Woe to the Pharisees
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Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “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.
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.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it.”
Introduction
Introduction
As we turn to the Scriptures this morning, we come to a passage that deals with the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. You'll recall in the context of our passages leading up to this present passage this morning, there have been a number of interactions between Jesus and the crowds along with the religious leaders. Over the past two weeks we've seen how Jesus confronted the People's wrong opinions about him. He's denounced their lack of belief in him. He essentially given them warnings about the failure to truly follow him as the Messiah.
But in the next two sections, that we will begin with this morning and then continue with next week, Jesus will proceed to pronounce woes upon those who not only have rejected him, but have rejected the ways of God and rather followed their own ways. In our passage this morning, we will look at the situation of the Pharisee that is denounced by Jesus, and next week will look at an expert in the law that is denounced by Jesus.
While in both cases, an individual is addressed, what we will find is that the Pharisees and the lawyers as groups were placing heavy burdens on the people around them in terms of their man-made requirements, and even their manner of life. Thus, as Jesus addresses these individuals, He truly speaks to the whole group of people as represented by the individual.
As we turn our attention to this passage this morning, the first thing that we will see from our passage is,
1. Outwardly Unclean (vv.37-38)
1. Outwardly Unclean (vv.37-38)
The context is set for us in verse 37 of our text. Keep in mind that there have been large crowds around Jesus. The crowds have witnessed his miracles that He’s been performing. The crowds have been listening to the teaching that he has been giving. And more recently, we've seen the manner in which Jesus has dealt with those who were seeking to oppose him.
As Luke records this occasion and interaction between the Pharisee in Jesus, the report to us flows directly out of what we've just considered. It is as if the Pharisee that approaches Jesus comes to Him from the crowd. Read verse thirty-seven with me.
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table.
Even though Jesus has so strongly opposed many in the crowd, including the Pharisees and religious leaders, a Pharisee comes to Jesus on this occasion and invites him to come to his house for a meal. Now, we need to understand that the Pharisee probably was not doing this because he wanted to try and learn something new from Jesus. No doubt he held to a similar view of Jesus to that which was held by those around him. This Pharisee was probably far more skeptical of Jesus than sympathetic.
But very important to note: Jesus accepted the invitation. This was something that was common to Jesus. When someone invited him to the house, he usually went and attended based on invitation. Jesus was not afraid to interact with people from all backgrounds, and to challenge these people where needed. In this case, it is an invitation by Pharisee, Jesus went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table in order to eat a meal.
It is in the eating of this meal, or at least during the course of the preparation to eat the meal, that the Pharisee notices that Jesus does not do something that would've been typical and familiar with him as a Pharisee. It is precisely because the Pharisee sees that Jesus is failing to do that which is so normal to his own life, that he brings an objection against Jesus.
We see this objection in verse thirty-eight...
38 But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.
As we consider this verse the most important thing to recognize is that the Pharisee was surprised at something that Jesus did, or rather that he failed to do. It states at the end of that verse that the Pharisee was surprised. The original word that is used is a little stronger than our English translation here. It really refers to shock, or amazement, or astonishment.
The reason for the shock / surprise is found in the immediate context of the passage, and it relates to something that the Pharisees regarded very highly, and that was the ceremonial washings that had to be performed according to their religious / cultural beliefs.
We need to understand something of the context of that day, and particularly what the Pharisees believed in terms of the ceremonial washings that were important before sharing around meal. Just to give you an example of what they believed, consider these verses with me.
3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
Mark is a little bit more clear in the way that he articulates the Jewish tradition. We do need to recognize that this was a tradition that was put in place by the Jewish elders. It is a tradition that continues even to our own day. Essentially, before eating a meal, it was required of the Jews to wash their hands in a particular manner. There was even a process that was outlined for how they would wash their hands in order to ensure that there were ritually clean.
