Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

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.  Those 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.  And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

- Luke 11:37-52

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus preached, 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 in 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 also is 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 is marveled at by the Pharisee because He has not performed a ceremonial washing before dinner.  In response Jesus speaks about the inner life of a person, and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who were known for their piety and strictness in observance of not just the Law, but also the many traditions they had built up around it.  But severity can lead to what is called "legalism," whereby the letter of the law may be observed, but a deeper sense of God's mercy ignored.  My study bible says that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  Therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).  To give alms of such things as you have is to live simply with humility before God and the practice of charity -- then all things are clean to such a person.

"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.  Those 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."  To practice tithing of these small things (all manner of herbs) and to ignore the weightier matters of justice and the love of God is to fail to hit the mark of the fullness of the Law.  Woe, according to my study bible, is a term indicating a complete and devastating destruction (6:24-26; see Isaiah 5:18-24; Amos 5:18-19; Revelation 12:12).  Jesus goes on to condemn the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who glory in their own superiority and social standing before others.  Jesus rather compares them to hidden graves, full of death unseen and of which others are unaware.

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."  This lawyer understands the implications of what Jesus is saying, and Jesus does not back down from His criticism.  The lawyer impose burdens upon others, but do not help them bear those burdens.  Again, the criticism is of a lack of compassion for others, and of self-righteousness that substitutes for true righteousness.

"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."  The prophets are those who have repeatedly come throughout the history of Jewish spirituality, to call the leaders and the people to repentance, to turn back to God.  Jesus' criticism of the leadership is in the style of a prophet, although He is Son who is sent to us to call us all back to God.  Here Jesus accuses these men, part of the religious leadership, of being the true children of their fathers in the sense that it was their fathers who responded to the prophets by killing them.  Cyril of Alexandria comments that they are indeed preparing the tomb of Christ Himself.   Zechariah, according to some Church Fathers, was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22).  Others say this is a reference to the father of St. John the Baptist, who according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.

"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.  And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.  According to patristic commentary, the key of knowledge is Christ Himself, who is the "key" to the understanding of Old Testament Scripture, in the light of His ministry, Person, and teachings.  The response of the scribes and Pharisees is simply to seek to find ways to accuse Christ.

Jesus speaks to the hypocrisy of the leadership  My study bible also addresses this subject in the context of the Church today.  I use the Orthodox Study Bible in my commentary, and it notes that these warnings given by Christ to the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers are not simply important for all Christians regarding their own practices and traditions, but that they are especially important to Orthodox Christians.  The Church has maintained the ancient practices of tithing, sacred vessels, holy rites, and following the tradition handed down by the fathers.  It notes, "These practices can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ, or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation."  The practices of hypocrisy and legalism are with us as much as they ever were.  We even, in the context of today's social media culture, see a great deal of socially acceptable images of compassion done for show, while other matters of "justice and the love of God" go undone for those under the radar of popular media attention.  Indeed, the love of God itself is neglected as it may be unfashionable.  It is important that we understand our human fallibility in this respect, and in particular that it is only a true sense of humility about ourselves that will allow us to live as Christ teaches.  If everyone sees you support a fashionable cause, it doesn't mean the justice God wants you to see has been addressed.  "Good deeds" are not those things that are added up on a calculator to prove you're better than others, particularly if they are in service to a sense of social superiority.  There we are squarely back in the territory of the men whom Christ addresses, who crave the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Perhaps what is most important here is something that is easy to miss, and that is Christ's true sense of urgency and desire to save these men.  He not condemn them simply to condemn or to exercise judgment.  He is rather trying to save them from judgment.  His rebukes are made from love (Revelation 3:19).  Christ's cries of "woe" are warnings of what is to come without repentance, and they follow in His preaching in yesterday's reading (above).  He is the Son who is sent to call all back to God, just as the prophets and apostles were sent by the wisdom of God.  What is important is that although circumstances may have changed throughout history, these words still apply to us, no matter what our nominal faith may be, whatever it is we put our faith into.  Without compassion and mercy, we have missed the mark.  If our actions are done simply to be seen by others, we have missed the mark.  Let us consider His words:  all things are clean to those who give alms of the things they have.  Even a prayer in secret for one whom others may overlook is such an almsgiving, an offer of forgiveness made to God, a kindness given as shared love of God.  Of these capacities we all may share in abundance, but we must cultivate the humility to do so.