Faith without religion.
Pharisees, Purity, and Hidden Corruption
In a recent teaching, we delved into a passage from Luke 11:37-51, where Jesus engages in a profound dialogue with the Pharisees. This encounter begins with a Pharisee inviting Jesus to dine with him, an invitation Jesus accepts despite the Pharisee’s possible ulterior motives. The Pharisee is taken aback when Jesus does not perform the ritual washing before the meal, a practice deeply ingrained in Jewish tradition to signify purity, especially after mingling with the masses.
Jesus uses this moment to highlight a critical spiritual truth: the Pharisees’ focus on external cleanliness masks their internal corruption. He accuses them of being like cups that are clean on the outside but filthy within, emphasizing that God, who created both the external and internal, values the purity of the heart over mere outward appearances.
Jesus further criticizes the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, pointing out their meticulous tithing of herbs while neglecting justice and the love of God. He condemns their love for public recognition and prestigious positions, likening them to unmarked graves that people unknowingly walk over, symbolizing hidden corruption.
The dialogue shifts when a lawyer feels implicated by Jesus’ words, prompting Jesus to address the lawyers directly. He accuses them of burdening others with heavy loads of legalistic demands while refusing to help carry those burdens themselves.
Jesus concludes with a prophetic warning, stating that the blood of all the prophets, from Abel to Zechariah, will be required of this generation. This ominous declaration foreshadows the impending judgment on Jerusalem and its temple, a consequence of their rejection of God’s messengers, culminating in the crucifixion of Jesus.
This passage challenges us to examine our own lives, urging us to prioritize internal transformation and genuine love for God and others over superficial religious practices. It serves as a reminder that true righteousness stems from a heart aligned with God’s will, not merely from outward compliance with religious rituals.
Teaching Script:
Welcome
Prayer
Song
Silence
Okay. After talking about light and dark, Jesus has a direct face to face with the Pharisees. So let’s reread our text for the day beginning at verse 37.
Luke 11.37-51
Meat
December 22nd 2019
37 And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.
38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.
39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
45 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.
46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.
49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
Okay back to verse 37:
37 And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.
While he was addressing the people, and particularly while he was reproving that generation and declaring that it was headed for destruction, a “certain Pharisee.”
We know by now who the Pharisees were but for some reason this one wanted to investigate Jesus more closely or learn more from Him and so he invited Jesus to eat with him and Jesus, for some reason, agreed.
Some think that the Pharisee used this as a way to draw Jesus away from the crowds and his preaching and reaching to them.
If this was his intention I doubt Jesus would have been duped by it. In other words, I would believe that Jesus had the reason for going with the pharisee and not the other way around.
The Jews, as well as the Greeks and Romans, had two primary meals. The first was about ten or eleven o’clock in the morning and was not heavy but consisted of fruit, milk, cheese etc.
The second meal was eaten around three in the afternoon and this was the primary meal of the day. It appears that it was the first meal taking place.
The Pharisee, from what we can see, appears to have some evil designs and yet Jesus didn’t refuse the invite.
What we do see from the Lord in this is just because the man was a Pharisee Jesus did not decline. Secondly, it seems that whenever He had a chance to do good he did it. And so they sat down to eat. (Verse 38)
38 And when the Pharisee saw it (that Jesus sat down) he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.
He was amazed (probably at how improper it was) that Jesus sat down without performing the expected, demanded, ritual of first washing himself.
The practice of washing before meals was ESPECIALLY seen as important when a Jew had engaged with the masses of the Great Unwashed – the sinners, publicans, and Gentiles, as they saw their very existence as polluting.
Therefore, they never ate without washing. This was developed in part because they did not use forks and knives but their hands to eat their food.
Of course, washing before eating with ones hands is pretty normal, but the Pharisees made it a demanded ritual and would treat those who did not obey it with distain. Why? Because all hands were reaching into shared plates and bowls and the germs were then being shared with others.
Jesus was making a point here, and His points were always to the souls involved and not the earthly practices of hygiene. Remember, His Kingdom was NOT of this world – so his dictates were speaking to the world inside, the world of the heart, the world above.
