Heading in the Wrong
Direction
Luke 11:37-54
©Copyright
June 20, 2010 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche
SERIES: Walking with Jesus
I don’t
know anyone who likes to receive negative
feedback. Sometimes we may need
correction but that doesn’t mean we will ever like it. I am pretty sure that even
people who work in the “complaint department” don’t like to hear people
complain. . . even when the complaints are
justified.
In our
text this morning in Luke 11 Jesus leveled some tough words on the Pharisees
and Teachers of the Law. Our natural reaction is going to be to resist these
words of correction. I encourage you this morning to resist that very human
tendency to make excuses. Instead, let’s listen carefully to what Jesus said so
that we can avoid some of the mistakes the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law
made.
The
account begins, “a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and
reclined at the table.” The Pharisees didn’t like Jesus but they invited Him to
dinner. Jesus knew they didn’t like Him and went anyway . . . most likely
looking for an opportunity to reach them and to teach others.
What
provokes the discussion to follow was the fact that Jesus did not “wash his
hands”. This was not about hygiene, it was about ceremony. The Pharisees and
teachers of the Law had added many regulations designed to strengthen the Law
of God. Their laws told you how much water to use, how to pour the water over
your hands and more. It is possible Jesus ignored these practices simply to
make a point. Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking and he said,
“Now then, you
Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of
greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who
made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give what is inside
the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
Jesus moved the focus from the
external to the internal. These leaders were concerned about the external appearance
of holiness but gave little attention to the heart. I believe this is the
“general indictment”. What follows are six specific charges. Three are directed
to the Pharisees and three to the Teachers of the Law. We’re going to look at
each one.
Selective
Obedience
The first of the three charges to the
Pharisees, was that they were guilty of selective obedience.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of
your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and
the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the
former undone.
The New Living Translation translates
“woe”, “What sorrow awaits you!” Jesus pictures the sorrow of Judgment and Hell
that await those who do what the Pharisees are doing. This is serious stuff.
You can say all you want about the
Pharisees but they did know how to tithe. In fact they became somewhat maniacal
about their tithe. If they found a dime on the sidewalk they were diligent to
give God a penny from that dime. If they raised 100 tomatoes they made sure
they gave 10 of those to the Lord.
Jesus does not condemn their diligence
in the area of tithing. He said “you should have practiced the later”. In other
words He actually commends their diligence to honor God with their material
blessings.
The problem however was that these men
were not this diligent in every aspect of their lives. Jesus identified failure
in the areas of “justice and mercy”. In Micah 6:8 we read
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the
Lord require of you?
To act
justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The Pharisees had a tendency to
victimize the poor, the weak, and the needy. They were good with superficial
things but they were not very good in dealing with people . . . especially
those who were hurting or weak. True discipleship has a practical expression.
Unfortunately, there are still many in
the church who feel quite holy because they give 10% of their income to the
Lord. They seem to feel they have fulfilled their obligation. These same people
subject workers to dangerous conditions, cheat people of what they are owed,
overcharge for products, and pamper themselves while neglecting the needs of
others. They gossip, pander to their lusts, and have no control over their
anger. This is selective obedience and “great sorrow awaits” those who live
this way.
Sought
the Approval of Men Rather than the Approval of God
The second indictment is found in
verse 43,
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most
important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
These men were trying to impress the
wrong audience. They were living to impress others when they should have been
living to please the Lord. They wanted others to view them as spiritual and
significant. They wanted titles and public honors.
When we play to the crowd instead of
to the Lord we make sure that everyone is sees any act of kindness we do. We
make sure our name is prominent. Since
our desire is to look good before other we also hide our own struggles with
sin. When the spotlight turns to our struggles we try to divert attention to
the struggles of others. Consequently, we end up living very dishonest lives.
When we play to the crowd rather than
the “audience of one” we even begin to tailor our beliefs to whatever will
garner the applause of men. Before long
the message we proclaim is no longer the gospel.
We recognize this in teenagers and the
problem of peer pressure. When our desire to be accepted by the crowd is
foremost we will do what the crowd desires, even if it is foolish, sinful, or
illegal; rather than do what is right. When churches obsess over size more than
the fidelity or the truthfulness of the gospel that is proclaimed, they stop
talking about sin, repentance, the Lord’s discipline, and sacrifice. Instead
they focus on becoming “cool” and “hip”. It may be exciting for awhile but it
is leading down the wrong path.
They
Were Doing More Harm than Good
Jesus had one more woe for the
Pharisees.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which
men walk over without knowing it.”
Jewish law stated that any contact
with a dead body made a person religiously impure (they could not bring
offerings to the temple until they observed a period of purification). Touching
a person’s grave was the equivalent of coming into contact with a dead body.
Consequently, the Jews were very careful to mark graves. At festival times
tombs and gravesites were painted white so people could recognize them and keep
from defiling themselves and missing the festival.
Jesus was saying, “You guys who parade
yourselves as spiritual leaders are actually leading your people to Hell. Your
example, your character and your teaching is actually defiling people rather
than helping them find life. They were spreading an infection rather than
affecting a cure.
When we proclaim Christ and call
ourselves His followers yet live like the Devil, we are like unmarked graves. We
look good but we are leading people to defilement. Here’s the take home point: You
may give a bold testimony about your faith but if your life undermines that testimony,
you may actually be doing more harm than good.
