Luke 11:37-54
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
When the media talks about religious people, for the most part we are all lumped together as “people of faith.”
and...
increasingly, that is used to distinguish us from “people of science.”
(( absurd distinction - a proper view of God only enhances one’s interest in actual science because we know that...
God created a universe that operates by His testable, repeatable laws...
and...
We can learn some things about God by studying His handiwork. ))
We all know that among religious people, the world has a hierarchy of acceptability.
In America today the lowest people on the acceptability scale are biblical Christians.
because...
We have a fixed point of reference, the Bible, that does not allow us to embrace whatever the culture tells us to embrace.
The world thinks that religion makes people judgmental, intolerant, and mean.
==
The thing is - they are exactly right - about almost all religion.
I hear Christians say that Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship.
I know what they mean and I sympathize with this notion...
but...
James wrote that.
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James wasn’t ready to abandon the word religion altogether...
so...
we probably shouldn’t either.
We need to realize, though, that false religion is dangerous and damning.
Jesus hated it.
Those who follow false religions may kill people and blow up buildings...
or...
they may be really friendly and great neighbors...
but...
both types of false religion cause people to follow a path of destruction that leads the souls of men and women to hell.
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All false religion is hypocrisy.
They claim to know God, while they are far away from Him.
Let’s take a moment to define hypocrisy.
There is a great song by Crowder in which he calls himself a hypocrite.
I think I know what he means.
I believe he means that he does not live up to what a Christian ought to be all the time.
Niether do I.
That isn’t really what a hypocrite is though.
A hypocrite is one who pretends to be something he is not.
If I claim to be sinless and holy in my behavior and I’m not, then I am a hypocrite.
If I claim to be a sinner who is saved by God’s grace and mercy, who God is in the process of perfecting...
that is true.
We will see today that Jesus unloaded with both barrels on religious hypocrites.
Let’s pray that we won’t be in that crowd...
and...
that we can reach those who are, before it is too late.
PRAY
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.
Hypocrites only clean the outside.
Hypocrites only clean the outside.
In this passage we see a Pharisee invite Jesus over for a meal.
I don’t know that this was a trap.
It may have been, but it also may have been an honest attempt to understand Jesus a little better.
Jesus confronts him - really harshly - but what else could shake him out of his self-righteousness?
Look at v. 38
38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.
You might be thinking, “I’m with the Pharisee. You ought to wash before dinner.”
but...
This is not a matter of hygene.
The Pharisees had a practice of ceremonial washing where they took a little bit of water and poured it on their fingertips and let it run down to their wrists.
They even had a tradition for how much water was to be used.
I think it was enough water to fill one and a half egg shells.
This was a ceremonial tradition - nothing more.
You see, they wanted to make sure they didn’t eat without this ceremony just in case they had touched something unclean.
Jesus was going to teach them, if they were willing to hear, that their internal uncleanness was a much bigger problem.
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?
Washing dishes and only worrying about the outside.
Restaurant - look to see if plate and utensils are clean - ever pick up the plate to examine the bottom?
The parts that touch the food are what we care about most.
Hypocrites worry about only what the outside looks like.
Disciples of Jesus worry about what the inside is really like.
Now, we should concern ourselves with the outside also...
41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
If the inside is actually in order then the outside will reflect that.
None of us has it all together - we all know that...
but...
we are to have good reputations and be good neighbors, etc.
The point is that...
Hypocrites spend their time and energy hiding what is inside.
Christians spend their time and energy cleaning up what is inside through the power of the Word and the Spirit.
So, to go back to Jesus’ analogy...
If we liken a hypocite to a cup and a genuine believer to a cup, these two cups may look the same on the outside...
but they are very different on the inside.
Jesus goes on to point out another trait of hypocrites.
Pharisees focus on the wrong things.
Pharisees focus on the wrong things.
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.
Jesus is not fussing at them for tithing their little herbs...
but...
He is pointing out how ridiculous it is for them to pretend that something like that can take the place of...
justice and the love of God.
This is a really good time for you to consider what you focus on when it comes to your faith.
Justice - Pro-life, human trafficking
Great Commandment
Great Commission
Do you focus on reading a devotional and saying prayers before meals, but neglect seek justice?
These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Please take a moment and answer that question honestly in your mind...
Do you focus on reading a devotional and saying prayers before meals, but neglect to love God and love people?
Do you focus on reading a devotional and saying prayers before meals, but neglect to make disciples?
You can change out those first two things depending on your age.
Maybe for you it is more like...
Do you focus on listening to K-love and Christian podcasts, but neglect to make disciples?
