Bible Study series: Luke 11:37-54. He was an invited guest. He was functioning as a prophet to the religious leaders.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 11:37-54
37 While he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him whether he would dine with him. He went into his house and reclined at the table. 38 The Pharisee observed and was surprised that he did not wash first before dinner. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees wash the outside of the cup and dish, but your inside is full of violent greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t the one who made the outside also make the inside? 41 But make the inside things alms, and look! Everything is clean for you!
42 But woe to you Pharisees because you tithe mint and rue and every plant and pass over the justice and love of God. But do these things and don’t skip over the other things!
43 Woe to you Pharisees because you love the first seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces!
44 Woe to you because you are like unmarked tombs and people who walk over them do not know it!”
45 In reply, one of the legal experts said to him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you also insult us.” 46 He said, “Woe also to you legal experts because you load people with cargo that is too heavy, but you yourselves don’t budge one of your fingers to help them!
47 Woe to you because you build the tombs of the prophets, but your ancestors killed them! 48 So then you are witnesses and approve of the works of your ancestors because they killed them, but you build their tombs!
49 Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I shall send them prophets, and apostles and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50 with the result that the blood of all the prophets spilled from the foundation of the world will be charged to this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple!’ Yes, I tell you it will be charged to this generation! 52 Woe to you legal experts because you take away the key of knowledge, but you yourselves don’t go in but you hinder those going in!”
53 When he left from there, the teachers of the law and Pharisees began to be really hostile and reprimand him about many things, 54 lying in wait to catch him with anything he said. (Luke 11:37-54)
For the longer teaching on the woes against religious leaders:
Comments:
Here follows the four-part rebuke of the Pharisees, represented by this one. Then Jesus issues a threefold rebuke of the legal experts and teachers of the law.
Don’t use this harsh rhetoric against your family or your boss or teachers or clerks at a business establishment! Get the context first. He was speaking to religious oppressors, the powerful.
You can read about the three groups, Pharisees, legal experts, and teachers of the law (in many translations these teachers are called “scribes”), at this link:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
All three groups were the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior (cf. Garland, p. 243), like the puritans of the seventeenth century. In the case of these three Jewish groups of enforcers, it is a sad fact that religious people—even extra-spiritual ones—can miss God’s purpose or will for them. They are too smart for their own good. Further, the problem which Jesus had with them can be summed up in Eccl. 7:16: “Be not overly righteous.” He did not quote that verse, but to him they were much too enamored with the finer points of the law, while neglecting its spirit (Luke 11:37-52; Matt. 23:1-36). Instead, he quoted this verse from Hos. 6:6: “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7, ESV). Overdoing righteousness damages one’s relationship with God and others.
37:
Jesus accepted the invitation, while he had set his face like a flint to go towards Jerusalem and be arrested and tried by men much like this Pharisee here.
“reclined”: people back then did not sit at a table in a chair but reclined at a low-level table or maybe a mat on the floor.
“at the table” was added for clarity.
38:
“wash”: it is the verb baptizō (pronounced bahp-tee-zoh), and it means to immerse or dip. Jesus was probably offered a bowl into which he was to dip his hands, or a bowl was sitting by the door. Whatever the case, he waved it off.
Washing before a meal was not required in the old law of Moses, but it was described in the Hebrew Bible. For the Pharisee the issue was purity before God, while for Jesus washing religiously was an added burden. The Pharisee was observing (the standard verb for seeing), which implies judgment. The Pharisees and teachers of the law had always been watching him maliciously (Luke 6:6-11).
Jesus read the Pharisee’s judgmental thoughts and responded. It was time for him to liberate people first, but also to be provocative, so that by the time he reaches Jerusalem he will have offended enough of the establishment so that ironically they could be put on trial; that is, would they recognize the Messiah? No. They failed at their own trial; and therefore, his mission and gospel would go around the whole world to the Gentiles.
39:
It is rather foolish to wash the outside of the serving ware and not the inside. Outside appearances was more important to the class of Pharisees than inward righteousness.
“violent greed”: the grammarians Culy, Parsons, and Stigall suggest this translation (p. 401), because of the noun which has to do with a violent or forcible snatching. Jesus will denounce other religious leaders for devouring widows houses (Luke 20:47). His pronouncements of woes on them goes way beyond just their requirement to wash.
“wickedness”: it is the noun that means “wickedness, baseness, maliciousness, sinfulness.”
“Pharisees”: You can learn more about them at this post:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
This group was the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior (Garland, p. 243). See above for more comments.
