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And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.
"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."
Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also." And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."
- Luke 11:37-52
Yesterday, we read that as Jesus spoke, a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up in 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 indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it under a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body is also full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."
And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you." Jesus emphasizes the interior of the person, the heart. To "give alms" of the interior "things" is like understanding the phrase, "I demand mercy, not sacrifice" - Hosea 6:6. (See Matthew 9:13, 12:7.) It is also reflected in St. Paul's teaching about the circumcision of the heart (see Romans 2:29). We give of ourselves; this is part of the taking up of each one's cross.
"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them." My study bible says that these warnings are especially important for Christians, particularly those such as the Orthodox whose traditions include many ancient practices: tithing ("giving alms"), using sacred vessels, holy liturgical rites, and many other traditions handed down from Church Fathers. These practices, which are quite beautiful, can also lead to a kind of blindness: either they are expressions of deep faith and lead people to a deeper commitment to God, safeguarding a life in Christ -- or they can be observed "without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation." We note again the "weightier matters" (see Matthew 23:23) of justice and love of God, which Jesus says are things we give of the heart. We note that justice and love of God go hand in hand, as in the two greatest commandments. My study bible adds: "While these charges were directed against the Jewish leaders of the day, every word applies equally to those in the Church who behave in this way."
Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also." And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation." This is a similar kind of statement to the one made in yesterday's reading, in which those who rejected Christ were unfavorably compared (with reference to judgment) to the people of Nineveh and the queen of Sheba. Only here the judgment comes upon them as they continue in the ways of earlier poor leaders who persecuted and murdered prophets of the word of God. Burdening others (with requirements of the law) and failing to "lift a finger" to help with the burden is also another failure of the heart: a failure of love and mercy, a failure of true justice.
"Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered." My study bible says that "woe" is a term that indicates complete and devastating destruction. It notes also, "Because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding Him as well. Thus, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1)." In my opinion, the key of knowledge is the love of God.
So, if we can assume that all of the practices that Jesus condemns as hypocritical are all meant to be created to do good, we can see a great paradox here. The tithing that He says is simply a surface cover, a false mask for the failure to practice justice and the love of God, is meant as a practice to convey just that: justice and the love of God. It tells us that there is something more than practice, that the heart can still be quite severed from the goals the practice is designed to enforce and support and help make stronger. So, what is it to have justice and love of God in the heart? If we think about practices like fasting and tithing, we can see a common denominator: they are practices that give us discipline regarding our own selfishness or self-indulgence, they teach us we can rise above basic desires and make decisions for personal discipline, we can sacrifice to a greater good, we are not just beings with impulses we follow blindly. We make choices. There's a deep sort of a crux there regarding loving God and practicing justice: we can choose to love God and to practice God's justice which is never estranged from mercy. We were meant for a higher purpose than a simple self-centeredness; we were created for glory. This glory is reflected in the kind of ways we learn to take on the light of God that has been given to us via grace and shine it for the world. In such a teaching, every single thing we are or have can be used for God's purposes. If we can sing we can develop that talent for the glory of God and to express the love we find in God to the world. (No comment on some of the pop stars of today.) I recently saw a story about a 99-year-old American woman who makes one child's dress a day for poor girls in Africa to have at least one beautiful thing to wear. Every single thing we are or that by which we have been blessed can go to the love of God and the practice of God's justice in the world, to shine the light of God's love. This, of course, includes all "talents" - even if our talent is to make money and profits! There is nothing and no one who stands outside of this command, this desire for God to be united in love with God's children, and for the children to reflect God's glory. Let's think about what the justice of God really means, how if we truly love God we will seek to reflect God's justice, inseparable from mercy. Jesus has emphasized love when He said, "The poor you always have with you," in response to the complaints about the woman with the jar of expensive ointment. The emphasis in that teaching was on love -- and takes us away from the notion of giving as merely a duty that can be used to cover up a heart that is not filled with the love of God that must always be connected with God's practice of love. Our giving, in whatever form it may take according to our capabilities, has to be connected to love, to the heart. The ills of the world fall so hard on the shoulders of the vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor, the ostracized, the vanquished, the refugee. They fall on all of us, but vulnerable populations are especially preyed upon by predators that reflect the evil of all kinds of vice, of rage, of lust and covetousness of every kind, of cruelty. The love of God in the heart must lead to the desire to see justice for God's children. Perhaps it is the freedom to know and love God, to know God's love for oneself, that is the greatest liberator of all. It is through God's love that we must see the most vulnerable populations of the world, and we must remember too that "vulnerable" can come where we least expect it. It is a question of taking notice, and living the prayerful life that can teach us where and how our help is needed at all times. Let us remember that we may be called upon to give in all kinds of ways that will surprise us; love is giving of yourself.
