The Characteristics of a Pharisee

Opening Comments:

Please meet me in Luke 11:37-54 in your copy of God’s word. If you are using one of our church provided Bibles you can find your place on pg. 817 and continuing on to pg.818. This is God’s Word, let’s see what it has for us.

Luke 11:37–54 ESV

37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. 42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.” 45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people 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 whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” 53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

Prayer:

"Dear Heavenly Father,

As we gather to explore Your Word today, we come humbly, acknowledging our own tendencies towards hypocrisy and self-righteousness. We recognize that, like the Pharisees, we often focus on external appearances rather than internal purity.

Lord, we ask that You would shine Your light into our hearts, revealing areas where we may be prioritizing our own status, power, and control over true faithfulness and mercy. Help us to see ourselves as You see us, and to repent of our own Pharisaical tendencies.

As we delve into Luke 11, we pray that Your Spirit would convict us, transform us, and guide us towards a more authentic, humble walk with You.

May our time in Your Word today be a mirror to our souls, a call to repentance, and a catalyst for growth in Your likeness.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen."

Introduction

The people who plagued Jesus ministry with the most opposition, and ultimately his crucifixion were a part of the religious system of Judaism known as Pharisees. Within the Pharisees were many who were also scribes (called lawyers here.) These were the most revered Pharisees because they were considered experts in the Jewish law and the rabinic traditions.

They were not all bad people.

John MacArthur in his commentary on Luke shares a snapshot of their history with us:

The Pharisees originated during the intertestamental period, likely as an offshoot of the Hasidim (the “pious ones,” who opposed the Hellenizing of Jewish culture under the wicked Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes). Unlike the Sadducees, who tended to be wealthy priests or Levites, the Pharisees were laymen, generally from the middle class. Although few in number (there were about 6000 at the time of Herod the Great), their popularity with the people throughout the land gave them significant influence in the Sanhedrin

John MacArthur, Luke 11–17, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2013), 97.- Briefly introduce the Pharisees and their reputation

Most of them were genuine devotees to God and to Judaism. However, today when we mention the Pharisees we tend to condemn them in entirety as hypocrites, but Jesus never did that. He only condemned those who were actually hypocrites.

In fact even in Talmudic literature, particularly in “Sota 22b” there are seven different types of Pharisees listed. 5 are hypocritical and two are not. Listen to this description:

1) the “shoulder” Pharisee, who wears his good actions on his shoulder for all to see; (2) the “wait-a-little” Pharisee, who finds excuses for putting off a good deed; (3) the “bruised” Pharisee, who to avoid looking at a woman runs into walls; (4) the “pestle” or hunched-over Pharisee, who walks bent over in pretended humility; and (5) the “ever-reckoning” Pharisee, who is always weighing his good deeds against his bad. But also mentioned are (6) the “God-fearing” Pharisee, who lives in holy awe and the fear of God, and (7) the “God-loving” Pharisee, who loves God from his heart.

Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 340–341.-

The first five types are the ones who Jesus Jesus interacted with the most and who caused him the most problems because they were the least genuine in their devotion.

Our text today opens up with Jesus being invited to dine in the home of a Pharisee. It’s likely that this man had been in the audience of Jesus and was interested enough that he wanted to hear more, so he invited him to a meal.

When Jesus went to the man’s home, he immediately went and reclined at the table (The traditional way of sitting at an informal meal) and began eating. He did not stop and wash his hands. This act astonished the Pharisee. Now to us we might see that as unhygienic, but the Pharisees did not wash their hands before a meal for the sake of hygiene. It was done as a from of ritual purity.

Their traditions taught that a person’s hands had been in contact with a sinful world; therefore, the person was to wash his hands before eating to prevent impurity from entering into his body.

Jesus not stopping to do this had offended the Pharisee and he began thinking to himself that Jesus had deeply violated the Law of God. Jesus being God in the flesh, knew this man’s thoughts and in v39-54 begins to reveal and condemn this mans thoughts and actions as being hypocritical.

