BREAKFAST MEETING WITH JESUS

LUKE 11:37-54


  I. Washings (11:37-41)


      Edersheim explained, “As the guests enter, they sit down on chairs, and water is brought to them, with which they wash one hand.”

“Presently they all lie down at table. Water is again brought them, with which they now wash both hands, preparatory to the meal, when the blessing is spoken over the bread. . . .”

“When the water for purification was presented to Him, Jesus would either refuse it; or if, as seems more likely at a morning-meal, each guest repaired by himself for the prescribed purification, He would omit to do so, and sit down to meat without this formality. “ Endnote


      A. Pharisee (Lk. 7:36, 11:37, 14:1; invited Jesus)


      B. Purification


Mt. 23:25-26 [ESV]. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.


          1. Outside


Mk. 7:21-23 [ESV]. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.


          2. Inside


Ps. 51:10, 17 [ESV]. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.


 II. Woes (11:42-52)


      David Smith wrote, “It was a scathing indictment, the most terrible that ever fell on human ears; yet, as it poured from His lips, pity struggled with indignation in His breast.” Endnote


      A. Traditionalist (42-44)


Mk. 7:7-8 [GW]. Their worship of me is pointless, because their teachings are rules made by humans.' "You abandon the commandments of God to follow human traditions.”


          1. Hypocrisy


              a. Paid (Mt. 23:23; Lk. 18:12)


              b. Passed (Mic. 6:8)


                  (1) Done


                  (2) Undone


Mk. 12:40 [GW]. They rob widows by taking their houses and then say long prayers to make themselves look good. The scribes will receive the most severe punishment.


          2. Humility (Mk. 12:38-39; Lk. 20:46)


              a. Pretension


Lk. 14:10-11 [GNB]. Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that your host will come to you and say, 'Come on up, my friend, to a better place.' This will bring you honor in the presence of all the other guests. For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.


              b. Prominence


Mt. 23:7 [GNB]. they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them 'Teacher.'


          3. Honesty


Mt. 23:27 [GNB]. How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside.


              a. Without


              b. Within


      B. Legalist (45-52)


Lk. 7:30 [GNB]. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law rejected God's purpose for themselves and refused to be baptized by John.


          1. Burden


Mt. 23:4 [LB]. They load you with impossible demands that they themselves don't even try to keep.


              a. Load


Acts 15:10 [GW]. So why are you testing God? You're putting a burden on the disciples, a burden neither our ancestors nor we can carry.


              b. Lift (Lk. 13:16)


Gal. 6:13 [MSG]. They themselves don't keep the law! And they are highly selective in the laws they do observe. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast of their success in recruiting you to their side. That is contemptible!


          2. Build


              a. Monument


      Stagg stated, “It is easy to revere dead prophets, safely entombed, but it is another thing to hear God’s prophets in one’s own time.” Endnote


Mt. 23:29-30 [LB]. Yes, woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders-hypocrites! For you build monuments to the prophets killed by your fathers and lay flowers on the graves of the godly men they destroyed, and say, `We certainly would never have acted as our fathers did.'


              b. Murder (consenting–Acts 22:20)


Acts 7:51 [GW]. How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You're just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you!


                  (1) Prophets


2 Chr. 36:16. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till [there was] no remedy.


Mk. 12:5 [GW]. The man sent another, and they killed that servant. Then he sent many other servants. Some of these they beat, and others they killed.


                  (2) Apostles (Eph. 2:20)


Mt. 23:34 [GW]. I'm sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers of the Scriptures. You will kill and crucify some of them. Others you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.


                      (a) Blood shed (Gen. 4:10; 2 Chr. 24:22)


                      (b) Blood sought


Ezek. 33:8 [ESV]. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.


          3. Barrier


              a. Held (Is. 22:22)


              b. Hinder (Acts 11:17)


      Robertson wrote, “It is the most pitiful picture imaginable of blind ecclesiastics trying to keep others as blind as they were, blind leaders of the blind, both falling into the pit.” Endnote


                  (1) Open


                  (2) Closed


Lk. 16:28 [WNT]. For I have five brothers. Let him earnestly warn them, lest the also come to this place of torment.


III. Words (11:53-54)


      A. Attack


Mt. 22:15 [ESV]. Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his talk.


      B. Accuse


Lk. 20:20 [HCSB]. They watched closely and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, so they could catch Him in what He said, to hand Him over to the governor's rule and authority.