2BeLikeChrist Bible Commentary - Luke Chapter 11
Commentary - Luke Chapter 11
Luke 11:1
Luk 11:1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
The Apostles observed Jesus praying and they wanted Him to teach them what He was doing.
They were probably familiar with formal prayers offered in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, but we don’t know much about their experience with personal prayer.
They would have been familiar with the way the Jewish religious leaders prayed (in a showy and proud way, Mat 5:6), but they were also exposed to the very different way Jesus prayed (alone, often at night).
They wanted Jesus to teach them His method of prayer.
The Apostle’s question was a good one.
Those of us who have been Christians a while can forget that prayer requires some explanation.
Those who didn’t grow up in Christian household and those from cultures where prayer is not common usually need some explanation.
What should I pray for?
Does God only want specific prayers, or should they be open-ended?
Am I supposed to pray for certain things at different times?
Do I pray special prayers on holidays?
Do I have to offer a sacrifice with my prayer?
Do I have to use certain special words?
Does God want me to pray about the little problems of my everyday life or just the big stuff?
Are their rules for how often I have to pray?
Is anything off limits?
Should I kneel, close my eyes, look up to heaven, do I need a prayer rug?
All of these questions and more are valid, especially when a person is coming from a religion that treats prayer differently or if a person has no experience with prayer.
In the next few verses, Jesus is going to provide His disciples with a model prayer.
Luke 11:2-4
Luk 11:2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.
Luk 11:3 Give us each day our daily bread,
Luk 11:4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
There are several elements to this prayer, and it would be a good idea to model our prayers after this one.
In this short prayer we see:
Praise – “Hallowed be your name”
Expression of Trust in God’s Plan – “Your kingdom come.”
Request for Provision – “Give us each day our daily bread”
Request for Forgiveness – “forgive us our sins”
Request for Guidance – “lead us not into temptation.”
We can pray using these elements as a guide.
Let’s break this down a bit more:
“Father, hallowed be your name...”
Hallowed: “make holy, consecrated”
This was a statement of praise and worship, acknowledging God’s greatness.
“Your kingdom come…”
The Kingdom of God is God’s reign over all things.
People were invited to join God’s Kingdom when the Church was established.
The Church is a group of people who have been called out of the kingdoms of the world and into a better spiritual Kingdom with a better spiritual King.
That is why the Apostles spoke of being citizens of heaven.
Philippians 3:20 - But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
There is a sense in which the Kingdom of God is already here but another in which the reign of God, in its fullest sense, will not be observed until the end of time when God throws down all of His enemies and removes their evil influence.
On that day, the Day of Judgement, all of God’s adversaries will be thrown down and God will reign forever in unchallenged glory.
On that day, the Church will be gathered to Him and live with Him as their King forever.
The Apostles could pray for the Kingdom to come in both sense because the Church had not yet been established.
Today, we can pray for the Kingdom to come in the second sense.
The Bible ends with John praying for this very thing.
Revelation 22:20 – “…Come, Lord Jesus!”
John prayed for the return of Jesus and the eternal reign of God.
“Give us each day our daily bread…”
The disciples were to ask God to provide them with food.
Although we often fail to realize it, it is God who puts food on our table every day.
He sustains us in our health, our ability to have a job, our talents, our mental faculties, etc.
Everything we are and everything we have remain ours only by God’s grace.
It is therefore right and necessary to ask God to continue to provide for us.
He is the only One who controls all factors of the universe and the only one who can guarantee food on our table tomorrow.
“and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.”
Jesus tied the disciple’s forgiveness to their forgiveness of others and told them to pray this way as a reminder of the connection.
Are you able to pray the words of verse 4?
What if God’s forgiveness was benchmarked on the way you’ve forgiven others?
Would God be a very forgiving God?
Are you willing to forgive people who wrong you? Or do you hold a grudge? Hold it over their head? Bring it up whenever you need ammunition?
A person who is not willing to forgive a fellow human is a person who either:
1. Doesn’t understand the wickedness of their own sin.
2. Doesn’t know the value of Christ’s sacrifice.
Probably both!
A man who genuinely knows Christ, and the fate Christ has saved him from through grace, will always be capable of forgiving another!
A man who refuses to forgive another doesn’t know Christ and therefore will not have Him as the atonement for his own sins.
Our perspective is grossly distorted if we believe we’ve been too wrongfully treated by another to forgive them, but haven’t treated God wrongly enough to be forgiven.