Religious leaders showed great care to keep cups and platters spotless and ritually clean.
Clean and Unclean Food in Leviticus 11 from a NT Perspective
Childbirth, Bodily Discharges in Leviticus 12, 15 from a NT Perspective
40:
“fools!” it could be literally translated as “unwise!” (See also Luke 12:20.)
Jesus states an obvious truth. The maker made the inside and outside of the cup and dish. Similarly, our Heavenly Maker made both our body (external appearance) and our soul (inner being). May the two match up, as he is about to explain, next.
“The OT fool is one who is blind to God, who fails to respond well to God’s will or his way” (Bock, p. 1113).
41:
“make the inside things alms”: it could be translated as “make alms the inside things.” In other words, what appears on the outside must work its way to the inside. If your inside were charitable like your outward almsgiving (monetary donations), then your outside and inside would match up. You could go deeper than the outward show.
“look”: it can be translated as “behold!” but I like the updated translation. Many translations skip the verb at various times. It is easy to imagine that Jesus held up a cup just then and said, “look! everything is now clean, both the inside and outside of the cup!”
This verb has often been translated as the older “behold!” I like “behold!” but I updated it. It is the storyteller’s art to draw attention to the people and action that follow. Professional grammarians say that when “look!” introduces a character, then he or she will play a major role in the pericope. Alternatively, when a verb follows “look!” then a significant act is about to take place and the person or people are less significant (Culy, Parsons, Stigall, p. 21). Here it is the object that takes priority, so it is now clear he was holding up a cup and turning it this way and that, to show that it is smart to wash the inside and outside.
“The story of Cornelius in Acts 10 illustrates this point. Though he disregarded Jewish purity laws as a Gentile, he was a devout man who feared God, prayed constantly, and gave alms (Acts 10:2). God declared him to be ‘clean’ (Acts 10:15; 11:9)” (Garland, comment on 11:39-41).
42:
Woe ≠ Curse. Jesus was not pronouncing curses on people.
Instead, Woe = Pity.
Jesus was pronouncing pity on them who stand under divine judgment.
However, some commentators say he was speaking in righteous anger at religious leaders. I say it could be both anger and pity. Anger, because they were leaders who were abusing the people with overbearing laws, and pity because they were about to come under divine judgment. But one thing is certain: the woes were not curses.
In this verse we have another example of the requirement of matching up and being consistent. The Pharisees fuss over giving plants as their tithe, but they skip over or avoid the justice and love of God. The religious duty of tithing on the one side and justice and love of God on the other must match up.
I like how Jesus balances the justice and love of God. Too many teachers omit God’s justice and teach nothing but love and grace. (For a few months I used to be imbalanced like that, but I have come to my senses.)
At this point, pastors use this verse (and Matt. 23:23) to impose tithing on the New Covenant people of God. However, Jesus was merely illustrating the general principle of inner and outer consistency. Plus, Jesus spoke before the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70. Of course he would mention to this Pharisee the theocratic national tax of ten percent to support the (soon-to-be obsolete) temple. He made other such pronouncements to his fellow Jews, like paying the temple tax (Matt. 17:24-27). However, he was about to predict the temple’s destruction (Luke 21:20-24). Therefore the ten-percent national tithe-tax would never be brought forward to the new covenant church. For many Renewalists today, this is difficult to believe, since they have been taught (not to say browbeaten) for decades to pay this old national tax imposed on theocratic Israel. And no, the fact that patriarchs tithed before the law is not decisive, either. They were still supporting old rituals and religious systems. And no, Heb. 7 does not help, either.
Please see my long post on why the tithe teaching is wrongheaded, and why the New Covenant authors had a better plan, a God-inspired plan:
Why Tithing Does Not Apply to New Covenant Believers
“love of God”: This is God’s love for us. They don’t have God’s love for them in their hearts. So what is God’s love? It has a wide range of meanings. Let’s explore them.
The standard Greek lexicon (BDAG) is not very helpful. It simply says of the noun, “the quality of warm regard for and interest in another, esteem, regard, love.” That does not go far enough. It also says the noun is the agape-feast (not covered here), in which the first Christians shared a common meal together in connection with their gathering to worship, for the “purpose of fostering and expressing mutual affection and concern, fellowship meal, a love feast.”
The DNTT says that the LXX, (third-to-second century BC Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and pronounced sep-TOO-ah-gent) translated the Greek verb agapaō in a variety of ways and can stand in even for eraō “strong desire.” Jonathan and David expressed friendship love that went deeper than a man’s love for a woman (2 Sam. 1:26; 18:1, 3, 20; 20:17).
