Woe to the Pharisees
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Today an acceptable definition of hypocrisy is saying one thing yet doing another. However, this is another side of hypocrisy that is rarely mentioned. Doing the right things but loving the wrong. In this passage of scripture, we see a mixture of both.
To set the scene we will travel to Luke 11.
37 As he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at the table.
38 When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first perform the ritual washing before dinner.
39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.
40 Fools! Didn’t he who made the outside make the inside too?
41 But give from what is within to the poor, and then everything is clean for you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don’t know it.”
45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.”
46 Then he said, “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, and yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.
47 “Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 Therefore, you are witnesses that you approve the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments.
49 Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’
50 so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world—
51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. “Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible.
52 “Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.”
53 When he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to cross-examine him about many things;
54 they were lying in wait for him to trap him in something he said.
In this passage there are several clues given that let us know the criticisms given by Jesus to these religious leaders was intended to reveal to them they stood before God unclean.
Clue #1 Luke sets the scene by recording the reaction of the Pharisees to Jesus not indulging them in the ritual washing.
Clue #1 Luke sets the scene by recording the reaction of the Pharisees to Jesus not indulging them in the ritual washing.
Clue # 2 Jesus uses imagery such as the cleanliness of dishes and touching unmarked graves as a way to illustrate his purpose of His harsh response.
Clue # 2 Jesus uses imagery such as the cleanliness of dishes and touching unmarked graves as a way to illustrate his purpose of His harsh response.
Clue # 3 Jesus chief complaint about religious throughout the gospels.
Clue # 3 Jesus chief complaint about religious throughout the gospels.
39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.
40 Fools! Didn’t he who made the outside make the inside too?
To show them their uncleaness Jesus makes 6 “woe” statements.
In this passage Jesus uses the word “woe” 6x. Each time it was directed against an action of the religious that revealed a unclean heart condition.
The Word “woe” means,
Both wrath and sorrow, anger and pity. There is no single English word to express what it means. It is a grieving denunciation; a sorrowful wrath; a pitying anger. It is a godly threat.
Woe # 1 - Giving without Loving
Woe # 1 - Giving without Loving
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.
These guys were so meticulous in tithing everything. They didn’t even miss tithing their herbs. Yet in all of this meticulousness, Jesus accuses them of missing the main focus of the Law. To love God and to Love others.
At times it is easy for us also to lose site of why we do things, isn’t it? How often do we evaluate our actions even our good ones by God’s purpose behind it.
Why do I attend church? Because I love God and Love people.
Why do I serve? Because I love God and love people
Why do I work? Because I love God and love people
Why do I do anything that I do? Because I love God and love people.
Woe # 2 - Loving Themselves
Woe # 2 - Loving Themselves
43 “Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
Woe # 3 - Spreading their Uncleanness
Woe # 3 - Spreading their Uncleanness