“And lead us not into temptation.”
Let’s look at 2 possible interpretations of this verse:
1. A Prayer to God to Lead us Away from Temptation:
Lead us not into temptation but away from it.
We need God’s help to steer us away from temptation.
To limit our exposure to it so it doesn’t gain access to our hearts.
In Matthew 26:41, while in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus instructed His Apostles to pray something similar.
Mat 26:41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
From this verse we understand conquering temptation is not just a matter of a person’s willpower, it also involves the assistance of God.
That assistance is requested in prayer.
2. A Prayer to God to Keep us from Physical Trials:
The Greek word translated “temptation” can refer to physical adversity.
It is translated as “trials” in James 1:2.
If I understand correctly, it is possible this verse can be paraphrased, “And lead us not into trials.”
Believers don’t want to suffer for their faith and should pray that suffering doesn’t become their reality.
This would be similar to what Paul instructed Timothy to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-2.
He was to pray for kings and rulers so Christians could live peaceful lives.
Luke 11:5-8
Luk 11:5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,
Luk 11:6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;
Luk 11:7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?
Luk 11:8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
In these 4 verses, Jesus told a story about a man who received an unexpected guest.
Late at night, when all the bread stores had closed, a friend arrived at this man’s house.
In those days, hospitality was considered a very important virtue to the Jews, so the man felt it was his responsibility to feed his friend and give him a place to sleep.
But he didn’t have any bread.
So, he went over to his neighbor’s house and asked him for bread.
His neighbor was his friend, but he was annoyed because it was late, and his family was already asleep.
In the end, the neighbor gave the man the requested bread because of his persistence.
He wanted to go back to bed and he knew his friend wouldn’t stop asking until he got the bread he needed.
Jesus said the man didn’t give his friend bread because he was his friend but because of his “impudence.”
Impudent – not showing due respect for another person (Oxford).
The man was a bit rude waking his neighbor up in the middle of the night.
The neighbor wanted the annoyance to go away, so he gave him the bread.
The KJV uses the word “importunity.”
Importunity – persistence, especially to the point of annoyance (Oxford).
How do we interpret this story?
Is it saying we should annoy God with persistence until He gives us what we want?
I think the best way to understand is to keep reading down through the text.
We will come back to the interpretation after reading the next few verses.
Luke 11:9-13
Luk 11:9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Luk 11:10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Luk 11:11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;
Luk 11:12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
It’s pretty incredible that the God who created us wants to hear our requests.
This was an important point in the disciple’s education on prayer.
God wanted them to speak to Him.
It’s not as if He is up in heaven just tolerating all of us.
The God of the Bible isn’t portrayed like some of the ancient gods of other cultures, as if a person has to walk on eggshells to approach Him due to His volatile and unpredictable mood.
What is even more incredible is the promise that our requests will be honored.
Those who ask for help in serving God will receive it.
Those who seek the truth will find it.
Those who knock at God’s door will be given entrance.
A Roman peasant couldn’t knock on Caesar’s door and get access to the emperor whenever he wanted.
God’s door is always open to His children.
The King invites you in to request council and care.
APPLICATION:
How often do we take advantage of God’s willingness to listen?
You have an opportunity to knock on God’s door and ask for wisdom and guidance before you do just about anything.
Do we ever do that?
I understand the questions in verses 11-12 to be rhetorical.
The answers should have been obvious.
“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?”
“or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?”
Answer: “No!”
It’s pretty hard to mistake these things.
Even an earthly father, with all of his imperfections, knows how to appropriately answer the request of his son.
If an imperfect man knows how to grant a request, how much more capable must a perfect God be at doing it?
If as a son, you were able to go to your “evil” (meaning imperfect/sinful) father and trust that he would care for you, how much more confidence should you be to make your requests to a Holy Father (God).
This helps us understand the story Jesus told in verses 5-8.
The neighbor granted his friend’s request, not out of love for his friend, but because he was annoyed with him.
Even an irritated person can grant a request to someone in need, if only to benefit themselves by ridding themselves of a persistent annoyance.
A person without love in their heart can grant a request.
A sinful father can grant a request.
How much better at granting requests must a loving and perfect Father be?
He is the best at caring for you!
Luke 11:14-16
Luk 11:14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.
Luk 11:15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,”
Luk 11:16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.
This account is also recorded in Matthew 12.
Jesus was working miracles but was surrounded by a bunch of critics.