The noun agapē is divine. It starts with God, flows from him, and is offered back to him with our lives. We cannot ginger it up with our own efforts.
The noun agapē is sacrificial. Out of his agapē, God sacrificed his Son for us, and now we sacrifice our lives to him.
It means a total commitment. God is totally committed to his church and to the salvation of humankind. Surprisingly, however, total commitment can be seen in an unusual verse. Men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19), which just means they are totally committed to a dark path of life. Are we willing to be totally committed to God and to live in his light? Can we match an unbeliever’s commitment to bad things with our commitment to good things?
Agapē is demonstrative. It is not static or still. It moves and acts. We receive it, and then we show it with kind acts and good deeds. It is not an abstraction or a concept. It is real.
It is transferrable. God can pour and lavish it on us. And now we can transfer it to our fellow believers and people caught in the world.
43:
This fulfills the Divine Reversal predicted in Luke 1:51-53, where Mary says the poor and humble will be exalted and the rich and powerful brought low, and in Luke 2:43, which says Jesus will be appointed for the falling and rising in Israel. Here the Pharisees like the chief or first seats in the synagogues and special greetings in the marketplaces. No doubt the greetings entailed getting out of their path.
44:
This is a striking image. Many people may pay the Pharisees respect, but others just walk on their status, like people walking on unmarked graves. Technically, they were made unclean by the “dead” Pharisees (Num. 19:11-14), but no one even noticed or cared.
45:
Here comes the three-part rebuke of the legal expert.
This expert in the law shouldn’t have spoken up. But the solidarity between these extra-pious religious leaders was too strong. Now he was about to undergo the pronouncement of woe or pity or righteous anger. This proves that many people were at the dinner.
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
46:
The whole expression boils down to the legal experts not lifting a finger to help out in carrying the burdens or load or cargo of the regular people, the commoners.
Tithing “mint, dill, and every herb” is a good example of their characteristic practice of adding greater specificity to the law (Lev. 27:30; Deut. 14:22), of making a fence around the law, and of making obedience to it more exacting. They offer no leniency, no relief, and no forgiveness to the sinner and the nonobservant who collapse under the load or who simply give up trying to bear it (see Acts 15:10) (Garland, comment on 11:45-46).
47-48:
The logic is powerful and decisive. The experts build—maintain and refurbish—the tombs of the prophets, but their ancestors are the ones who killed them. Then the experts testify against themselves and approve of the old prophets’ and apostles’ (unjust) deaths when they build up the murdered men’s tombs! It is as if the experts told their ancestors, “You kill ‘em, and we’ll welcome ‘em into our tombs!” The whole process is like a conveyor belt at a factory! “We like it!”
I get the feeling that Jesus is stacking up the OT prophets with the experts in the law and the Pharisees on the one side, and on the other the prophets were mighty men of God, who called down fire and spoke authoritatively to kings with “thus saith the Lord” and prayed for the rain to stop and return again. They saw miracle after miracle. In contrast, who were those two religious groups whom Jesus is now calling out, along with the teachers of the law and the Sadducees and the chief priests and humble priests? The legal experts and the Pharisees loved feasts and broadened their phylacteries and lengthened their tassels (Matt. 23:5); they were super-fastidious about the finer points of the law. But where were the miracles? Even John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, was better than these current, dry old religious leaders who committed all the sins that Jesus is now enumerating against them. Compared to the prophets of old, they were powerless and pathetic. This brand of Judaism had degraded to these legalists, so it was time for it to end and God to move on with a new community, the Jesus Movement, the kingdom community, blessed by the fulness of the Spirit.
“The only prophet you honor is a dead prophet” (Bock, p. 1120).
49-52:
“The problem for ‘this generation’ is that righteous blood pollutes the land and cries out until it is avenged (Gen. 4:10-11; Job 16:18; Isa 26:21; Ezek 24:7-8; Joel 3:19; Lam 4:13 …). God is the avenger of blood (Deut 32:43; 1 Kgs 2:32, 37; 2 Kgs 9:7, 26; 24:4; Jer 26:15; Acts 5:28) (Garland).
What does it mean that the blood of the prophets will be charged to this generation? It is the principle of sin accumulation, and the later generation is held responsible for the historic sin: “In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Gen. 15:16, NIV). The principle of accumulating sins all the way to “this generation” is the same. When Jesus came on the scene, the stakes got higher and the consequences severer. He brought in new standards, and the time was up. All of it is about to come crashing down, after hundreds of years of rot infiltrating and weakening the entire edifice.
