In this study we will continue to look at the condemnation that comes from Jesus towards the religious leaders of Judaism. The difference we will see is that Jesus is approached by a scholar of the law or sometimes you will see them as lawyers. This lawyer comes to Jesus with a statement of concern because the things that Jesus had been saying about the Pharisees are also the very things that these scholars do as well. I believe we will see that these scholars must have thought that they were somehow in good with Jesus. They may have thought that they were accepted by Jesus in some way but in reality Jesus does not capitulate to people simply because of their association or family ties. Jesus seeks to tell the truth in every way and when the truth of God is distorted, Jesus has no problem calling out whoever it is that is distorting God’s truth.
I think we can learn well from how Jesus approached situations like this. I do not think we go out looking for a fight in theology but we must always stand for the truth of God’s Word and His Gospel. So as we look at this last section in chapter 11 we will notice that Jesus seeks to spread the truth in spite of the opposition from the religious culture of His time. Let’s look now at our first point for this study.
1.Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of LEADERSHIP ABUSE.
Look with me at Luke 11:45-46 that says Now one of the scholars of the Law answered and said to Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.” 46 But He said, “Woe to you scholars of the Law as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
We see this form of leadership in many churches today. It is the idea of a leader demanding submission. Now this may come in an aggressive way or it can be subtle as well. It does not mean that every time this happens the leader gets up with a demanding speech to submit to him. This can happen from a person that demands complete control of the church either because they are popular or because they want to simply be in charge of everything. Some pastors want to be the leader in every area and never allows the people in the church to grow in the giftedness that God has given to them.
As I mentioned in the opening of this study, we see here that a scholar of the Law comes to Jesus with a concern. This stems from the fact that Jesus has been condemning the Pharisees for their hypocritical way of living and religion. The scholar of the Law says to Jesus in Luke 11:45 “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.”
Maybe this particular scholar thought He was in the “in” crowd with Jesus. Maybe He thought he needed to make Jesus aware that He was also condemning them in what He was saying concerning the Pharisees. Either way we think of it Jesus did not look to hold back from what He was speaking concerning the truth of the message. In fact Jesus then goes into exposing the hypocrisy of the Scholars as well. In Matthew 23 we see the scribes and Pharisee included in each of the condemnations but here we see the separation. This doesn’t really mean anything, I am simply pointing out the difference in the accounts that we see.
Let’s read again how Jesus responds to this scholar in Luke 11:46 where Jesus says Woe to you scholars of the Law as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
Notice Jesus did not say, Oh I’m sorry I should have thought about how you would feel about this. Jesus did not say that He would take back what He said but rather went further into exposing hypocrisy. I believe this is an example to us on how we need to stand for the truth. Like I said, not that we are looking to go out and fight with others, to condemn others, to speak hatred towards others but we must speak the truth no matter what.
So what we see in the words of Jesus shows to us the abuse that the leadership of Judaism were practicing. They knew they were looked up to. They knew they had the upper hand because of having the education to interpret from a different language and even being able to read unlike most common people of that time. They used that to their advantage to teach others to do things they never would do. Not only that but they were unwilling to actually teach others how to do things instead just demanded compliance to their man-made laws. Many pastors do this. They are lazy or incompetent in leading others but they have no problem standing in the pulpit each week telling other to do things that they are either not doing themselves or not teaching others to do. This is what I call leadership abuse.
Ephesians 4:11-13 says And He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
The leadership in the church should be equipping the saints for ministry. If a pastor or elder is not doing this then they are guilty of the very hypocrisy that Jesus speaks of here. It is not helpful to the health of the local church to have a person that seeks their own way of doing things without any accountability. This always seems to lean towards a leader seeking some self gratification instead of building up the church as he should. Let’s move on now to our next point for this study.
2.Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of INWARD EVIL.
Look with me at Luke 11:47-51 that says Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’
This section here really exposes the reality of their outward hypocrisy. They looked to honor the prophets of old by taking great care for their tombs. They looked to honor the prophets of old but this was only a façade. Jesus shows that their true intentions were not pure or even honoring towards God’s prophets but rather full of evil and wickedness. Look with me at Matthew’s account of this condemnation in Matthew 23:29-33 that says “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you bear witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
The truth is that they hide behind their religious actions to look righteous themselves but in reality they are as guilty as those that did not believe God’s prophets and killed the prophets of God. Matthew’s account continues by saying in Matthew 23:34-36 “On account of this, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
The fact is that not only are they just like their fathers that killed the prophets before them , but they reject God’s prophets as well. They hated John the Baptist, they hate Jesus to the point that as we will see by the end of this study that they seek a way to destroy Jesus. These scholars were just as bad as the Pharisees in the point that they were not seeking to guide others into a life of holiness and righteous living. They looked to elevate themselves as the teachers, the leaders of the Law so that they would be exalted. This is nothing more than moral evil and a deception that Jesus warns about often. Jesus says in Matthew 7:15 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
We must be cautious towards people that seem to want their way only. We must make sure that they are living in a way and leading in a way that is from God through His Word. It is because of these types of people that lead people away from God instead of towards God. This is what we will pick up in our final point for this study.
3.Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of FALSE CONVERSIONS.
Look with me at Luke 11:52 that says Woe to you, scholars of the Law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”
This goes back to the fact that a wrong understanding of the Scriptures can create wrong actions. In other words if the false Gospel is preached then a person will most likely make a profession of faith in that false idea of salvation instead of the true Gospel. This may come in a works-righteous type of salvation, a universalistic salvation, a salvation that can be lost, a salvation that adds to the work of Jesus, a salvation that is emotional based or gives hope to the flesh alone. The false Gospel may sound good but it can and will produce false converts.
These scholars had the power of interpreting the Old Testament. Instead of looking to what the Scriptures say they interpreted off of their presuppositions. They would hold to their interpretation that would be built from their own standard. This goes back to the idea of following their own tradition over God’s commands. Mark 7:5-9 says And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 7 But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commands of men.’ 8 Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And He was also saying to them, “You are good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
We must understand that not all tradition in the church is bad but the tradition that goes against God’s commands must be refuted and done away with. I say this because this seems to be an issue in many churches and denominations of our time. They would rather go against God instead of going against tradition and the culture. This type of action will lead many and has led many to false professions of faith.
Notice that Jesus says in Luke 11:52b you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.
Not only are they not true followers of God but they are leading others away from God as well. All of what Jesus has said concerning the condemnation of the Pharisees and scholars of the law points to the fact that they are the false teachers that need to be avoided. These types of people are not of God and must be stamped out as false teachers. This was some harsh and bold words of our Lord. This had to be said because the people needed to hear the truth. This also had a secondary reason for being spoken which will ultimately lead these leaders to hatred for Jesus which proves the very point Jesus was just making concerning their true status.
This brings us to look at Luke 11:53-54 that shows to us the reaction of the scribes and Pharisees. This shows to us their true intent in their reason for coming to Jesus continually. These verses say: And when He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, 54 plotting to catch Him in something He might say.
We have already seen much of this but their hostility is becoming more and more obvious as we get closer to the time of the cross. Their intentions will become more hostile, more pointed towards trying to trap Jesus and ultimately this will lead to their influence on the crowd to crucify our Lord Jesus Christ.
Disciple's Direction 