Matthew tells us these critics were the Pharisees.
Jesus healed a man with an evil spirit that made him mute.
As soon as the demon went out of the man, he was able to speak again.
Upon seeing this, that Pharisees accused Jesus of getting His power from “Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
The miracle was undeniable, but the Pharisees needed to attribute the power to someone other than God (otherwise they would have to accept Jesus’ legitimacy).
The origin of the name “Beelzebul” seems to have come from a Philistine idol.
2 Kings 2:1 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.”
The worship of Beelzebub was either so vile that it earned the idol the title “prince of the demons” or else at some point the name had been adopted by the Jews as a designation for Satan.
Either way, the Pharisees were attributing Jesus’ power to the Devil and demonic forces.
There were also individuals in the crowd who kept asking Jesus for more miracles “to test Him.”
They were probably hoping He would eventually faulter and they would have a chance to discredit Him.
Whenever you want to figure out how a card trick works, you ask the magician to perform the trick again, and again, and again as you watch for signs of slight-of-hand.
In this case, the critics weren’t going to be able to find any evidence of fraud, no matter how many miracles Jesus performed.
Luke 11:17-18
Luk 11:17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.
Luk 11:18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
The suggestion that Jesus got His power from Beelzebul was a ridiculous notion.
Would a king send his army to start a war with his navy?
No! Of course not. The suggestion is nonsense.
So, why would anyone believe Satan empowered Jesus to destroy his own work?
The Pharisees weren’t dumb, but this suggestion shows just how desperate they were to find a way to discredit Jesus.
Luke 11:19
Luk 11:19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
If you read 1st Century Jewish history, you’ll find reference to the practice of exorcism.
The procedures for performing an exorcism included chants, incantations, incense, etc.
Exorcisms were not always successful.
Jesus’ power was unique in that it was 100% successful, and the demons submitted to just His words (no need for chants, incantations, incense, etc.).
Jesus asked the Pharisees, “If I cast out demons with the power of the Devil, with what power do your Jewish exorcists (your sons) try to cast out demons?”
If their reasoning was sound and someone who cast out demons had to be in league with the demons… what did that say about their Jewish exorcists
Were they in league with the devil?
The Pharisees obviously would have said, “No!”
So why would they make such a ridiculous accusation against Jesus?
Jesus told them their own exorcists would condemn their reasoning.
This was a pretty poorly thought out argument, and Jesus exposed it for what it was.
Luke 11:20
Luk 11:20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matthew’s account is very similar.
Mat 12:28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
If Jesus wasn’t using the power of Satan to cast out the demon, whose power was He using?
Who was more powerful than Satan?
The only possible answer to that question is “God!”
The only one with the power to destroy Satan is God.
If He wasn’t empowered by Satan, He was empowered by God, and if the power of God was entering the world to overthrow the effects of Satan, it meant only one thing, the Kingdom of God was coming.
God was going to overthrow Satan’s dominion and set up a Kingdom to oppose him.
Luke 11:21-22
Luk 11:21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe;
Luk 11:22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.
Again, Matthew’s record parallels.
Mat 12:29 Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
If you are going to take something that belongs to a strong man, you first have to find a way to bind him.
If this can be done, you will then be able to plunder his house (take what belongs to him).
What does this have to do with anything?
Jesus was illustrating His power over Satan.
Satan is the strong man and Jesus had the power to bind him and take what belonged to him.
In this case, the demon possessed individual was under Satan’s power.
Christ came with the Spirit of God to plunder what Satan possessed.
In a wider sense, Jesus came with the Spirit of God to plunder all that Satan possessed and kept by the power of sin (sinners).
Luke 11:23
Luk 11:23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Jesus left no middle ground or grey space in which His audience could linger.
There are only two sides in the universal conflict between good and evil.
You either belong to the power of Satan.
Or you belong to the power of the Spirit of God.
Rom 8:9 - You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
You either gather with Christ or scatter with Satan.
The term scatter and gather may be alluding to the two ends of the agricultural spectrum.
A sower scatters seed.
A harvester gathers into barns.
Mar 4:26 - And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.
Mat 3:12 - His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
As the spring planting and fall harvesting can’t be farther apart, the power of Satan and the power of Christ can’t be farther apart.
You’re either in one camp or the other:
You either belong to the power of Satan.
Or you belong to the power of the Spirit of God.
Luke 11:24-26
Luk 11:24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
Luk 11:25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.
