SIX WOES.
Luke 11:37-54.
A Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him (LUKE 11:37). Though this man was probably not converted, Jesus did not refuse to recline at table with him. Jesus accepted the hospitality of the Pharisee, but did not fail to use the opportunity to speak out against the whole class of Pharisees and other experts in the law.
At the very outset, the Pharisee “marvelled” that Jesus had not first washed before coming to the table (LUKE 11:38). This was not so much a point of hygiene, as it might be in our society: but Jesus’ response in the following verse rather suggests that the attitude of the man was that it was somehow ‘unholy’ not to wash.
We are reminded of another Pharisee who, having himself failed to offer Jesus water to wash His feet, yet complained when Jesus allowed an ‘unholy’ woman to wash His feet with her hair and tears (cf. Luke 7:36-50). If outward cleanliness is an issue then it seems somewhat inhospitable to receive a visitor to our table without first advising them where the appropriate facilities are located!
Jesus pointed out how ridiculous it was to have a religion that was only interested in external things. “Ye Pharisees make clean the outside” but “your inward part” is full of ‘plunder’ and wickedness (LUKE 11:39).
“Fools!” pronounced Jesus. ‘Did not He that made the outside make the inside also?’ (LUKE 11:40). Our lives consist in more than just our bodies: we have a heart, and a soul. ‘Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart’ (1 Samuel 16:7). So we are told, ‘Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life’ (cf. Proverbs 4:23).
“But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto you” (LUKE 11:41). First offer up to God what is inside, the inner man. This the Macedonians did, when they ‘gave their own selves to the Lord’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:5). Thereafter all that you offer outwardly, flowing from a heart that is right with God, will be accepted by God (cf. Romans 12:1).
The six woes that follow indicate to us how horrible hypocrisy is in Jesus’ sight!
1). The Pharisees went to extremes in their scrupulosity in small things, making sure they paid the tithe on garden herbs and the like, whilst ‘passing over’ weightier things like justice toward men. and love toward God (LUKE 11:42). The Pharisee boasted, ‘I give tithes of all I get’ (cf. Luke 18:12). But what good is all that if we lack the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (cf. Galatians 5:22-23)?
2). They loved to sit in the the choicest places in the synagogues, and to be greeted in the market places (LUKE 11:43). As to the first, such behaviour guest shows a complete lack of humility. As to the second, they 'loved the praise of men more than the honour of God' (cf. John 12:43).
3). The next “woe” exposes the veneer of a decaying religion (LUKE 11:44). It is nothing more than a cover for all kinds of hypocrisy and deceit.
A “lawyer” argued, “Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also” (LUKE 11:45).
4). There is a tendency to set man-made rules above God’s Word (LUKE 11:46). This was allegedly done with a view to clarifying the law, but in fact transformed it into an impossible burden for the people. Those who make Christianity to be about ‘do this, and don’t do that’ will very rarely lift a finger to help those who are genuinely struggling to enter the kingdom of God. This stands in stark contrast to the easy ‘yoke’ of Christ (cf. Matthew 11:28-30).
5). Jesus next exposes the hypocrisy of honouring the tombs of the prophets of old whom their fathers killed. By doing so they were complicit in the crime (LUKE 11:47-48). “Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets that was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation…” (LUKE 11:49-51). There seems to be an inevitability about this, but Jesus was still reaching out the olive branch. The nation still had as much as a “generation” (c. 40 years) to repent. The Jewish mission would continue after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven, at least as long as the Temple still stood. No-one may complain about any lack of ‘long-suffering’ on the part of God (cf. 2 Peter 3:9)!
6). Jesus spoke against those leaders who not only refuse the offer of the gospel for themselves, but also prevent others from following Jesus. Their equivalent today will try to talk ‘born-again’ Christians out of their new-found faith, no doubt intimidated by their enthusiasm. Their own religion is cold and formal and dead, and the last thing they want is outsiders coming into ‘their’ church and upsetting the status quo (LUKE 11:52).
Jesus’ enemies thereafter sought to trap him in His words (LUKE 11:53-54).
