When Jesus Speaks
Luke 11:37–12:3
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 'I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.'"
(Jeremiah 17:9-10)
Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to follow Jesus while He walked this earth - hearing Him teach with parables, seeing Him bless children, confront Pharisees, and do miracles? I think if we had been there we would have found it hard to listen at times because He always spoke the truth about the condition of the human heart. In this Luke 11 passage Jesus confronted the Pharisees about their hypocrisy. They were upset that He hadn't washed His hands before eating (a law they had made part of God's law). So He challenged them: you're all upset about my hands not being clean, but what about your hearts? Look how filthy they are!
Jesus never backed down from the hard-core issues of our hearts: jealousy, lust, greed, lying, pride, unfaithfulness. He knew it was out of our hearts that our actions and words flow, and He constantly calls us to holy living - being so transformed by Him on our inside that we reflect Him differently on the outside.
Ask yourself every day, How is my heart doing?
INSIGHT
Are we listening to God and responding honestly to what we hear Him say? If so, it will show through our heart transformation. Amazing!
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Deuteronomy 17-18
Psalm 88
Acts 11-12
Luke 11:37–12:3
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders
37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.[a] 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, "You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
42 "What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,[b] but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
43 "What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on."
45 "Teacher," said an expert in religious law, "you have insulted us, too, in what you just said."
46 "Yes," said Jesus, "what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. 47 What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. 48 But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! 49 This is what God in his wisdom said about you:[c] ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’
50 "As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
52 "What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering."
53 As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. 54 They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him.
A Warning against Hypocrisy
12 Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. 2 The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!
Footnotes:
a. Luke 11:37 Or and reclined.
b. Luke 11:42 Greek tithe the mint, the rue, and every herb.
c. Luke 11:49 Greek Therefore, the wisdom of God said.
BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE [PART 4]
with Laura Story
Who doesn't want a little glory? At some level we are all glory-seekers who will take it all for ourselves if it is within our grasp. When we do this, we are stealing what belongs to God alone.
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