Luk 11:26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
I find this passage a bit hard to get my head wrapped around, but I will do my best to draw out the point Jesus was making.
Matthew records an addition sentence of Jesus’ where Luke leaves off in verse 26, “So also will it be with this evil generation” (Mat 12:45).
The Parable:
A man was oppressed by the power of a demon (the power of Satan).
The man received some relief and an opportunity to get his mind oriented correctly (finds the house empty, swept, and put in order).
But the demon returned stronger than ever before.
The Explanation:
For a long time, the Jews had been oppressed by demon possession, but thinking more broadly, they were under the power and control of Satan because of their sins.
They received an opportunity, through Christ, to get their minds and hearts oriented correctly and escape Satan forever.
But instead of filling their houses with godliness, they left them open for the return of Satan’s influence.
2Pe 2:20 - For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
Although this verse in Peter’s epistle wasn’t directed towards Pharisees and scribes, I believe the principle contained here is applicable.
Peter probably took the words at the end of 2 Peter 2:20 directly from Jesus.
The Pharisees were privileged to witness God on earth.
They saw His miracles.
They saw His power over Satan’s demons.
They heard His sermons.
They would see His death and the miracles that accompanied it.
They would see His resurrection.
With their own eyes they would witness the promised relief from the power of Satan, but they would not open their hearts and homes to it. 334
In rejecting Christ, they hardened their hearts and allowed Satan to entangle them to a greater degree than ever before.
It’s one thing to reject Jesus because you’ve never heard about Him, it’s another thing to see the beauty and salvation of the Lord and say, “No thanks! Not interested!”
Jesus should have softened their hearts, not harden them.
But because they hated Jesus, their hearts became more a home for Satan than ever before (verse 26).
Satan’s possession of them was more secure than ever before.
Luke 11:27-28
Luk 11:27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”
Luk 11:28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
A woman somewhere in the crowd blessed Jesus’ mother for the privilege she had been given of bearing the Son of God.
It was a great honor, especially in those days, for a woman to have a distinguished son.
This woman thought Mary’s maternal connection to Jesus was really something great.
But as Jesus did in Luke 8:19-21, He took the emphasis off the physical blood connection and placed it on the spiritual connection between Himself and those who heeded God’s message.
Certainly, Mary was blessed to bear the Messiah (she said so in Luke 1:48).
But she and we are blessed to a greater degree when we submit ourselves to the words of God and He adopts us into His spiritual family.
SIDE NOTE:
I do think this verse is relevant when evaluating the importance some churches place on Mary.
If there was ever a time for Jesus to lift up His mother as a saint among saints this was it.
He instead spoke of the honor belonging to all His disciples.
Luke 11:29-32
Luk 11:29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
Luk 11:30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
Luk 11:31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Luk 11:32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
The group of Jews surrounding Jesus weren’t honest truth seekers.
They came to accuse Jesus, not listen to him with honest hearts.
Why?
Had they not seen enough miracles?
Did they not have enough evidence to believe?
No, they had seen plenty of miracles.
In truth, they had no intention or willingness to believe in Jesus no matter how many miracles He performed.
They just wanted to find a way to trap Jesus.
APPLICATION:
You will meet these people on your Christian walk.
They put on a good show in the beginning to make you believe they are authentic, but after a while, their true intentions come out.
They just want to trip you up.
These evil influences were attempting to discredit God’s Messenger.
He called the people an evil and adulterous generation.
They weren’t necessary “adulterous” because they all cheated on their spouses (although some of them may have).
They were adulterous in the sense that they owed their loyalty to God, but their self-interests often led them to give their loyalty to other things.
In the Old Testament, God spoke of the Jewish nation as an adulterous wife because of its unfaithfulness to Him.
The stubborn heart of the Jewish people infuriated Jesus.
He refused to give them another sign except for the “sign of Jonah.”
If you want to know more about Jonah, there is a book bearing his name in the Old Testament.
Jonah was swallowed by a whale for 3 days because he refused to preach to the people of Nineveh.
Jesus was going to spend 3 days in the earth before resurrecting.
This sign would be sufficient evidence for anyone who doubted Jesus’ identity.
It would be all they would need to believe.
The question was, would they accept it or would they reject it (Jesus knew most of them would reject it).
In contrast to the stubbornness of the Jews, when Jonah finally travelled to Nineveh, the people of the city heeded his message and repented of their wickedness.