We must recognise that originally the cleaning rituals flowed out of the desire to be ceremonially clean. They were developed in order to ensure that they as the chosen people of God did not render themselves unclean. They wanted to be pure. In this sense, we must have some sympathy with them in terms of their desire to do this.
They didn’t want to have anything to do with allowing impurities into their hearts and lives, and so this cleansing was more than just a mealtime practice. It was that which was done in order to ensure that they remained cleansed and pure before God. At least that’s what they thought they were doing.
We see that Mark included other practices in terms of the Jews and how they had to wash themselves when they came back from the marketplace. It also includes a remark that they were to wash cups, pitchers and kettles.
The reality was that there were all kinds of ritual washings and cleansings that were required as part of the Jewish way of life.
Having said all of that, what is essential that we understand from this is that this was never a requirement of God himself, but rather it was a tradition that was made by man. The Jewish elders created the tradition (albeit with good intentions) and then handed it down from generation to generation, and it became a way of life for them.
It is precisely this tradition that Jesus does not follow as he enters into the Pharisee's house. Now, it's important to note that Jesus would have been very well aware of the tradition of the Jews. He would've known that this was a typical thing for Jewish people to do. He also would've known that it was not going to be taken in a positive way by the Pharisee. Nonetheless, Jesus proceeds to sit down without having his hands washed, in all likelihood in order to create the context in which he could address the matter with the Pharisees, and engage with them.
The lesson that Jesus would bring across is an important one.
This leads us to consider our second main point...
2. Inwardly Unclean (vv.39-41)
2. Inwardly Unclean (vv.39-41)
In verse thirty-nine, Jesus begins to outline for this Pharisee where the fundamental flaw lies in terms of his emphasis on cleanliness. While in and of itself cleanliness is not a bad thing, the Pharisees fundamentally failed to understand the nature of man.
They fundamentally failed to recognize that you cannot obtain cleanliness by mere outward transformation.
(This is a very important lesson for us to keep on learning, even in our own day!)
Listen to how Jesus addresses this in verse thirty-nine:
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
Jesus immediately points out to the Pharisee the foolishness of their position to keep that which is external clean, whereas that which is internal remains unclean. In addressing this matter, Jesus speaks about the cup and the dish, and tells the Pharisees that they are cleaning the outside and making it look all polished and wonderful, whereas the inside remains unclean.
We need to recognize that Jesus was not saying here that this was a literal truth. Certainly they would've washed the inside of a cup and the dish. That is the most important part that needs washing whenever we wash dishes. Any reasonably soundly minded person would agree with this. The Pharisees would've agreed with this and they would've done this.
But Christ uses this picture as a reference to their own lives, in order to show them the absurdity of their position. Christ applied this picture directly to them. He speaks to the Pharisee, and confronts him with this picture, saying to him that while he and the other Pharisees are cleaning the outside of the body through their ceremonial washings, the inside of them was full of greed and wickedness. Christ immediately goes to the heart of the matter with the Pharisee, and points to the utter hypocrisy of their ways.
He goes on to say in verse forty:
40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
As this point, Jesus turns the attention of the Pharisee to his maker. What Jesus is saying is that the one who has made you does not only see what is outside and external to you. The one who made you sees that which is inside.
The Pharisees were putting on a display for people around them in order to show them that they were good people. They lived a life of external goodness and morality. They showed themselves off to people around them in society, but their lives were not what they appeared to be. The true Pharisee, within his own heart, was in a state of decay. In this sense, they were spiritually dead on the inside, and all their show was merely an external observance of rules and commands.
Christ clearly articulates to this Pharisee that there is nothing that is hidden from God.
This is a truth that is clearly borne out through Scripture.
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
3 “Boast no more so very proudly,
Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;
For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
And with Him actions are weighed.
37 “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple— 39 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), 40 so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.
9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
11 Death and Destruction lie open before the Lord—
how much more the hearts of men!
