We left off with Jesus celebrating the return of His 72 disciples from a successful evangelical tour (see The Urgency of the Great Commission).
Immediately afterwards, Jesus is approached by a lawyer who asks Him what it is that he must do to inherit eternal life. He perceives that the lawyer is trying to test His grasp of the Mosaic Law.
Jesus throws it right back in the lawyer’s lap by asking him what the Law requires. (Jesus always defaults to the authority of His Father).
The lawyer recites what Jesus calls the two ‘Great Commandments’ – to love God and love your neighbor. Christ replies that he is correct. However, the lawyer was only trying to justify himself and his self-righteousness. So, he tries to goad Him:
“And who is my neighbor?” Lk. 10:29 NKJV
‘Clear knowledge in the head, when accompanied by determined impenitence of heart, is a most dangerous state of soul.’ J.C. Ryle
Obviously, our pious lawyer discriminates.
The Son of Man responds with a parable, wherein He tells the tale of a Jewish man, who while traveling along a road, is beset by thieves who rob and beat him, leaving him to die.
A Temple priest sees the poor man but crosses to the other side of the street to avoid him. A Levite (those who work for the priests) did the same.
Finally, a Samaritan took it upon himself to help the man – despite the enmity that the Jews held against Samaritans. The ‘Good Samaritan’ practiced love and mercy, without prejudice.
Jesus told the lawyer to go do likewise. He pulls no punches, nor does He credit the man for his ‘piety.’ Instead, He chides him, telling him to practice the real deal.
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 Jn. 4:7 NLT
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Goodbye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well” – but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Jas. 2:14 – 17. NLT
The Son of God went away to pray by Himself. However, an apostle interrupted Him and asked Him to teach the twelve to pray. (Apparently, the boys weren’t listening very well when He did that very thing at the Sermon on the Mount).
Nevertheless, He repeats the lesson. Then, He augments it with a parable whereby a man receives an unexpected visit from a friend, but he has no food to give his friend. So, he goes another friend’s house, but he won’t answer the door. He persists in his knocking until the friend finally opens the door and gives him what he needed.
Thus, the meaning for the apostles was that when you pray, you must do so persistently. Jesus nails it on the head:
“For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
“You fathers – if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Lk. 11:10 – 13. NLT
Later, Jesus is surrounded by a crowd whilst casting a demon out of a man. Afterwards, He warns the astounded crowd that being healed and made spiritually right must be followed by a rigorous practice of living in a godly manner. Otherwise, the demonic spirits will return to take roost again.
A woman cries out to Him:
“God bless your mother – the womb from which you came and the breasts that nursed you!” Lk. 11:27 NLT
Obviously, she was trying to pay Jesus a great compliment by elevating His mother. However, Jesus used this moment to bring her to a greater revelation – one that conveys the greater wisdom of lifting herself up, by having a spiritual relationship with Him:
“But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Lk. 11:28 NLT
During this discourse, a Pharisee asks Jesus to dine with Him. I love His moxie. However, the Pharisee gets irate with Him for not submitting to his ritualistic washing of the hands. Bad move. Jesus puts the gloves on and steps into the ring:
“Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]!
“Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But give that which is within as charity [that is, acts of mercy and compassion, not as a public display, but as an expression of your faithfulness to God], and then indeed all things are clean for you.” Lk. 11:39 – 41. AMP
Jesus is telling him to focus on keeping his heart clean. Round 2:
“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
“…For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces…For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.” Lk. 11:42 – 44. NLT
Jesus is saying that the Pharisees are hateful, corrupt, and full of pride. And He declares that they corrupt their parishioners as well – just by being around them. (Mosaic Law prohibited coming in contact with a tomb, because it made one unclean.)
A scribe (lawyer) was also present at this dinner. He had the temerity to tell Christ that he felt insulted. Round 3:
“…what sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden….For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and now you join in their crime by building the monuments!
“This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they kill some and persecute the others. As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world…For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” Lk. 11:46 – 50 & 52. NLT
TKO!
Thus, Jesus is calling the scribes ‘hypocrites’ for building monuments for the prophets that their ancestors killed. Second, He condemns them for hoarding Scripture (even though they themselves never heeded them), which kept the laity from salvation, who they also lorded over.
Finally, the Pharisees and scribes made it impossible for the people to live a godly life, being so burdened with man-made requirements and religious minutiae – all of which, were too oppressive to shoulder.
Jesus was exposing religiosity at its worst; and He most certainly did not create a fan club in the adherents. He is a pugilist for God – as should we all be…
Goodnight and God bless.