It is to this angle that Jesus now replies to this particular pharisee, saying at verse 39
39 Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
Jesus admits to the external cleanliness of the Pharisees – they clean everything up on the surface, BUT their inward parts
meaning their hearts and minds, in my estimation, are full of what the King James calls, Ravening and wickedness.
The Greek for those terms means extortion and pillage and depravity – heavy terms and they relate to robbing people of their material well being and preying upon them as a means to do this.
“Sure, you wash your hands, as a means to appear clean and upright, but your hearts are evil and filthy.”
Then Jesus adds:
40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
Essentially, he is telling them that their conduct – the external appearances and washings – are a cloak for their sin, which emanates from within them – from their souls.
And because this is the approach they take to living their lives, Jesus begins by saying:
“You fools.”
As an FYI, when Jesus says whoever calls their brother fools are in danger of hell fire (in Matthew 5) that Greek word is Moros, and means blockhead or moron – meaning it’s a personal insult. Here when he calls the Pharisees fools (as translated in the King James) the term is Af-rone, and the word is a bit softer and means, “unwise, due to wickedness.”
In other words, because of their wickedness they are unwise in their conduct, LIKE trying to hide their sinful nature by over-emphasizing the importance of cleaning the hands or cups.
Then Jesus adds:
“did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?”
Of course, he is speaking of God – did not God who made the external of a person ALSO make the internal? As if to say,
“You Pharisees take great pains to cleanse the body, under a pretense of pleasing God. Did he not also make the mind? and is it not of as much importance that it should be as pure as that the body should?”
41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
This is a difficult passage as far as I can tell. And the commentators all interpret it a bit differently.
Jesus has charged them with robbery and of being polluted in their minds and hearts.
I think that here in verse 41 he is saying the following:
Instead of being how I described you, as being full of extortion and depredations, GIVE alms of such things as you have.
And what such things are these? He has just told them that God made both the external and the internal of them – and so that is what I think Jesus is speaking of them giving alms FROM their whole being – what they possess and what is in their heart and minds, and then he adds:
“and, behold, all things are clean unto you,” meaning, you will stop focusing on the external cleaning of the hands but will have focused on the internal cleaning of the heart and mind too, and when you do this, behold, everyone, everything will be clean unto you.
However, having given this somewhat complex (for us to understand) advice to them, where again, Jesus says:
You ought to give of your whole person – what is without and what is within – and in so doing you would find everything clean to you, but He now begins to speak to how the Pharisees actually do things and says:
42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
In other words, they were willing to give and tithe on the herbs and rue (a small garden plant that was used as medicine)
But they would pass over judgment and the love of God, which are things they ought to have done along with the tithe paying on the plants for the workers in the temple’s well-being.
Again, the external was the giving of a tenth of the plants, but they ignored the giving of the internal – judgment and the love of God! This was the pharisees manner and way. And it was hypocritical and troubling to the LORD.
So, he warns them with the first “WOE!” a word that means alas and is an expression of grief toward someone or a situation. This first woe seems to have launched him into what I call the “WOE-FOR” series and at verse 43 we get woe number 2 as he says:
43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
To understand this we have to remember that it was the custom among the Jews to eat reclining on couches. The table was made up of several raised tables with an open space in the middle of them and one of them was chief or most assessible to the conversation and food.
But while this is what it means the principle remains the same with most humans – we love having or sitting in the best seats at things, right?
Again, it speaks to the core of the self and flesh – which the Pharisees seem to have strongly fed much to the chagrin of Jesus.
And then he adds
44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
In Matthew 23:27, Jesus tells the pharisees that they exactly resembled white-washed tombs.
In that day they would whitewash tombstones so that no Jew would step on the grave not realizing it was below their feet.
But here he says they are like hidden tombs, graves which were not distinguished by any outward demarcation or color and ones that were not elevated above the ground, so that those who walked over them did not consider what corruption was within.
In other words, in this situation he accuses them of being hidden, under the colors of hypocrisy, which covered their iniquity and which would cause passers by to step on them (engage with them) not even knowing that they stood on a dead person.