“the wisdom of God said”: here Jesus personifies wisdom, which Solomon did in his Proverbs (Prov. 1:20-33; 2; 3:13-34; 8:1-9:12). It could be the case that Jesus is referring to himself in his preincarnate state, but that is not certain, so let’s not push the idea too far.
2. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was the Preincarnate God
It is more likely that he was referring to the will of God: God in his wisdom.
“wisdom”: see v. 31 for more comments.
God knew in advance that when he sent prophets and apostles (messengers, emissaries), they would be killed and persecuted, but then God would use them as instruments of judgment on injustice. Killing and persecuting prophets and apostles is unjust. Committing injustice deserves the judgment of God.
“from the foundation of the world”: it should not be translated as “before the foundation of the world.” The Greek preposition apo (“from”) simply does not mean pro (“before”).
Israelite national solidarity is key here. Jesus is the Apex, the Highest Prophet and Messenger, and these classes of religious leaders are about to do to him what their ancestors did to the earlier prophets and emissaries. All the self-righteous religious leaders of all generations will be held accountable for the murder and persecution of the God-sent messengers. Jesus makes all the difference in giving life and in giving judgment. It is a sad fact that this (his) generation would be judged, bearing in mind that thousands of Jews did convert (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:7 [large number of priests] and 21:20).
The blood of all of them will be charged or exacted from this generation, because the greatest Prophet and Emissary is here now, and he embodies all of the earlier ones.
Zechariah: he is a prophet in 2 Chron. 24:20-25 who was killed in the temple precincts. His position in Chronicles makes him the last prophet to be murdered, according to the canonical order of the Hebrew Bible. For more discussion of any seeming discrepancy between v. 51 and Matt. 23:35, see my comments on Matt. 23:35.
In Luke, if Jesus is not quoting an OT reference, he will refer to the OT conceptually and in a pattern. “Their response to God’s current representatives will be like that of their ancestors: murder and persecution” (Bock, p. 1121). But don’t let your faith be so brittle that is snaps in two when discrepancies emerge. Research it first, but if no answer is forthcoming, don’t walk away from the Gospel of Luke or the whole Bible. That is an overreaction. We know the main point of Jesus here: From the beginning of the OT to the end, the ancient Israelites persecuted prophets who called them out. Now certain Jews–the extra-religious–are doing the same thing with Jesus.
Let’s move on.
In Luke 13:33 Jesus ironically and truthfully said it was not possible that a prophet to die outside Jerusalem. He was about to be the most significant one of all.
Abel was regarded by the Jews of Jesus’s day—and by Jesus himself—as living at the very beginning, the foundation of the world. In my view, however, let’s not take this pronouncement as a scientific statement. He is simply interpreting an existing, authoritative story that his listeners could relate to and understand. He was speaking to his Jewish culture. He is not saying that Jews literally killed Abel. Why should Jesus say this, when he knew Abel lived long before Abraham, the founder of the faith and the Jewish people?
Let’s see how Jesus fulfilled his promise to send them prophets and apostles.
Prophets:
Agabus was a prophet who was headquartered in Jerusalem and Judea:
27 In those days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up and indicated through the Spirit that there was about to be a severe famine in the whole world (which happened during the reign of Claudius). 29 In proportion to anyone of the disciples who prospered, each one of them determined to send aid to the brothers and sisters residing in Judea. 30 This they did and sent it by the hand of Barnabas and Saul to the elders. (Acts 12:27-30)
Here he is again in action:
10 While we stayed there several days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 He approached us and took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem shall bind the man whose belt this is and turn him over to the hands of the Gentiles.’” (Acts 21:10-11)
Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied:
8 The next day we departed and came to Caesarea and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. (Acts 21:8-9)
Stephen and six others were full of wisdom:
Therefore, brothers and sisters, select seven men who are well attested and full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint for this office. 4 For we will devote ourselves persistently and continually to prayer and serving the Word.” 5 This reasonable proposal was satisfactory to the entire community. And they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, the proselyte from Antioch. 6 They stood in front of the apostles, who prayed and laid hands on them. (Acts 6:3-6)
Here is Stephen using such powerful wisdom that he was martyred:
8 Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs in front of all the people. 9 Certain members of the Freedmen Synagogue (as it was called), comprising Cyrenians and Alexandrians and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen, 10 and they were unable to counter the wisdom and Spirit, by whom he was speaking. (Acts 7:8-10)
Apostles:
The NT was written by apostles or those connected to the apostles. No need to quote so many passages. Here is Paul, however, to quote just one passage:
7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. (Gal. 2:7-9, NIV)
Many such passages shows apostolic outreach to Jews.
