Depends on What You Are Looking For

In Luke 11:37-54 we have a rich insight into Jesus' mind. Too often people are casual in their faith because of what they are looking for. What do you see? When someone walks in the room, what do you see? When someone walks by your house, what do you see? Remember how much discussion in the Trayvon Martin case centered around how George saw Trayvon. When Jesus came to lunch at this Pharisees house the host laser-eyed Jesus' unwashed hands. This Pharisee saw "it." What? That Jesus had not ceremonially washed His hands before He came to the table. To come to the defense of the Pharisee, remember Jesus saw dirty feet in the upper room (John 13). But for Jesus dirty feet in another person's face was practical, and an opportunity to teach an important lesson. For the Pharisee Jesus' unbaptized hands were an opportunity to discredit Him as worthy of being followed. The inconsistency was glaring in the eyes of Jesus. Outward washing was important to the Jewish leaders. They majored in this minor observance. They had meticulous rules to govern the practice. This Pharisee saw a violation and like a good ref threw the yellow flag.

Jesus used this as an opportunity to teach about things much more important. In Luke 11:39-41 Jesus points out some unseen offenses which often go unacknowledged by the Pharisees and are often endured by the populace. The outside of the platter and cup is cleaned while the inside is left dirty. Jesus uses two words here to describe this, robbery and wickedness. In Matt.23:25 Jesus uses the duo of robbery and self-indulgence. This trio of inside contamination constitutes a serious allegation. He likens the Pharisees to an invading army who pillages a village. Or, He likens them to one like a Mafia Don who would extort money from people. Or, it was like one who would find some "legal" means to confiscate one's property (See Heb.10:34). Self-indulgence is like the incontinence of one who's bowels cannot be controlled, or one who has an unruly appetite or lust. Satan preys on those who have no self-control (I Cor.7:5). The word wickedness is the same word used in Luke 11:34 for the eye which is bad and causes the entire body to be filled with darkness.

Those who glory in their outside cleanliness while neglecting the filth within are fools according to Jesus. These are unenlightened and ignorant. According to Luke 12:20, the light in them in darkness. They believe it is ok to maintain an double-minded existence, a hypocrisy. Jesus' counter to this kind of lifestyle is found in Luke 11:41, "But give that which is within as charity and then all things are clean for you." This is a curious teaching. The word is compassionateness and is used in Lk.12:33 to teach that selling our possessions and giving to "charity" counteracts greed. The antidote for robbery, self-indulgence and wickedness is compassion, empathy, and caring. Self-centeredness is the opposite of investing in others. This Pharisee did not care about Jesus personally. He had no compassion or empathy. He simply cared about his rules and making sure that everything appeared clean.  True cleanliness was not important to him. Jesus is going to use this myopic view to launch six woes. (More to come)