They felt bad about their sins and listened to the words of God preached by Jonah.
In verse 32, Jesus told the Jews someone greater than Jonah was speaking to them in that moment.
But they weren’t wise enough to repent.
Nineveh (a heathen Gentile city) was wiser than the “educated” people of God.
The people of Nineveh weren’t the only Gentiles wiser than the Pharisees and scribes, the “queen of the South” is also counted as being more righteous (see 1Kings 10:1ff).
The queen of the South journeyed a long way to hear the rumored wisdom of King Solomon, yet the Jews didn’t recognize an even greater wisdom walking among them in their towns.
Luke 11:33-36
Luk 11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.
Luk 11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.
Luk 11:35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.
Luk 11:36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
God gave a light (Jesus) to the Jewish people.
The light was meant to lead them to God.
The light wasn’t hidden from the people but shown brightly in their midst offering them vision and wisdom.
But they weren’t interested in seeing properly.
They loved the darkness where their moral failings went unexposed.
Joh 1:9-11 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Candles aren’t meant to be hidden and God certainly didn’t hide Jesus from the Jews. Jesus had been walking around in their towns day after day offering God’s wisdom to anyone who would listen.
So, what was the problem?
Answer: Their eyes weren’t working properly.
Jesus wasn’t talking about their physical eyes, but the eyes of their heart/soul.
If the Jew’s observed Jesus properly, they would have seen the light and wisdom of God.
They would have been filled with it.
They would have recognized the truth in Jesus’ message and acknowledged Him as the Son of God.
But the eyes of their hearts were sick, sin had warped them.
They couldn’t see properly.
The eyes of their hearts were broken and when they were exposed to the light, rather than observing it in its beauty and allowing it to fill them, their twisted lenses only saw it as a means to try to destroy Jesus.
The only reason they sat and listened to the Light of the World was so they could find a way to snuff Him out.
They had the light but they would not allow it to fill them and transform them.
APPLICATION:
The book of James warns readers about reading the word of God but not allowing it to change them.
Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
We can read about the Light of the World everyday, but if we don’t allow ourselves to be filled with it to the point of being transformed by it, we are wasting time.
Our hearts have to be open to letting the light in, letting it expose us, letting it fill us, and letting it guide us on the path to God.
The Bible often uses light and dark to illustrate spiritual things.
The first thing God said in Genesis 1 was, “Let there be light.”
He brought light into a dark universe.
In a new form of creation, God sent Jesus (the Word of God, John 1:1) to give light to a world darkened by sin.
Luke 11:37-38
Luk 11:37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.
Luk 11:38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.
What was hand washing?
If you’ve never read the Bible before or haven’t been introduced to Judaism, you may think this “hand washing” refers to the common practice in most modern households.
We don’t want to eat with dirty hands because, well, germs and stuff, so we wash them with some soap and water before we eat.
But Jesus’ neglect of washing His hands for hygiene’s sake wasn’t what astonished the Pharisees.
The Jews had a special hand washing tradition.
Jewish hand washing is known as netilat yadayim (don’t ask me how to pronounce it).
The practice is described in great detail in the Talmud.
The Talmud is a collection of Jewish oral traditions.
These oral traditions were meant to explain and expound on the Torah.
The Torah is the written Law of God (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, etc)
The practice of hand washing originated with a command given to the priests when they entered the Temple to perform their duties.
They were told in Exodus 30:17-21 to wash their hands and their feet in purification for their holy responsibilities.
Exo 30:17-21 - The LORD said to Moses, “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the LORD, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.”
So, the origin of the tradition came from God’s Law, but the elders expanded on this command and created traditions demanding hand washing and ritual purification for common Jews doing common things.
They required the same ritual purification by water to take place at several occasions:
Before eating.
After eating (if they had touched the “salt of Sodom”).
When eating certain fruits and vegetables.
After sleeping.
Before prayer.
They also created rituals about:
What type of water was required.
How much water was required.
How many times the water had to be poured on the hand.
Blessings/prayers that had to be recited during the ritual.
This type of hand washing wasn’t about physical cleanliness, it was about a spiritual purification before the priest (the Jew) approached the altar (the table) to take part in the sacrifice (the bread).
This wasn’t the only time the Jewish religious leaders took issue with Jesus not participating in the ritual of handwashing.
You can read about another confrontation in Matthew 15:1-9.
In that account, Jesus made it very clear that hand washing was nothing more than a tradition and the Pharisees had no right to bind it on anyone.