They
Burdened People Instead of Helping Them
The teachers of the law were the
theologians of the day. One of these teachers was listening to the words of
Jesus and said, “Hey, you know your words are kind of insulting to us too.” The
word he used for insult is actually a very strong word. It is as if he was
saying, “You know, Jesus, you are slandering us also.”
Jesus’ response seemed to be: If you
want something to be offended about, let’s talk about you!
“And you experts in
the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly
carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. [46]
The first reason that “sorrow awaits”
the Lawyers was because they focused on rules rather than a relationship with
God. Every time you left a meeting with the theologians you felt like you
needed to work a little before you could be loved by God.
Don’t misunderstand what I am saying.
Certainly we need to be made aware of how far short we fall of God’s standard
for our lives. We do need to strive to live holy lives. However, we also must
proclaim the good news that God has sent His Son to die for those He knew were
sinners! God is not withholding His love until we become holy . . .He loves us
so much He wants to help us live in a right (or holy) relationship with Him.
If we get out of balance with the
message of the gospel you have two deadly extremes. The one group says: “I am
saved by grace so it doesn’t matter what I do.” The other group says, “I can’t
be saved until I conquer sin in my life . . . so what’s the use?” We are saved
by God’s grace so we can do good
works because of the new life in us.
We must be careful that we don’t
burden people down and do nothing to help them.
We must strive to be people who help
people carry their burden rather than simply give them more burdens to carry.
They
Were Repeating Deadly Patterns
What would you think of someone who
built a monument to Abraham Lincoln and was engaged in a contemporary slave market?
What would you think of someone who set up a monument to the Ten Commandments
yet refused to live by those commandments? We would call them hypocrites! They
would give the impression of honoring that which the monument represented while
at the same time denying that for which they stood.
In the fifth charge Jesus says these
teachers were doing the same thing. Let me read to you how the Message renders
these verses,
“You’re
hopeless! You build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed. The tombs you
build are monuments to your murdering ancestors more than to the murdered
prophets. That accounts for God’s Wisdom saying, ‘I will send them prophets and
apostles, but they’ll kill them and run them off.’ What it means is that every
drop of righteous blood ever spilled from the time earth began until now, from
the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was struck down between altar
and sanctuary, is on your heads. Yes, it’s on the bill of this generation and
this generation will pay.[1]
These men built monuments to prophets
who condemned the hardness of heart that was in their fathers. Their reaction
to Jesus shows that they had not reformed . . .they were just like their
fathers who had killed the very prophets they honored! (from A to Z Abel was
the first to be killed for His righteous faith and Zechariah would have been
the last to be killed in the Hebrew arrangement of the Old Testament).”
How does this relate to us? When we
buy the books of those who ridicule Christians, when we become fans of programs
that spit in the face of Christian belief, when we watch movies that glorify
sin . . . are we not doing the same thing as these lawyers? Are we not supporting and “building monuments”
to the very ones who are destroying our culture and standing against the
gospel?
They Are
Inhibiting True Knowledge of God
52 “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken
away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have
hindered those who were entering.”
These teachers were trying to turn
people away from Christ. In doing so they were taking away the key to
knowledge! Their talk was godly but they were working for the Devil! They
weren’t leading people to eternal life they were (unwittingly) leading them to
eternal torment. It is a devastating indictment for those who were teachers of
the Law!
Unfortunately, there are a whole host
of teachers and preachers today who wear scholarly titles and carry educational
degrees who spend their time explaining why the Bible does not mean what it says. They deny Biblical truth and twist it to say
something it does not. They deny basic doctrines
These people may be called “spiritual
leaders” but they are leading people away from truth and life rather than
towards it.
Conclusions
Jesus spoke these words to the
Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law but through the Bible the Holy Spirit
speaks them as warnings for our own lives.
Consequently, there are a couple of
responses we should have. First, we should be careful and discerning.
Not everyone who calls themselves a child of God is a child of God. Not
everyone who claims to be teaching the truth is teaching the truth. We can’t afford to be lazy. Great sorrow
awaits those who lead others astray . . . and great sorrow awaits those who
follow those false teachers.
To this end we must know what the
Bible actually says and we must read it carefully. We must ask God for a spirit
of discernment so we can distinguish between truth and error. When something
doesn’t sound quite right we need to check it out rather than shrug it off.
Second,
we must examine ourselves. It is much easier to see the faults of others than it is
to see our own failings. We don’t like criticism but we need to listen when
people point out inconsistencies in our lives. Rather than immediately defending
ourselves, we would be wise to listen and listen carefully to what others are
saying.
So let’s look at the charges again and
measure ourselves against them
The last verses of this passage are
sad,
53 When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of
the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54
waiting to catch him in something he might say. [NLT]
Rather than learn from the criticism
and insight of Jesus, these men set out to get rid of Jesus. Rather than consider
whether or not the criticism was justified they chose to eliminate their
critic. We face a similar choice. We can ignore the corrective words, we can pack
up our bags and go somewhere else, we can attack the critic, or we can ask the
Holy Spirit to help us hear the corrective words and make the necessary changes
in our life. This is our opportunity to check our course so we don’t end up headed
toward great sorrow but instead toward a great and wonderful reward.
©Copyright June 20, 2010 by Rev. Bruce
Goettsche SERIES: Walking with Jesus
[1] Peterson, E. H. (2002). The Message : The Bible in contemporary language (Lk 11:47–51). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.