ...you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. (Luke 11:46 NLT) Yes, punishments should equal the crime, but first a crime has to be committed, not merely a feeling or belief offended. Secondly, Jesus validates the scriptures, or what we now call the Old Testament by stating, ...from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation. (Luke 11:51) The Hebrew "Old Testament" has the books of the Bible in a slightly different order, with Genesis being first and II Chronicles being last. (see From A-Z, Genesis - Revelations) Abel was the first man of God to be killed, as recorded in Genesis; and Zechariah was the last prophet to be killed, as recorded in II Chronicles.
But lastly, probably Jesus' most shocking judgment against these lawyers, and to us also, who feel we know so much and can teach others, He says, “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” (Luke 11:52 NLT) As we've studied so many times before, knowledge without wisdom is of no benefit to us or anyone else. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel... Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! (Romans 11:25, 33) These religious leaders and lawyers had been misteaching and misleading the people for centuries, and Jesus warned them before, just as He is now, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea." (Mark 9:42; Matthew 18:6)
And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him. (Luke 11:53-54) Many of us, just like these relgious leaders, are so steeped in "this is how I've always done it" or "this is how my church does it" or "this is how my family does it", that we refuse to listen to what Jesus says to do. He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8) For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. (Acts 15:28-29)
As long as we make sure we're obeying the necessary things of the Word of God, we won't offend God or any man in the disputable things. (Romans 14) Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8) For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, ...; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. (I Thessalonians 4:3-8)
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