Faithless Piety
Luke 11:20-44
Have you noticed that there are many people who picture the Lord Jesus’ earthly ministry as one of performing good deeds and miracles, while gently teaching love and peace and being surrounded by women and children? Well, you know, that’s only part of the picture we see recorded in the Bible. Jesus did graciously proclaim the truth, but He also very strongly confronted those who twisted and perverted the truth. He pulled no punches when correcting those who intentionally used the word of God toward their own ends.
It is also true that He promised an eternity in heaven for all those who received Him, but those who didn’t receive Him were severely warned that everlasting torment in hell was in their future. Jesus, the incarnate word of God was the living personification of the law of God, and therefore could not avoid conflict with sin and error, for to do so would dilute the truth of God and elevate sin and error in the sight of men.
In one way or another, all people affirm the importance of truth. Day in and day out, everyday dealings in temporal life depends on people telling the truth, and without a general guiding principle of truth to live by, life would disintegrate and become chaotic. This is why we tend to distance ourselves from liars, and at times we even hold them legally accountable for the things they say and the lies they spread. Temporal truth is usually held in high regard among reasonable people, but spiritual truth is infinitely more important because there is nothing more important to mankind than knowing the truth about the salvation that God offers everyone who has faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
There are those though, who don’t think this way. Some, rather many, would conform truth to fit their own narrative. We see this in politics all the time. Truth gets bent and molded into something that fills a perceived need or a certain result that a person desires. It’s a tactic often used by politicians and their handlers, but its origin is Satan himself. The Son of God told us that the devil is a liar and the father of lies who opposes truth, and especially spiritual truth.
Ever since the dawn of time, Satan’s kingdom of darkness has spawned an endless stream of religious liars and spiritual deceivers who lead people astray from God’s truth. And in our modern age, with the widespread use of the media, truth has taken a back seat to a new “truth” called tolerance and diversity, which has given us a generation of people who are unwilling or unable to distinguish between what is truth and what is a lie. Even people who say they are Christians today would tolerate false teachers in the name of love and tolerance rather than acknowledging the reality that they are deceivers and liars, who are Mat 7:15 …false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
For example, have you ever had someone say, “You’re not supposed to judge” when you speak of a teacher or preacher, usually a popular one like Joel Osteen, Kenneth Hagan, Benny Hinn, and the like, and say that they are in error and a false teacher teaching a false gospel? Instead of combating error among Christians and in the Church, they’d rather allow them to continue in the name of unity, love, and tolerance. But isn’t this mentality the reason why the UMC is a failing Church and the reason why so many are leaving and joining something else, like the GMC?
The Jesus of the Bible was and is loving and merciful, but rather than turning aside and allowing liars to prevail in the church, He aimed His most severe warnings and judgments against those who outwardly seemed to be faithful and deeply religious, but inwardly were shallow, vain, and hypocritical.
Such were the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, along with the Scribes and Sadduccees as well. Now, this doesn’t apply to the few among those groups who were sincere seekers of truth and lovers of God, but the majority were not that way. Friends, being religious is not a virtue, and false religion is not man ascending upward toward God but descending downward toward blasphemy and depravity.
False prophets and false teachers are hypocrites who create the illusion of being something they are not. Their outward display of piety in reality is a faithless piety with no spiritual power. Regardless of how many followers they may have or how popular they are on TV, radio, or the internet, they cannot save, and they are to be avoided at all costs.
In our text today, Jesus had just taught the disciples to pray, healed a deaf mute of a demon, been accused of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, He then corrected that false and slanderous accusation, warning the Pharisees against judgment to come because of their shallow, empty, and judgmental religion. He told them that the most evil and wicked empires throughout history will be judged less harshly than they themselves would be because those evil empires didn’t have the advantage of having the One who was greater than Solomon and greater than Jonah among them like the Pharisees had.
Then after these things, Luk 11:37 …a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So, He went in and sat down to eat. So, the scene changes and I assume that one of the Pharisees who had been listening to Jesus invited Him to come and dine with him. Now, it wasn’t uncommon that a Pharisee would invite a well-known itinerant teacher to share a meal, and this isn’t the first time that Jesus had entered a Pharisees house for that purpose, but what is interesting is that this invitation came after His rebuke of the Pharisees for accusing Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub.
Now, it could be that this particular Pharisee wasn’t part of that group, so he might not have felt the sting of the Lord’s rebuke. After all, eating a meal was a sign of friendship and fellowship, so it’s doubtful that he considered himself an enemy of Jesus, at least, not yet. So, when Jesus entered his home and sat down to eat, this Pharisee Luk 11:38 …marveled (or was surprised) that He had not first washed before dinner.