The key is the knowledge of how God really orders your relationship with him. It is not about purity laws. So how do the legal experts take away the key of knowledge? By withholding deeper teaching of knowing God. The various classes of religious leaders had held the Torah in their sole possession that only they were privileged to interpret it authoritatively. It is similar to the Medieval Church. Only they could interpret Scripture. And when an innovator like John the Baptist or Jesus himself comes along, then the Watchdogs of Orthodoxy and Purity oppose them.
“perish”: it means, depending on the context: (1) “to cause or experience destruction (active voice) ruin, destroy”; (middle voice) “perish, be ruined”; (2) “to fail to obtain what one expects or anticipates, lose out on, lose”; (3) “to lose something that one already has or be separated from a normal connection, lose, be lost” (BDAG). The Shorter Lexicon adds “die.” “Perish” seems to be the best translation here, and so does “die.”
53-54:
Luke employs a pun with two words.
First, the religious leaders “reprimanded” or “lectured” Jesus, and its basic meaning is “to teach by word of mouth,” “teach by dictation.” Other lexicons say the verb means “to question someone with hostile intent.” All that’s true, but grammarians Culy, Parsons and Stigall are right to translate the verb as “lecture” (p. 409). (I chose “reprimand.”)
Second, the next clause in Greek literally reads that they lay in wait or set ambushes “to capture something from his mouth.”
So the pun is this. The religious leaders are following Jesus and lecturing him from their mouths, placing ambushes to catch anything that comes from his mouth. So speaking is key here. Jesus is speaking the truth from his mouth, but the religious leaders are reprimanding and lecturing and teaching him about the old, soon-to-be obsolete system from their mouths.
Jesus must have had an amusing time knowing that he would always get the better of them and shame them in public.
As I noted in other chapters, first-century Israel was an honor-and-shame society. Verbal and active confrontations happened often. By active is meant actions. Here the confrontation is both verbal and acted out. Jesus healed the paralytic, so he won the actual confrontation, and this victory opened the door to his verbal victory with religious leaders who were binding people up with traditions. They needed to be loosed from them. Jesus shamed the leaders to silence. He won. It may seem strange to us that Jesus would confront human opponents, because we are not used to doing this in our own lives, and we have heard that Jesus was meek and silent.
More relevantly, for many years now there has been a teaching going around the Body of Christ that says when Christians are challenged, they are supposed to slink away or not reply. This teaching may come from the time of Jesus’s trial when it is said he was as silent as a sheep (Acts 8:32). No. He spoke up then, as well (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:32; Luke 23:71; John 18:19-23; 32-38; 19:11). Therefore, “silence” means submission to the will of God without resisting or fighting back. But here he replied to the religious leaders and defeated them and their inadequate theology. Get into a discussion and debate with your challengers. Stand toe to toe with them. In short, fight like Jesus!
Of course, caution is needed. The original context is a life-and-death struggle between the kingdom of God and religious traditions. Get the original context, first, before you fight someone in a verbal sparring match. This was a clash of worldviews. Don’t pick fights or be rude to your spouse or baristas or clerks in the service industry. Discuss things with him or her. But here Jesus was justified in replying sharply to these oppressive religious leaders.
“teachers of the law” (many translations call them “scribes”): and they carried on the same function as the Pharisees did, teaching the law. However, the grammateus had the added duty of writing up documents, as the people needed them. In an age when many people could barely read or write, they could do this with skill and great knowledge. So other translations call them “scribes.” It is easy to imagine that the regular folk respected them, and many others may have resented them when they imposed on them their rigorous interpretations of religious law.
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
“Jesus’ series of woes made inevitable the violent hostility against him described here. His opponents followed him out of the house and fired at him a barrage of difficult questions, such as those used to embarrass rabbinic scholars. He had challenged those who professed to be the expert biblical scholars. They were out to defend their reputation by discrediting his (v. 54)” (Liefeld and Pao, comments on 53-54).
Jesus is in the continuous process of taking down the religious establishment of Jerusalem and the temple, wherever the leaders may be found.
GrowApp for Luke 11:37-54
1. Jesus was speaking strongly against religious oppressors, not his family or local baristas! Don’t try it at home. But what have you done to make a firm break with those who try to convince you to leave your faith in Christ?
2. Or did you cave in to social pressure and walk away from a vibrant relationship with Christ? How did you come back? (Yes, he will accept you back.)
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3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 