The condemnation to the Pharisees comes in the form of six “woes” (“Woe”- is a pronouncement of judgement.)

From Jesus condemnation of this man’s behavior we learn

The Characteristics of a Pharisee.

1.) They focus purely on the external. (v.39-41)

Luke 11:39–40 ESV

39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?

Jesus makes this point again by object lesson saying that the Pharisees are like someone who cleans up the outside of a cup and a dish but leaves the inside dirty.

They loved their religious ceremonies, and doing things that make them look outwardly righteous but inwardly they are full of greed and wickedness.

Greed- is a word that means to plunder, to seize upon with force, or robbery.

Wickedness- state or condition of a lack of moral or social values, wickedness, baseness, maliciousness, sinfulness

Jesus was accusing them of being like someone who appeared to be an upstanding member of society but they were in fact committing robbery and lacked moral integrity.

They were outwardly devoted to ritual, ceremony and tradition but it was all a sham and they lacked real devotion.

They focused so much on the externals that they overlooked the sinful condition of their own hearts.

Instead of coming to God through the Messiah, they instead were relying on external righteousness to make them acceptable to God.

Friends this is impossible. We can never make ourselves clean enough outwardly to approach God. Works, religious ceremony, cleaning up of your life will do you no good if inwardly you are still sinful.

Romans 3:20 ESV

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Galatians 2:16 ESV

16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The inside must be clean and that only comes through faith in Christ. It is the heart that is the source of evil. It must be given to Christ, then the outside will be made clean. When we come to him with all that we are and have and cast ourselves upon Him for salvation, it is then we become clean.

That is what Jesus means in v.41

Luke 11:41 ESV

41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

2.) They major on the minor things and overlook the most important. (v.42)

Luke 11:42 ESV

42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

The Pharisees took tithing to the extreme as illustrated by Jesus here.

Tithing was a command of God in the Old Testament law. Deut 14 spelled out they the Jews were to tithe of their corn, oil, wine but the pharisees took it further than God did and extended the requirement to tithe to everything they grew. Even potted herbs used for cooking all the way down to the very leaves and stalks of these little plants. They were that fastidious.

Jesus is using this to illustrate the fact that they were so focused on the miniscule minutiae and making sure everyone got it right all the way down to stalk of the plants but then turned and overlooked big things like Justice and the love of God.

Justice- the way we treat others.

The love of God- The love he has given us and the love we have for him that extends to others.

3.) They crave prominence and honor among men. (v.43)

Luke 11:43 ESV

43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

Explain the setup of the seating in the synagogue

The Pharisees loved to sit in the seats down front that faced everyone else. As well they loved and demanded that people call them by titles of honor in the streets “Rabbi” because they had an insatiable desire for status.

Jesus isn’t condemning position or title, he is condemning their love for it.

Grasping for and demanding prominence is the exact opposite of biblical leadership. True spiritual leadership is marked by the same spirt of humility found in the Lord Jesus.

Matthew 23:8–12 ESV

8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

These men were so bent on seeking their own glory that they missed the glory of God in their midst. They were guilty of the sin of idolatry.

They had a facade of godliness were nothing more than hypocrites. They were religious frauds.

4.) They mislead others and cause them to become unclean. (v.44)

Luke 11:44 ESV

44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

According to the old covenant law, a Jew was considered ceremonially unclean if he were to come in contact with a corpse or a grave. (Numbers 19:11-22)

In Jesus day, in order to keep this from happening graves were coated with lime plaster (“white washed”) to make them visible, so that no one would accidently come in contact with one and become unclean.

Jesus compares the behavior of the Pharisees to an unmarked grave. Their behavior was so corrupt that they defiled anyone who came in contact with them.

People did not expect their deep spiritual corruption but it was there and it infected people with false ideas regarding God’s word and what it demanded.

This is what every false teacher does, they add to God’s word and corrupt it by making you think it says things it does not say and commands things it does not command.