The very clear picture from Scripture is that God not only sees the heart of the man, but he actually tests the heart of the man. He knows the heart of a man. He knows what drives us as people. He knows, even better than we know, the reasons that we do the things that we do. Where we seek to deceive ourselves, God knows fully.
As Jesus speaks to this Pharisee, he is saying to him that God is weighing up what is on the inside of him. He might be able to fool the people around him. He might be able to put on a good show and show people that he is a righteous man, particularly when compared with them. But the real question is, what is the state of his heart? According to Christ, this Pharisee is not in a good place.
Notice what Jesus then goes on to say:
41 But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
This may appear to be a somewhat strange statement for Jesus to make at this point. But the message that he is conveying to this Pharisee is ultimately that he is a man of self-centeredness. His heart is self-centered. He is oriented entirely towards himself in terms of his conduct. He demonstrates very little care for those who were truly in need.
This is a common theme through the Old Testament. God had always desired His people to be a loving and caring community. Care for the needs of those around them, particularly the oppressed and the destitute, was to be one of the marks of God’s people.
While sacrifice and burnt offerings to God were important, there were also the important matters of justice and mercy.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the law of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;
16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
There are numerous other examples… but the point is clearly made, the Israelites in the Old Testament era were big on cermonial obedience, but their hearts were not right with God, and this evidenced itself in a failure to care.
We need to pause here, and consider the practical implications for us.
We live in a day where there is a heavy emphasis on the social gospel. And among reformed circles, the concern is clearly voiced that the social gospel is no gospel at all. What is meant by that is that it is not through socially oriented projects that salvation comes.
However, my concern is that there is a great danger that the Reformed Church will become just like Old Testament Israel was. We will be so careful to make sure that we don't preach a social gospel, that all will do is tell people about sin and the need for the Savior, the need for reconciliation with God (all these very important doctrinal matters) but then ignore the practical outworking of that in the world that is in need.
Yes, certainly there is a need for the gospel to be proclaimed. But there also physical needs to be met in the world. We cannot close our eyes to those. We cannot close our eyes to the need for justice in society among those who are oppressed, and then try to sanitize our approach with the reasoning that true justice is a gospel issue and God deals with that in Jesus Christ and therefore we don't have to care about the justice in the world.
I don't think that's a biblical position. Rather, throughout the Scriptures, God says that there ought to be a care that is demonstrated towards humanity. We are placed in this world to subdue the earth to rule over it. Part of that ruling over the earth is ensuring that Christians conduct themselves within the context of the world in a way that demonstrates God's care for his created world.
What do our actions towards those who are needy around us demonstrate about our hearts? Think about what James says in his letter:
27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
We can also think about the words of Jesus:
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
In that account Jesus makes it clear that when we care for the needs of the needy people around us, those of the occasions when we are actually serving Jesus Christ in this way.
Now, very importantly from this, we need to recognise that Jesus was demonstrating to this Pharisee that his outward acts of obedience to God in front of man was a very self-centered way of living. And it was evidenced in the fact that he was closing his eyes to those in need. By implication, the Pharisees lived in this way.
Jesus says to the Pharisee that if he truly had a heart, an inward dispotision that was right with God, it would be demonstrated or evidenced through his serving the needs of the hungry.
I do think it's worth adding here that very often Jesus targeted the area of the man and his life where he was most lacking, or where he was furthest away from Christ. So for the rich young ruler, Jesus said that he should give all that he has a way and come and follow Jesus. He knew that the rich young ruler didn't want to give his money away or let go of his money.
So in this case, Jesus recognizes that the Pharisee has a selfish heart and he cares little for those who are in need. Jesus thus addresses the heart of the Pharisee at the point where it most needs it.
This leads us to consider our third main point:
3. Woes to the Unclean (vv.42-44)
3. Woes to the Unclean (vv.42-44)
At this point Jesus begins to declare woes upon the Pharisees. Notice that he is not addressing this man in particular, but rather he is addressing the Pharisees as a group of people because of their conduct that is evident among them as a general principle. In other words this Pharisee was representative of the Pharisees in general.
