Luke 11:37-54
While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you. But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.” One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 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 charged against this generation. 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.” When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile towards him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
There’s no way to smooth this over. The controversy, even enmity, between Jesus and the Pharisees is growing apace.
Jesus came as an advocate for the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden. We can say that so often that it almost makes no impact on us. But here we get a sense of just how determined he was to give voice to the complaints of those with no power. He’s been saying that since his first sermon in Nazareth, and he continues with that concern even now.
The bone he picks with the Pharisees and lawyers, you see, is not principally a theological dispute but rather a moral one – they look after their own good but ignore the plight of the poor. They worry about religious and ritual purity but fail to realize those are only appearances, inconsequential in relation to God’s fundamental command to care for the neighbor in need.
In this way, Jesus aligns himself with the prophets of old, as they too championed unrelentingly the fate of those most vulnerable. And they, too, were at turns ignored, persecuted, or killed for their concern.
And so while the issue remains the same, the stakes are growing larger. This, obviously, can’t end well. But perhaps as we read this and other stories, the question isn’t simply with whom we sympathize – that’s obvious enough – but rather with whom do we side? Who, that is, are we more like?
The stakes to this question are still high.
Prayer: Dear God, throughout the Scriptures you make plain your absolute commitment to those in need. Grant us the same commitment, the same vision, the same passion to help the most vulnerable. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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