Like the ceremonial washing of hands.

Titus 1:16 ESV

16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

5.) They create burdens (v.45-46)

As Jesus is saying these things regarding the Pharisees, there is a lawyer present in the room who speaks up. Lawyers (Scribes) were Pharisees whose soul responsibility was interpreting the law of God to make it clearer, and easier to follow.

The only issue is they had done the exact opposite. Their interpretations became known as the oral law. In fact, by the third century after Christ the oral law was finally published and included:

The Halachoth: rules that were to govern the ritual of worship.

The Talmud: made up of two parts.

⇒ The Mishnah: sixty-three discussions of various subjects of the law. (Hold up Mishna)

⇒ Germara: the sacred legends of the people.

Midrashim: the commentaries on the writings.

Hagada: thoughts on the commentaries.

Jesus words directed toward this Pharisee caused this man to be offended to the point that he spoke up in v.45.

So Jesus then includes the lawyers in his condemnation as well. Because, in their interpreting, all they had done was add burden to God’s people. They had gone beyond the law and added unnecessary restriction.

Luke 11:46 ESV

46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

Leon Morris writes,

On the sabbath, they taught, a man may not carry a burden “in his right hand or in his left hand, in his bosom, or on his shoulder.” But he may carry it “on the back of his hand, or with his foot or with his mouth or with his elbow, or in his ear or in his hair or in his wallet (carried) mouth downwards, or between his wallet and his shirt, or in the hem of his shirt, or in his shoe or in his sandal (Shabbat 10:3). Multiply this by all the regulations of the Law and ordinary people have a burden beyond bearing even to know what they might do and might not do. But there is also a multitude of loopholes for a lawyer who knew the traditions which enabled him to do pretty well what he wished.

(The Gospel According to St. Luke, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975], 205–6)

They heaped rules above God’s law that were nearly impossible to follow then condemned the peole for not following them. All the while finding ways to avoid the burdens they had made themselves.

They had no mercy or grace for the common person and were powerless to bring the people any favor from God.

This is exactly what legalism does. The exact opposite of what Jesus came to do.

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

6.) They make much of the past but dishonor the work of God in the present. (v.47-51)

Luke 11:47–51 ESV

47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.

In Jesus day, great respect was shown to Old Testament prophets so much so that they had actually built and were building tombs to honor these men. Then, if the tombs already existed they were constantly adorning them.

However, many of the prophets they honored, were actually despised in their day. It was all pretense.

Then, while they were praising the men of God of the past (who they would have condemned if they were alive today) they were rejecting the very Son of God and were seeking to have him murdered.

They were no different.

Jesus says that their judgement would be more severe than there forefathers because they had the privilege of having God in their midst and still rejected him.

7.) They take away the truth of God. (v.52)

Luke 11:52 ESV

52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

As the Pharisee stresses the external ceremony over the heart of repentance they turn people away from the scriptures replacing them with their own ideas, thoughts, rules and regulations. Then, if that person does get beyond what they require and starts to look into the word of God for themselves, they will throw up every barrier they can in order to stop them.

They had taken God’s word and turned it into a rule book so confusing that no ordinary man could understand it wothout their guidance.

Friends, the word of God is simple and clear. You dont need me to understand it, you can read it for yourslef. There are no hidden codes, or agendas or meanings. It means what it means.

My job is to give you the clear meaning of the text just what it says and help apply it to our lives. Not to obscure it and make it difficult.

Conclusion:

The Pharisee and Lawyer responded to in a way that is typical for those who practice their type of legalism, they got angry.

Luke 11:53–54 ESV

53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

Don’t let that be you this morning, instead, let’s seek to avoid the mistakes of the Pharisee and lawyer.

How can we avoid these behaviors and become more like Jesus?

I think we can boil all of this down to two simple points of application:

Focus on an internal walk with God and not an external show.

Take the Word of God at face value. Major where it majors and let God sort out the rest.