I’ve never really considered this application and find it an interesting twist.
45 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.
Another way to say this is:
“In your saying these things you insult us (the scribes of the Law) also.”
I checked the Greek and other translations of it and the best way to understand the apparent meaning of this is the Scribe or Lawyer was joining himself and the group He was with to those of the Pharisess and saying in other words:
“Lord, when you say these things to them you are also saying them to us.”
What this did was cause Jesus to redirect his comments and focus now on them, and so he says at verse 46:
46 “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.”
The line, “for ye lade or bind burdens grievous to be born, etc. probably comes from the custom of loading animals where the cargo – whatever it is – is bound up then placed on the beast.
Jesus applies this practice to the Pharisees who take weighty burdens – demands, manipulations, guilt – and insist other carry them but they offer them no assistance, “they touch not the burdens with one of their fingers.”
In Acts 15:10 Peter described such things, saying that “neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.”
Of course, the Pharisees strictly required that all the people should pay the temple tax, give of their property, comply with every part of the law with the utmost rigor but would not lend a hand in any of it. They were too holy, too advanced, too above the rest.
Jesus came and taught the opposite attitude – that the greatest among men was to be the servant, and as Acts 20:35 attributes to Him saying, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Matthews account adds the following to this teaching rounding out the whole picture better for us, and saying:
23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
(which we covered already)
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
So in addition to what Luke describes here about them loving to burden others around them but not lifting a finger to help, Matthew says
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
That first line is interesting – “but all their work they do is to be seen of men.”
Thereafter in Matthew he goes into more detail about this and gives examples of this specifically but the examples all point to a heart seeking to promote the self over God and others, and this is the basis for the Pharisaical mind:
They want to be seen, honored, paid, while expecting those around them to be dishonored like beasts of burden, to pay and never to rise up to their level.
One way the Pharisees “distinguished” themselves from others is they
“make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,”
The term phylactery means “to keep or protect,” and were given to the amulets the Jews wore to fight off evil spirits. These amulets were usually small slips of parchment or vellum where they would write phrases from the Tanakh and this practice originated from a literal interpretation of Exodus 13:16, which said:
“And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.”
One kind or phylactery was called a “frontlet,” and was composed of four pieces of parchment; on the first one was written, Exodus 12:2-10; on the second, Exodus 12:11-21; on the third, Deuteronomy 6:4-9; and on the fourth, Deuteronomy 11:18-21.
Then these pieces of parchment were enclosed typically in a piece of tough animal skin, which would making a square, and they would write the Hebrew letter shin, (which looks like our W and means Divine Power – hence YHWH) — and then bound them round their foreheads with a long string of leather.
They would do something similar to their forearms, wrists and middle fingers – and these were the ones that the Pharisees would make bigger than others.
In addition to enlarging their phylacteries, Jesus said that they would also, “enlarge the borders of their garments.”
This refers to loose threads which were attached to the borders of the outer garment – we would call it “fringe.”
According to numbers 15:38 and Deuteronomy 22:12 this fringe was commanded in order to distinguish them from other nations so that they might remember to keep the commandments of God.
They made them broader than other people wore them, to show that they had more special respect for the law than others.
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
(which we covered already)
7 And (they love) greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Greetings in the markets were indicators of respect shown to public places and the markets were such places in that day.
The Pharisees loved the attention of the multitude and the associated respect in such greetings, especially with the title, “Rabbi, Rabbi,” Jesus repeats for emphasis.
The term was assigned to eminent teachers of the law among the Jews and was a title of honor and dignity, denoting their authority and ability to teach or instruct others.
Obviously, it was a title that denoted superiority of the common man – which is what all of this amounted to – pride.
There were three titles in use among the Jews–Rab, Rabbi, and Rabban–denoting different degrees of learning and ability, just like academic degrees do among us.
But Jesus says to this:
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
No titles of distinction – that is what Jesus said. And the reason he gives are two:
“For ONE is your master, even Christ, AND all of you are brothers.”