In our society, we try to wash our hands with soap and water and maybe use some disinfectant to clean our hands before we eat so we won’t get sick or spread germs that might be on our hands. But the Pharisees would only do a ceremonial washing with water as a ritual to remove defilement from being in contact with the world. They would dip, or literally baptize their hands in a bowl of water and then dry them. Now, Jesus wasn’t against washing, but He was against empty rituals that gave a person a false sense of righteousness. So, His failure to follow this tradition may well have been intentional, knowing that it would be confrontational.
Now, it doesn’t say anywhere that the Pharisee said anything, but Jesus knew what he was thinking, and it gave Him the opportunity to preach another sermon to highlight the exaggerated importance they gave to minor issues. I’ve called this sermon “Faithless Piety” because in it, the Lord shows the Pharisees for what they truly are. They are hypocrites who nullify the law of God with their traditions. The righteousness they think they have is an illusion, and their pious behavior is empty and void of faith.
Luk 11:39-41 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. (40) Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? (41) But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.
Jesus didn’t ceremonially wash His hands according to their customs, but the issue wasn’t His cleanliness, the issue was the Pharisees traditions. You see, ceremonial washing before meals isn’t a requirement in the OT, but it is emphasized in the extrabiblical Traditions of the Elders. Now, later on, sometime in the 3rd century, these traditions would be compiled together into what is known today as the Mishna.
This analogy of the cup and platter exposed the reality of the true condition of the Pharisees. A cup, or a serving dish that is washed on the outside can look nice and clean, but it’s the inside that counts. I mean, regardless of how clean the outside is, who wants to drink anything from a cup, or eat anything off a platter that was dirty on the inside? We want the whole thing to be clean, don’t we? And of the two sides, it’s the inside that is most important, not the outside.
Through their traditions, the Pharisees made a good showing of their righteous deeds by calling attention to their alms giving, by loudly praying in public, and making sure it was easy to see when they were fasting. They took pains to tithe even the smallest of herbs from their gardens. They wouldn’t carry a small stick on the Sabbath, and they would painstakingly measure the distance all around their homes so they would know when they had reached the end of their Sabbath Day Journey which limited the distance they could walk on a sabbath, which was around ¾ of a mile, or 1 kilometer.
It was things like these that were a staple of their religion. Their piety was composed of small observances, of conformity to prescriptions and proscriptions which only touched the outside but never penetrated the inner sanctuary. They only affected the body but not the soul. But all of this only hid the robbery and wickedness that was in their hearts. So, Jesus called them “foolish ones” which is someone who is demonstrating ignorance or being unwise by not applying what they should know.
They were foolish because they should have known that God made both the outside and the inside, and if they truly wanted to be clean and undefiled, then the inside would also have to be clean. True righteousness arises from a heart that has been changed and made clean, so Luk 11:41 …give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.
Or in other words, give yourselves to God first and do your acts of righteousness to please Him instead of pleasing others. If you can’t do that, then you’ve missed the whole point. So, He proceeded to point out some traditions they practiced that had little to do with godly-righteousness and everything to do with self-righteousness.
Luk 11:42 …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.
The Pharisees tended to major in the minors. There is not an OT requirement to tithe of such things as the herbs of a garden, but it does command them to pay various tithes such as the first fruits of the harvest. But this specifically had to do with what came from their crops such as grain, new wine, oil, and their livestock. Even the oral traditions of the elders specifically exempted rue from the tithe, but the Pharisees did it anyway.
Now, Jesus wasn’t upset that they were being so careful as to go to extremes in keeping God’s commandments about tithing, and He even said that these were things that they should not neglect. However, He did use that extreme tithing of unimportant herbs to contrast their disregard for God’s commandments concerning justice and loving God which were far more serious.
Justice is far more important to God than giving herbs, and its importance is repeated many times in the law. For example, Deu 16:19-20 You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. (20) You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you. Deu 27:19 'Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.' And we’re also told that one of the purposes of Proverbs is Pro 1:3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity;
You see, the justice that we are to seek isn’t simply justice for ourselves, but justice for everyone. And another thing about justice is that it’s not only about legal matters such as balanced scales or repaying the owner of an animal you borrowed which died while in your service, but it also concerns social matters as well. God wants us to deal faithfully and righteously with everyone we come in contact with. We are to deal fairly with them in our business dealings, but we should also be concerned with how others are treated in and by our society. When we see someone being treated unjustly, then we should be willing to step in and help them and advocate for them.