As he does this, Jesus is pronounces a seires of woes against the Pharisees due to their prideful positions. There are three woes that are pronounced against the Pharisees.
Just before we delve into each of these woes that are pronounced by Jesus against the Pharisees, I think it's helpful to just remember what exactly a woe was. In summary form, the pronouncement of a woe was a cry of grief or horror. When Christ uses this word it conveys the threat of judgment and exclusion from salvation. Jesus is saying that these Pharisees are in danger of being cast away eternally from the presence of God.
With that in mind, let us consider the woes that are pronounced.
Firstly, we find:
3.1. Due to Injustice (v.42)
3.1. Due to Injustice (v.42)
In verse forty-two we read:
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 first word that Jesus pronounces upon the Pharisees relates to justice and love being neglected. Jesus says to the Pharisees that theirs is a group of people are very good at giving to God. They make sure that they give tithes in terms of all of their produce, offering up this tithe to God. But notice the detail that Jesus gives here. It speaks of mint, rue, and all other kinds of garden herbs. In other words, even in the smallest of the smallest of plants and herbs, the Pharisees are giving to God.
The Pharisees had the idea that through obedience to particular components they could demonstrate themselves to be worthy before God, and exalted among men. They thought of themselves as being good. And yes, in one sense what they were doing was good in that they ought to have been giving the tithe.
The problem was that they only did this in order to win favor with God and with men. They did not actually have a heart for loving people. They neglected justice and the love of God. In other words, they failed to ensure that justice was done in society and that love was shown to their fellow man.
When Jesus says here that they neglected the love of God, the emphasis was on the fact that that they neglected to demonstrate a love for God through the manner in which they treated their neighbor.
Notice Jesus’ rebuke to them. He says that they should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. In other words it was good and proper for them to give a tenth of all of their produce. They were required to do that. In fact, Jesus says most certainly they should not have left that undone. It was important.
However, in limiting what they were doing to this giving according to the letter of the law as they saw it, they were failing to act out a love for their fellow man. All of their giving had become about them. What they were doing was all about how they could advance themselves before God and man. At its root, this was self-centeredness.
Now we need to see that this was not some new commandment or new perspective that Jesus was bringing in. One of the very well-known verses in the Old Testament is Micah 6:8.
8 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.
Justice was required by God. It was commodity in the Old Testament Scriptures that Israel was to have a deep love for God, and to love their fellow man and they were to demonstrate this love in a variety of ways, not least of which was through promoting justice in society. They were to act kindly towards one another as a people. Sadly, they had failed in this.
This leads us to consider the second woe that was pronounced against them.
3.2. Due to Pride (v.43)
3.2. Due to Pride (v.43)
In verse forty-three we read:
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
Under this woe, Jesus addresses the matter of the pride in the lives of these Pharisees. Their lives had become about seeking honor and glory for themselves.
While they claimed to be the servants of God ministering in the temple and synagogues, they had in fact elevated themselves to a position that was above the rest of the people. They wanted their own honour.
Jesus says to the Pharisee here that these Pharisees love the most important seats in the synagogues. They delight in the fact that they can take up the seats that are honorable, so that the people around them will look to them as people of importance.
While the glory and honor was always meant to be going to God, the religious leaders were using their positions to promote themselves.
Further to this, Jesus is that they loved to receive the greetings in the marketplace. What the Pharisees of the day would do was that they would walk around in the marketplace with their long robes. They would walk around dressed in such a manner that the people would look at them.
They loved to have the people admire them. These were the men of the society of Israel that had made it. And they loved the idea that they had made it, and they wanted the world to see it.
Now, there is a very important application that needs to be made to us. I think it's true to say that for the vast majority of us, we have no problem with being looked up to, or receiving the praises of men. Even if we say we don't like people making positive affirmations about us because it makes us feel uncomfortable, we nonetheless like the idea of people looking favorably upon us. In fact that's what we prefer.
