In The Word
Read Luke 11:37-52
Woes upon the Pharisees
37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. 40 You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. 44 Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”
45 One of the lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” 46 But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’ 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
More times than not, when someone comes to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are told that all of the external things that identify themselves with sin first have to be taken away. While this type of conversion is pleasing to the eye of the onlooker, it may not be a true conversion at all. You see, one can learn the behavior of a Christian, but never allow their heart and mind to be transformed. A real conversion may not show immediately on the outside, but something has happened on the inside.
Yahshua addressed this backward way of thinking when He sat to have a meal with a Pharisee. The Pharisee noticed that Yahshua did not perform the hand-cleansing ceremony before he sat down to eat. Yahshua responded in Luke 11:39-40, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?” Yahshua knew that they were more concerned with the outward appearance of a man than with the inward cleanliness of his soul.
We believers need to spend more time asking the Holy Spirit to purify our hearts, which will eventually cause us to shine on the outside. Even though something may look a little tarnished on the outside, it does not mean that the cleansing process has not started on the inside. So let’s pray this prayer: Holy Spirit, search me deep within and cleanse me inside and out. Amen.