It is for this reason I am not fond of being called, Pastor. We are all in the same fold, with one shepherd, and we are all brothers and sisters. Titles are just another step to making distinctions, which lead to separation, and authority – where there is none.
Back to Luke 11:47 where Jesus continues His woes about the Pharisees, now speaking about their fathers, sepulchers and the prophets, saying
47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.
Maybe you caught this but this is a true Hebrew style of speaking. Chaiasmus. Ready? On board:
1 for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets,
2 and your fathers killed them.
CENTER “Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers”
2 for they indeed killed them,
1 and ye build their sepulchers
In other words, when we make a place to bury the dead, even though the Pharisees of Jesus day were doing so ceremoniously and not in reality for a prophet put to death, we are playing a role in that persons DEATH.
What Jesus is saying is Your Fathers put the prophets to death and you show the same heart for them by ceremoniously providing them burials – even today!
In other words, Jesus was not buying into their public profession of allegiance to the prophets of old by their making them tombs. They, like their fathers, would have put the prophets to death had they been living in their day and age, is the point.
In Matthew’s account of the woes, Jesus adds to them:
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Which seems to be a prediction of what they were about to do to Him.
When the prophets of Old spoke by the Spirit the Pharisees fathers put them to death, is what he is saying.
Now He was there and so where they – and so he tells them to fill up the measure of their fathers, meaning:
Go ahead – do what they do – and kill yet another person God sends to speak by the Spirit. And this is what they will do – in the end.
At verse 49, Jesus explains that this was the wisdom of God at play, saying in verse 49-51:
49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
Jump back to verse 49:
49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Nowhere in the Tanakh does the wisdom of God say, “I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute, so Jesus obviously means something different here when he says,
“Therefore also said the wisdom of God.”
Some think this is a liberal paraphrase of Proverbs 8, which speaks about the Wisdom of God, but to me that is a stretch.
So, what do we say?
Jesus is called the word of God (in John 1:1) and because when He was on earth He spoke for God, it could be that Jesus was referring to what He was saying then and there AS being the wisdom of God.
This seems to be the reasonable interpretation of the words here. So . . .
49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
And let me read this next verse with some added emphasis:
50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of . . . . this generation;
And then he reiterates
51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
In order to get the best understanding of these verses let’s look to Matthews account of them.
The nation was guilty (as their fathers were guilty) and they had shown themselves to be just like them.
Because they had slain the Prophets (and were about to slay the Son of God) the patience of God was about to be fully exhausted with them and that nation was about to be visited with utter vengeance.
In Judaism, national crimes deserve national judgments – that is how it always worked, and Jesus is telling them that the judgments, for all these crimes, are about to come upon them in and through the destruction of their temple and city.
Jesus specifically says:
“That all the righteous blood,” that was shed in that nation’s history was about to befall them. Not meaning that God held them accountable for the former blood of the prophets shed – but He was going to hold that nation accountable for the death of His Son – which was far worse.
But again, in that former covenant temporal judgments descended on children in consequence of the wickedness of parents.
51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
Some have thought it was the Zechariah whose death is recorded in 2nd Chronicles 24:20,21 as he is there called the son of Jehoiada but that was okay because it was common for Jews to have two names in that day and age – so this could have been what Jesus references.
Whatever he meant, Jesus plainly says that all these things will come “Upon this generation.”
All the Prophets deaths.
And this commenced in the 70 AD destruction and culminated in the return of Jesus for His bride.
This is what led Jesus to say
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
And then to add
38 Behold, your house (meaning the temple in all probability) is left unto you desolate.
And then to conclude to them then:
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Meaning, the day of your mercy has passed. I have offered you protection and salvation, and you have rejected it.
You are about to crucify me, and your temple to be destroyed; and you, as a nation, be given up to long and dreadful suffering.
You will not see me as a merciful Saviour, offering you redemption any more, till you have borne these heavy judgments which will come upon you, and be borne, until you would be glad to hail the good news, from messengers of mine, causing you to say in that day:
“Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
Which I interpret as individual Jews only receiving respite from their plight by receiving the Lord, and blessing the name of those who bring Him and His message, to them.
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