Thursday March 06
Jesus Exposes Religious Hypocrisy
Luke 11:42-52
42 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. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them." 45 Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also." 46 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. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' 50 that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 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. 52 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."
In this passage, Luke 11:42-52, as a guest, in the very house of a Pharisee, Jesus courageously exposes the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His day, the Pharisees and lawyers. Jesus is making it very clear that there is no room for hypocrites in the church, especially in the pulpit and in the church leaders. Jesus is not only exposing them, but He is declaring condemnation and judgment upon them with these six “woe” pronouncements. Three were for the Pharisees and three were for the lawyers. The first three "woes" denounce the Pharisees for their wrong priorities.
In verse 42, the Pharisees were careful about tithing even the tiny leaves and seeds from the herbs, but they forgot about important things like justice and love (Micah 6:7-8). They majored on the minors! Jesus did not say they should stop tithing but that they should put their religious activities into proper perspective.
In verse 43, Jesus points out that they also put reputation above character. They thought that sitting in the right seats and being acknowledged by the right people would make them spiritual. Reputation is what people think we are; character is what God knows we are.
But it was the comparison Jesus made in Luke 11:44, that must have infuriated the host and the other Pharisees who were present. The Jews had to be especially careful about ceremonial defilement from dead bodies (Num. 19:11-22; note especially v. 16), so they made sure the graves were carefully marked. But the Pharisees were like unmarked graves that did not look like graves at all! This meant that they were unconsciously defiling others when they thought they were helping them become holier! Instead of helping people, the Pharisees were harming them.
In verse 45, the lawyers felt the sting of our Lord's words and tried to defend themselves. Jesus used three vivid illustrations in answering them: burdens, tombs, and keys. The lawyers were good at adding to the burdens of the people, but they had no heart for helping them carry those burdens. What a tragedy when "ministers" of God's Word create more problems for people who already have problems enough! Jesus might have had these "religious burdens" in mind when He gave the gracious invitation recorded in Matthew 11:28-30.
The scribes were also good at "embalming" the past and honoring the prophets who had been martyred by the religious establishment to which they belonged. Both Bible history and church history reveal that true servants of God are usually rejected by the people who most need their ministry, but the next generation will come along and honor these people. The Pharisees were like "hidden graves," but the lawyers built elaborate tombs!
The first recorded martyrdom in the Old Testament is that of Abel, and the last is that of Zechariah (see Gen. 4:1-15; 2 Chron. 24:20-27). Jesus did not suggest that the scribes and Pharisees were personally responsible for killing the Old Testament prophets. Rather, He was affirming that people just like the scribes and Pharisees did these terrible things to God's servants. Their ultimate crime would be the crucifixion of the Son of God.
You can only imagine the tension that is in the room at this point. But the lesson for us today is very clear: Jesus has no patience for hypocrisy in religious leaders or even in any of us!
God bless!
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