From Luke 11:37 to the end of the chapter Jesus is dealingwith the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, scribes, and the lawyers (who were supposedto be the experts in interpreting the Law of Moses). At this stage in Christ'sministry, it is obvious that the Pharisees and religious leaders were bent ondestroying Him. In the previous verses (vv. 33-36), Jesus was exposing thedarkness of their hearts. Their hearts were so dark that they refused to acceptthe very Light of God that was in their midst.
It is reasonable to believe that this “certain Pharisee”invited Jesus to his home for a meal with a devious motive. If he had beensincerely seeking truth, he would have talked with our Lord privately. It seemsobvious that he was looking for an opportunity to accuse Jesus. And sure enough,when Jesus did not practice the ceremonial washing before eating, he thought hehad it (Mark 7:2-3). Jesus, knowing what the host was thinking, responded bygiving a "spiritual analysis" of the Pharisees.
A good title for today’s chat would be “Truth or Tradition”.You might remember years ago that there was a popular television program called“Truth or Consequences”, hosted by Bob Barker. Jesus exposed the darkness oftheir hearts with the truth. If you want to know or recognize what a lie is,you must know what the truth is. I’m convinced the main reason we have majorissues in so many areas of culture and society today in America is that very fewpeople have any idea what the truth is anymore.
The truth is only found in a Person, Jesus Christ, and HisWord (John 14:6). When we ignorant ofthe Truth or we reject it after we are exposed to it, we have no choice but tobelieve the lie. That is why Jesus said to the Pharisees and religious leadersin John 8:44-47: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of yourfather you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not standin the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaksfrom his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because Itell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And ifI tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God'swords; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."
It is interesting to note that in the above passage the Phariseeresponded to this stinging rebuke by saying: “Then the Jews answered andsaid to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have ademon?" (John 8:48). This is whatalways happens when truth is rejected. Maybe Jesus had this verse from Isaiah5:20 in mind when He was exposing these Pharisees: “Woe to those who callevil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
In verses 39-40, Jesus exposed the basic error and thinkingof the Pharisees which was that righteousness was only a matter of externalactions, and they minimized internal attitudes. They were very careful to keepthe outside clean, but they ignored the wickedness within. They seemed toforget that the same God who created the outside also created the inside, the"inner person" that also needs cleansing (Ps. 51:6, 10).
Jesus called them, “foolish ones”, another way of saying “senselessones”. They lost their sense, their ability to reason in a sensible way. Today,in many of our churches we have done the same thing when we chose our traditionover the Truth of God’s Word. I’m afraid many of our churches today are full ofhypocritical Pharisees, and often the biggest ones are the pastors and leaders.They refuse to make any changes in their methods or music to reach a lost worldbecause of their old “traditions”. They are afraid that grandpa and grandma whoare buried in the cemetery behind the church will get upset!
Today, I trust we will choose Jesus over our manmadetraditions and share His love with everyone we can!
God bless!
