Notes
1. Don’t be hypocrites (vv. 37-44)
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Don’t be a Pharisee. In a sense, that’s the main point of our passage this morning. Don’t be a Pharisee. Don’t be like the Pharisees, and don’t listen to Pharisees. If you’re new to Christianity, the Pharisees were the group of first-century Jews that the Lord Jesus disputed with most often. Since our Lord had so many negative interactions with the Pharisees, you don’t want to be like the Pharisees or listen to Pharisees. Don’t be a Pharisee. It seems simple enough.
The problem is that it’s easy to misuse the name Pharisee. For example, perhaps you’re new to Christianity and you’re devoting significant time to studying the Bible with our church. You’re searching the Scriptures carefully to learn what they teach about the Savior, Jesus Christ. You’re really considering becoming a Christian, and one of your friends who isn’t a Christian may look at your diligent devotion to God’s Word and say to you, “You can’t spend all your time studying the Bible with your church. Enjoy your life. Don’t become a fanatic like the Pharisees. Even Jesus didn’t like them. Don’t be a Pharisee.” But studying the Bible carefully isn’t being a Pharisee. We know that because, writing about the Berean Jews in Acts 17:11, Luke writes, “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” In another instance, you might gently admonish another Christian because their actions in one area or another don’t honor the Lord and you care about them, but they respond, “Who are you to correct my lifestyle? Let the one who has no sin cast the first stone. Don’t be a Pharisee.” But gently confronting one another’s sin is not being a Pharisee because Proverbs 9:8 says, “…reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” Finally, you might be seeking to carefully obey the Lord in the details of your life. You love Him, so you want to obey His Word with your money, your words, your sexuality, the way you treat your husband or wife, and so forth, but someone says, “Christianity isn’t about rules; it’s about a relationship. You’re being meticulous, like the Pharisees.” But we know that trembling at God’s Word isn’t being a Pharisee. Isaiah 66:2: “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
So, if carefully considering the claims of Jesus Christ, lovingly admonishing a brother or sister in Christ to turn from sin, and trembling at God’s Word aren’t “being a Pharisee,” what is? Why did our Lord have such sharp conflicts with the Pharisees throughout the Gospels and in our passage this morning? The answer is actually found in the passage we’ll cover next week. In Luke 12:1, Jesus warned His own disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” The problem with the Pharisees was hypocrisy.
Now, I need to tell you something very important. A hypocrite isn’t someone who fails to live up to what they profess to believe. Every Christian knows that we all fall short of God’s glory, sin in many ways even after our conversion, and are saved only by God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ our Savior. Real hypocrisy begins when we functionally base our right standing with God on what we do rather than on what Christ has done. It progresses as we prioritize external appearances over inward reality, and it ultimately flowers into loving the approval of people more than loving God.
The Pharisees were hypocrites. And that brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t even listen to them. Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t even listen to them. This morning we’re going to take our passage in two parts: 1. Don’t be hypocrites (vv. 37-44). 2. Don’t even listen to hypocrites (vv. 45-54).
DON’T BE HYPOCRITES (vv. 37-44)
The particular dust-up between the Lord Jesus and a Pharisee recorded in our passage took place at a dinner party. Luke 11:37: “While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.” I think it’s important to point out that when a hypocritical Pharisee invited the Lord Jesus over for dinner, Jesus accepted the invitation and went. The Lord Jesus didn’t only eat with notorious sinners. He also ate with hypocritical legalists who believed that eternal life is a reward for living a righteous life.
So, if you’re thinking, “I’m a moral individual. I do more good than bad, so God will let me into heaven,” Jesus Christ loves you and wants to come close to save you from your hypocrisy. And if you’re thinking, “I’ve been saved by grace, and I don’t want anything to do with hypocritical, self-righteous legalists any longer,” stop thinking that way. Jesus accepted an invitation to dine with a hypocrite because He wanted to see him saved, and so should we.
Unfortunately, the Pharisee immediately got off on the wrong foot with the Lord Jesus. Luke 11:38: “The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.” This had nothing to do with hygiene. So, kids, you have to obey your mother when she tells you to wash your hands before you eat. It had nothing to do with hygiene. The Pharisees believed that through daily activities their hands might touch something “unclean.” So, if they ate with those unclean hands, they would be defiled and could not be filled with prayer and God’s Word. Therefore, they concluded that everyone must wash before eating.
Now, this Pharisaic practice was wrong on two levels.