APPLICATION:
We need to be really careful about taking a “principle” found in one context and creating rules to bind in other contexts.
Luke 11:39-41
Luk 11:39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
Luk 11:40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?
Luk 11:41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
Jesus knew the Pharisees thoughts and His response was very blunt!
Jesus didn’t bother with the rules of etiquette, He went straight to the point.
The Pharisees were like a cup that was clean on the outside but dirty on the inside.
Imagine a cabinet with fancy silver dinnerware.
All the silver bowels are sparkling clean on the outside to impress the guests, but are full of dust, cobwebs, and old food on the inside.
The Pharisees worked hard to make themselves look very righteous to other people (on the outside).
But their hearts (the inside) were dirty and evil and corrupt.
They may have been able to deceive the common Jewish people, but their Creator knew them inside-out.
In verse 41, Jesus told them they should have given their hearts as a sacrifice to God so they could be clean on the outside and the inside.
If a person’s heart (inside) is right, their actions (outside) will reflect their inner purity.
In other words, if the inside is right, the outside will fix itself.
Jesus wanted them to give their hearts to God as a sacrifice.
Paul said something similar in Romans 12
Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
If they gave themselves to God, He would make them new and clean them of sin.
But they would remain dirty so long as they refused God’s offer.
Luke 11:42
Luk 11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Jesus said something very similar in Matthew 23:23.
Mat 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Mint and rue are both small herbs.
Jesus used these herbs because they are very small in size.
In the Old Testament, the Jewish people were commanded to “tithe” their income. This meant giving a percentage of their income to the LORD.
Lev 27:30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD's; it is holy to the LORD.
The Pharisees were meticulous in tithing even the smallest herbs of their income in order to comply with God’s commands, but they neglected other more important commands.
Jesus was pointing out their hypocrisy.
They had abandoned the pursuit of justice, mercy, and faithfulness (which were also commanded in the Law).
They were spending so much time in the details, they forgot the big picture.
APPLICATION:
The same thing can happen in modern churches.
We can get caught up in the details and forget the big picture.
Notice, Jesus didn’t condemn them for caring about the details, He condemned them for neglecting the big things.
It is right to care about the details, but the bigger picture must always be kept in view.
We can’t get bogged down in the details of one command and excuse ourselves from the rest.
What might it look like to lose the bigger picture?
Christians that get caught up arguing with brethren about what color to paint the church building. They forget the color doesn’t matter but unity really matters.
Christians who debate to win arguments instead of saving souls.
Christians who study the Bible in depth, but never act on its instruction.
It is right to study the Bible, but pointless if we forget the reason we study.
Luke 11:43
Luk 11:43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
In American culture, the seating order at worship isn’t a big deal (unless someone steals your seat lol) but in Jesus’ day it mattered a lot.
When you were invited to someone’s house, it mattered where you were placed around the table (Luke 14:10).
Location = status.
Evidently, the same practice had leaked into Jewish synagogue worship.
The Pharisees wanted to be seated in the best spots so they could attract the admiration of their peers.
They also loved “greetings in the marketplace.”
Now, it isn’t wrong to like it when people say “hi” to you at the grocery store.
I think what Jesus was referring to was the Pharisees’ love of going around town and having people greet them because they recognized them as leaders in the community.
Jesus said they loved it when people called them rabbi/teacher (Mat 23:7).
They gloated in the attention.
They relished the admiration they received on account of their position.
Luke 11:44
Luk 11:44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
The Jews were not supposed to walk on graves, it made them ceremonially unclean according to Numbers 19:16.
Num 19:16 - Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
If you’ve ever walked through an old cemetery, you’ll know it isn’t always easy to spot the grave markers, especially if the cemetery hasn’t been well maintained.
Moss, ivy, and grass often grow over flat grave markers.
Stones are weathered by the wind, rain, and heat and start to blend in with their surroundings.
Imagine you are a Jew in the 1st Century, walking along minding your own business, when all of a sudden you accidently stepped on a grave marker that had camouflaged itself into its surroundings.
That would be pretty inconvenient.
You would be ceremonially unclean for 7 days and you would probably have to adjust whatever plans you had for the upcoming week.
How did this picture relate to the Pharisees?
The exterior of the Pharisees kept the Jewish people from recognizing what they really were.
Their corruption and greed were camouflaged beneath the robes of a religious teacher.
APPLICATION:
Does this ever happen today?