The point I am trying to get across is exactly that which Jesus made.
Don’t focus on other things, even good things at the expense of the best things.
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If we are honest...
I think most of us got hit by some shrapnel from this part of what Jesus said.
If there is some tendency for us to be a Pharisees in this area, we should
admit it
repent of it
and
fix it.
I told you folks, when I preach you get confronted with stuff and you have to make a decision.
Make the right decision.
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Pharisees liked to be seen doing religious stuff.
You might be a hypocrite if you only do religious stuff when somebody is around to see.
(( dishes ))
Focusing on recieving glory in your religious practice instead of giving God glory is definitely a focus on the wrong thing.
False teachers and hypocrites lead others astray.
False teachers and hypocrites lead others astray.
44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
A Jew became ceremonially unclean if he touched a dead body.
The Pharisees had extended that to touching a grave.
Jesus was telling them they were causing spiritual uncleanness through their hypocritical teaching and behavior.
One of these religious lawyers, or scribes, was there and he complained about what Jesus was saying.
That was a bad idea, because he just drew Jesus’ fire toward him.
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.”
Jesus is like, “no kidding.”
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.
We can all think of recent examples of politicians with the attutude of do what I say but not what I do.
They tell people they can’t eat out in a restaurant and they get caught eating at a restaurant without a mask in sight.
That kind of hyocrisy has always been repulsive.
Jesus calls them out on it.
Rules for thee, but not for me.
47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.
They were trying to give the impression they were better than their fathers.
They would not have killed God’s prophets - they would have listened.
This is clearly not true because they were going to kill God’s ultimate prophet, Jesus.
Look with me in
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.
These hypocritical Pharisees and their fathers who had killed God’s prophets had been accumulating guilt before God.
The dam of God’s longsuffering is about to break and release the reservoir of His wrath on this generation...
and...
Jesus is kind enough to warn them.
He warned them harshly, but they needed a wake-up call.
Religious people who aren’t true disciples of Jesus are the hardest people to reach with the gospel.
Why?
Because, as we talked about last week, they are self-righteous.
If one of those folks is here today, you know what they are thinking right now?
“Those self-righteous people sure are hard to reach. I am glad I am not one of them.”
The Christian knows, and truly believes, that his righteousness is a foreign righteousness credited to him rather than...
earned by him.
Keep in mind though that the hypocrite and the disciple - they are like cups that both look clean on the outside.
Don’t settle for appearances.
By repentance of your sins and faith in Jesus you can be cleansed inside and out.
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We can see why God’s judgment was going to be poured out specifically on this generation.
They would distill and concentrate the kind of hypocrisy shown by their fathers in the rejection and murder of the prophets...
by rejecting and murdering God’s own Son.
Jesus gives this same warning in parable form in...
9 And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.
10 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.
13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’
15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”
(( surely not, God forbid, may it never be, may this never happen ))
They were scandalized at the thought!
Their response reminds me of the response of the people to the prophecies of Malachi.
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
They are like, “who? us?”
Yes, indeed.
The religious leaders were leading people astray in Malachi’s day.
They were still at it in Jesus’ generation.
and...
They are still going strong today.
Be careful who you listen to.
You need to be able to trust your...
banker
Dr.
pharmacist
but they can only mess up your finances and your health.
A false teacher and a hypocrite can lead you into hell.
Look with me...
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.”
They not only failed to help people come to God, they actually hindered them.
What a terrible judgment awaited them!
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The last thing I want us to see is that...
Religious people without Jesus are intolerant of truth.
Religious people without Jesus are intolerant of truth.
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.
Their hypocrisy was exposed and they were livid.
Unfortunately, that is most often the response of the religiously self-righteous.
That reinforces our teaching from the other week about how the self-righteous are actually worse off than the blatantly sinful.
That is why I said that Satan would rather you go to hell from the pew than the gutter.
You have a lot more potential to take people with you from the pew.
What do we do?
What do we do?
If you have only been worried about the outside of the cup, then you need to come to Jesus who can clean the inside and the outside.
What that means is repentance and faith.
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If you, like the Pharisees, have been paying attention to the smaller, less important things...
and...
neglecting the main thing, then repent and re-prioritize.
What are the main things?
I hope we all know, but let’s review.
Justice - there are lots of injustices we can work on - abortion, human trafficking just to name two
The Great Commandments
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
The Great Commission
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
As a church we need to prioritize the main things.
As we plant a church, we need to prioritize the main things.
If this church is to survive and then thrive it will be because we prioritize the main things.
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salvation
membership
prayer