Level one: it added a man-made law to God’s law. New Testament scholar David Garland explains how this hand-washing tradition was a man-made addition to God’s Word: “Only priests, however, are commanded to wash hands (Exod. 30:19-21; see 40:12). The Pharisees’ oral tradition extended this custom to all persons, not just priests, and as a preparation for eating all food, not just holy offerings.”
Level two: the Pharisee was wrong to be shocked that Jesus didn’t wash because what goes into a person does not defile them. In Mark 7:15, the Lord Jesus said, “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” The Lord Jesus responded to this Pharisee’s hypocritical error with four rebukes. Each rebuke helps us learn how not to be a hypocrite.
To avoid being a hypocrite…
Prioritize the internal over the external
Luke 11:39-40: “And the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?’” The Pharisees prioritized the external over the internal. They gave their full attention to external things like washing hands, but they neglected their hearts, which were full of greed and wickedness. They were like clean cups with mold growing inside.
Jesus’ prescription for curing hypocrisy is simple. Luke 11:41: “But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.”
The cure for hypocrisy is giving your heart to Christ. If your heart belongs to Christ, then the good that you do will be accepted whether you wash or not. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” When you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you receive a new heart that loves God. So, guard your heart. To avoid hypocrisy, guard your heart from greed, lust, anger, self-righteousness, and so forth. When those things come into your heart, ask the Lord to create in you a clean heart. Walk with Him daily, asking Him to keep your heart white-hot with love for Him, and out of the overflow of your heart will come truly good works. To avoid hypocrisy, prioritize the internal over the external. Guard your heart.
Do the weighty without neglecting the light
In Luke 11:42, Jesus says, “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”
Hypocrites neglect the weighty things of God for the sake of the light. Specifically, the Pharisees were meticulous with their tithing. They didn’t just tithe from their income, but from their vegetable gardens! They didn’t want to overlook anything that was “tithable.” Amazingly, the Lord Jesus Christ has no problem with their tithing. Notice, Jesus didn’t say, “To avoid hypocrisy, go ahead and neglect tithing to support temple work and temple workers.” Similarly, Jesus does not say to us, “To avoid hypocrisy, neglect giving generously to church work and church workers.” No, Jesus says, “To avoid hypocrisy, do the weighty things of God without neglecting the light, like tithing.”
What are the weightiest matters? “Justice and the love of God.”
What is justice? Theologian Jonathan Leeman writes, “Justice is doing what is right according to God’s standard… Justice means giving people what they deserve, whether punishment, protection, or care.” That’s justice. What is “the love of God”? It’s probably best to understand the phrase as referring to love for God. To avoid being a hypocrite, live by this conviction: Tithing is important, but light. The weightiest things are loving God from your heart because He first loved you and gave His Son for you, and doing what is right by your neighbor according to God’s standard. Walking with God and pouring out your life for the good of others are comparatively weightier and more difficult than writing sacrificial checks. Do the weighty without neglecting the light, and you’ll avoid hypocrisy.
Love the low places
Luke 11:43: “Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.”
Do you remember our working description of hypocrisy? Real hypocrisy begins when we functionally base our right standing with God on what we do rather than on what Christ has done. It progresses as we prioritize external appearances over inward reality, and it ultimately flowers into loving the approval of people more than loving God.
If you base your standing before God on what you do rather than what Christ has done, you’ll never feel right with God. So, you’ll settle for being made much of by people. Even your devotion to God becomes a show performed for human applause. To avoid being a hypocrite, keep looking to Jesus’ work on the cross, not your work, to be right with God. As you revel in being loved by God despite your failures, you’ll be so full of joy that you won’t need to clamor for the high places. You’ll be free to enjoy encouragement and honor from others without falling in love with being made much of. You’ll love the low places of service.
Do spiritual good to others
The fourth way to avoid being a hypocrite is actually more of a warning. Warning: hypocrites always reproduce.
Luke 11:44: “Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
Before Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the law, God’s people were rendered temporarily unclean if they came in contact with a grave (Num. 19:16). For this reason, God’s people marked gravesites carefully because if a grave was unmarked, someone could come in contact with it without even knowing it.
Jesus pronounces “woes” on hypocrites, threats of eternal judgment if they don’t repent, because they are, as one scholar put it, “like doctors who, while serving their patients, unknowingly spread a plague.” You will be a spiritual influence on others, whether for good or ill. To avoid hypocrisy, give yourself to doing spiritual good to others. Citylight Church, let’s be those who love God from our hearts and do right by others according to God’s standard because God first loved us and gave His Son to adopt us into His family by grace. Don’t be hypocrites.