You bet!
Luke 11:45
Luk 11:45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.”
Evidently, there were some lawyers present at the meal.
One of them spoke up and pointed out that Jesus’ words reproved, not only the Pharisees, but the lawyers also.
The spirit in which this statement was made is not made clear to us.
We don’t know if the lawyer recognized his own failings in the words of Jesus.
Or if he said this in anger, incredulous that Jesus would dare offend two groups of religious leaders at once.
Luke 11:46
Luk 11:46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
Both the Pharisees and lawyers were guilty of abusing their positions and Jesus meant to drag their failures into the light and make them abundantly clear.
The lawyers were interpreters of the Old Testament Law and the oral traditions.
Here Jesus condemned them for laying heavy burdens on the people but being unwilling to help them in any way.
You can imagine a scene where a man is bent over under the already heavy burden of keeping the Old Testament Law and a lawyer is behind him adding wrapped packages full of rigorous tradition on his already heavy back.
As observed throughout the gospels, the Jewish religious leader’s application of the Law was harsh and unconcerned with loving God or loving one’s neighbor.
The Old Testament Law was difficult to keep, and the lawyers made it even more difficult.
A good example of this can be found in Mark 2:27 (parallels the text of Matthew 12).
The Pharisees made up all kinds of strict rules about what it meant to “keep Sabbath.”
The Sabbath was a day meant to ease men’s burdens and stress, but the Pharisees had made it a burden on men.
The enforcement of the handwashing tradition was another unnecessary burden forced on the people.
Luke 11:47-51
Luk 11:47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.
Luk 11:48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.
Luk 11:49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’
Luk 11:50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,
Luk 11:51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.
The lawyers were guilty because they pretended to honor the prophets of God.
They adorned their tombs and probably talked about them with admiration.
But in reality, if the prophets had been present in their lifetimes, they would have disrespected them just like their fathers.
They were no better than their ancestors who hated the prophets for speaking the truths they received from God.
They would have been complicit with the actions of their fathers towards the Old Testament prophets, which was evidenced by their actions against Jesus.
Consider this, they had more opportunity to learn about God than any Jews who came before them.
They could read the Old Testament scriptures.
They could read the sermons of the prophets.
They could observe the character of God in how He dealt with their forefathers.
Did they learn from their wealth of knowledge? Did they heed the message of the prophets and repent? Nope!
Jesus was the culmination of all that the Old Testament prophets spoke about, yet the Jewish officials were planning to murder Him.
They were going to be guilty of Jesus’ blood and the blood of all those who God used to lay the groundwork for Jesus’ arrival.
I believe the use of Abel and Zechariah is meant to sum up all Jewish history prior to Christ.
Abel was the son of Adam and Even (beginning of the Bible).
Zechariah was a prophet towards the end of the Old Testament.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day mocked the cause for which the prophets spilled their blood.
APPLICATION:
God takes it very seriously when we go through the motions of honoring Him, while our lives don’t acknowledge Him as our Lord.
This is what the lawyers were doing with the prophets.
They honored them externally.
But their lack of repentance revealed they didn’t care what the prophets had to say.
Have you ever sat in a worship service and sang praises to God, only to leave the service and live as if you didn’t care one-way-or-another what God had to say?
Luke 11:52
Luk 11:52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
The messages of the prophets were the “key” to understanding the Kingdom of Heaven.
But seeing as how the lawyers didn’t honor the prophets, they discarded the true meaning of their messages and came up with their own interpretations.
Then they taught the Jewish people about the Kingdom using their faulty interpretations.
The lawyers were supposed to be the educated interpreters of God’s Law.
The people looked to them as an authority.
But they had robbed the people of a true knowledge of God, they gave them bad information, and provided them with poor examples to imitate.
No wonder Jesus was upset with them!
APPLICATION:
Don’t let the same thing be said of you!
“He didn’t make it to heaven and the people who look to him for spiritual guidance aren’t going to make it either.”
I don’t think there is a worse legacy.
Luke 11:53-54
Luk 11:53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things,
Luk 11:54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
The Pharisees and lawyers didn’t care for Jesus.
They doubled down on their efforts to catch Him doing/saying something wrong.
You would think if the most educated minds in Galilee followed a man around every day for years trying to catch Him doing something wrong and still couldn’t, they would have started listening to Him.
It goes to show, even the most obvious truths can’t penetrate a mind that has been closed off to learning.