The Pharisees thought that they were diligent in keeping the law, but they actually perverted it with their traditions and stripped justice away from certain people, like for example when Jesus confronted them about their practice of corban Mar 7:11-13 But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban"—' (that is, a gift to God), (12) then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, (13) making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do."
And their system of taking oaths enabled them to swear a promise and then easily break it Mat 23:16-17 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' (17) Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
When it came to loving God, we find that the very heart of the law is the Shema, which observant Jews actually had written and stuffed inside their phylacteries and mezuzahs. Deu 6:4-5 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! (5) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Jesus exposed their misplaced priorities and challenged them to set themselves right by seeking justice and loving God without neglecting their practices of tithing. And friends, even today, tithing is important, but giving from the heart is what counts with God... 2Co 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Next, Jesus exposed their pride in position when He said, Luk 11:43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
The Scripture tells us that Jas 4:6 …"GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." And Proverbs warns us that Pro 29:23 A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor. If the Pharisees truly believed and followed the word of God, they should have known from their own history to refrain from exalting themselves. But instead, they actively sought positions of honor and public attention.
You know, this idea of chief seats, or best seats in the synagogue might seem a little foreign to many of us, but I’ve seen this very thing in churches I’ve attended throughout my life. The Pharisees wanted to be seated in the places of prominence in their synagogues or during banquets, and we see this practiced in our churches even today. Many churches have special seats up on the stage behind the pulpit for the pastor and other leaders to sit on. Some of those seats look more like thrones than anything else. I’ve never liked that setup and have always refused to sit on one of those thrones even when I’ve been asked to do so. It never seemed right to be singled out and elevated high above everyone else.
The Pharisees also wore special clothing everywhere they went so that everyone would know that they were a part of that religious order and they’d be greeted and recognized in the market and other places around town. And the recognition I’m talking about here isn’t the simple, “Hello. How are you doing?” that we might give or receive from someone. No, I’m talking about greetings that were more elaborate and designed to show honor and would include gestures and titles. And you know, when I picture this in my mind I can’t help but think about pastors today who walk around wearing collars and other such things which single them out from everyone else.
Folks, pride isn’t something that we only read about in the Bible, and Jesus’ warning against it needs to be taken to heart in ourselves today. We should follow James’ advice when he told us to Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. And if you are seeking to truly live for the Lord’s glory instead of your own, this shouldn’t be a problem. Our lives should reflect a humble spirit that esteems others as better than ourselves.
And now the Lord’s 3rd woe exposes the dangerous path the Pharisees walk. Luk 11:44 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."
Friends, hypocrites will not only be judged for their hypocrisy, but also for the influence they have on others. Despite their outward show of holiness, Jesus likened them to concealed tombs whom people walk over without knowing it. So, without knowing it, everyone they encounter is defiled. Their outward appearance of spirituality caused others to follow after them, thinking they were walking in the ways of righteousness when in fact they were being led into unrighteousness and lawlessness. Their traditions invalidated the law and those who followed after them were becoming polluted without even realizing it. Like Jesus said, they were blind leading the blind, and both will fall into the pit.
Today, Christianity has many that are just like them. Whitewashed tombs that are difficult to recognize. They may claim to be evangelical, but they replace the authority of the Bible with their own theologies, philosophies, or traditions. They bend the Scriptures to suit their own purposes, and in doing so they cause many to fall. They will shade or soften the truth of the Bible, trying to make it more palatable to modern tastes. You won’t hear them speak of coming judgment, wrath, or the truth of eternity in hell.
But friends the Bible tells us that Jer 23:28-29 "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?" says the LORD. (29) "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
God expects His word to fall like a hammer to break up the hard and rocky heart! A good preacher will never shade or soften the truth. He won’t preach God’s word unlovingly, but he will always preach it unflinchingly. That is how Jesus preached this sermon. Sadly though, the response of the Pharisees confirmed what Jesus had exposed.
Luk 11:53-54 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, (54) lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.
They did the opposite of what Jesus intended for them. They refused to change. Don’t be like them. Embrace the truth and take comfort in God’s grace and mercy, and humbly strive to make whatever changes are needed.
Rejoice that God’s love extends even to you as you are today, but know this, His love is also so great that He will not allow you to remain as you are. He will change you, if you will submit to Him.
Invitation