In one sense, this is not bad in and of itself. We are wired as people to receive affirmation and to thrive when this affirmation is given. The Scripture teaches that we should encourage one another. There's nothing wrong with giving a word of encouragement in order to build a person.
There is nothing wrong with us being built up by those who give us a word of encouragement. The problem however is when we are driven by a desire for affirmation, and we begin to steal the glory that is due to God. The problem is when we are driven by the goal of receiving the affirmation rather than the goal of glorifying God through Jesus Christ.
The problem with the Pharisees was that they were taking these places of honor because they wanted praise. They saw themselves as important, and they delighted in the praises of men.
This danger certainly exists for us today. And it is not only a danger that exists for pastors or religious leaders. The danger exists for people in every workplace. The danger exists in our homes. The danger exists among our peers. Wherever we are, when we seek to live for the praises of the people around us, and our identity is found in those praises, we are in a very dangerous place. We are in a place that this Pharisee was in upon whom Jesus pronounced woes.
When our lives at work are driven more by our desire for achievement for recognition, then we are sinning as the Pharisees were.
When our goal as fathers in the home is driven more by a desire to prove to our family and to other fathers that we've got what it takes to be the best to provide the best for our families, then we are sinning as the Pharisee was.
When mothers raise their children with the goal of ensuring that they are the best achievers in school or at sports, and they do this in order to receive the affirmations of other mothers or of the children, or even just to prove that they could do it, so that they will then receive the praise, then they sin as the Pharisee did.
We need to be cautious of this. We all need to be cautious of this. And the key way that we will find if we are trusting in this identity is when we fail to achieve it. Our response to that failure will show us our hearts. The more dangerous and Oreo, however, is when we do achieve and we are not aware of this sin of pride in our hearts.
Finally, in terms of the woes pronounced, we see...
3.3. Due to Deceit (v.44)
3.3. Due to Deceit (v.44)
In verse 44 we read...
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it.”
Keep in mind that in those days, the graves of man used to be in caves hollowed out to the ground. You know well the story of Jesus and the place that he was buried. It was in the tomb that was under the ground hewn out into the rock. Large rock was placed over the entrance to that tomb. If those graves were tunes were not marked clearly, and people would walk over these graves, over these places where dead men lay. They would walk over places where there was rottenness and decay below them.
William Hendriksen helps us to understand the importance of this saying by Jesus...
Luke 11:37–54 Six Woes
According to a Jewish custom, just before the arrival of vast caravans of people traveling to Jerusalem to attend the Passover, graves were whitewashed. The reason this was done was that they might be clearly visible, so that no one would ceremonially defile himself by walking over a grave. But at times some graves were inadvertently left unwashed, unmarked. What Jesus is saying then is this: just as by walking over such an unmarked grave a person would become ceremonially defiled, so by “walking” (conducting oneself) in accordance with the teaching of the Pharisees one would become spiritually defiled.
Now, picture for a moment just how pointed the words of JKesus would have been to this Pharisee. Jesus was invited for a meal, and instead of engaging in friendly chatter over a delicious meal, Jesus has gone to far as to routinely denounce this Pharisees with the others as those who are rendering others unclean due to their teaching. This was no small matter.
We see the impact of Christ’s teaching in verse 53…
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.
Application / Conclusion
Application / Conclusion
Gospel…
I want to emphasize the importance of Gospel transformation.
It’s easy to take this passage and to conclude that we must look after orphans and widows.... and we must promote justice in society… and we must live lowly lives, rather than exalt ourselves…
The danger is that we become like the Pharisee, because our motives are wrong, and there is no heart transformation.
What is ultimately so important is the fact that we need new hearts. We need the transformative power of Christ at work within us. It is only when we are regenerated that our inward life will be renewed, and we can start to live a life that is transformed from the inside out.
Elabourate…
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.