DON’T EVEN LISTEN TO HYPOCRITES (vv. 45-54)
There is a reason why we are shifting at verse 45 from “don’t be hypocrites” to “don’t even listen to hypocrites.” Notice that in verse 45 there is a shift. It’s no longer the Pharisee who invited Jesus to his home who is speaking to Jesus. It’s a “lawyer” who was apparently present at the dinner as well.
You may be used to thinking of Pharisees as sort of the “bad pastors” of their day, but that’s not exactly accurate. The Pharisees were laymen, not full-time experts in or teachers of the Bible. However, among the Pharisees were some scholars, expert Bible interpreters, and teachers. The lawyer speaking in verse 45 was one of those scholars or expert Bible teachers. And since this lawyer was more of a teacher, the emphasis in the second part of our passage is “don’t even listen to hypocrites.” So, let’s consider four things to beware of so that we not only avoid being hypocrites but avoid listening to them as well.
Beware of those who are offended instead of corrected (v. 45)
Luke 11:45-46a: “One of the lawyers answered him, ‘Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.’ And he said, ‘Woe to you lawyers also!’”
This hypocritical Bible teacher has been sitting at dinner listening to Jesus unload and pronounce judgment on his fellow hypocritical legalists. Instead of allowing his heart to be pierced with conviction, receiving Jesus’ correction, and turning to Christ in faith, he plays the victim. Instead of being corrected, he’s offended. And Jesus, for His part, couldn’t be less concerned that this well-to-do scholar is offended. He doubles down and pronounces judgment on him as well. Here is the point: Beware of listening to pastors or Bible teachers who play the victim and are offended when they are corrected.
Let me be practical. In the Christian life, correction primarily comes through real relationships in our local church. So, I’d encourage you to avoid listening to any Bible teacher or Christian influencer who isn’t an active, formal member of a local church and who doesn’t sit under the authority of pastors. Such a person has stepped outside of Jesus’ normal means of correction and generally can’t be trusted as a teacher. I also think of well-known pastors who, when they are corrected by Jesus through their church, simply move to another city and start a church there. These are hypocrites. They get offended when Jesus corrects them. Don’t listen to them. Listen to teachers who are secure enough in God’s grace to sit under Jesus’ normal means of correction: their pastors in their local church.
Beware of those who add to God’s law but won’t help you carry it (v. 46)
Luke 11:46: “And he said, ‘Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.’”
These experts did two things that the Lord Jesus found repugnant and hypocritical. First, they loaded people with burdens by adding man-made rules to God’s Word. Second, they made no effort, they wouldn’t lift a finger, to help the people keep these rules. This makes me think of popular Christian authors who teach that, to really have a close relationship with God, you have to develop a rule of life, ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life, practice breath prayers, go on silent retreats, and do other things that Jesus and the apostles neither practiced nor taught. These authors make millions adding to God’s law from a safe and unhelpful distance. Don’t listen to them. Beware of those who add to God’s law but won’t help you carry it.
Beware of those who are prideful (vv. 47-51)
Luke 11:47-51: “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, 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 the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 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 required of this generation.”
These law experts built monuments to the martyred prophets in the Old Testament, from Abel to Zechariah, from the first one to the last. One scholar suggests that in building these monuments, the law experts were essentially saying, “Had we lived in the days of the prophets, unlike our fathers, we would have heeded them.” Of course, the irony is that these are the very law experts who will collaborate with Rome to put the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to death. Beware of Bible teachers and pastors who think they’re above the grace of accountability.
Beware of those whose Bible teaching doesn’t lead you to God (vv. 52-54)
Luke 11:52: “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.”
The ESV Study Bible explains the final “woe” this way: The last woe condemns the lawyers for their interpretations of Scripture that deprive the people of the key of knowledge needed to understand God’s plan of salvation. Not only do they refuse to enter into God’s plan and be saved, but their distorted interpretations keep others from truly knowing God. To avoid even listening to hypocrites, beware of anyone whose teaching doesn’t major on God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. I fear that this is the most common form of hypocritical teaching in the church today. There are churches that teach the Bible more as a guide to a good, fulfilling life than as the revelation of God’s plan to save a people for His glory through Christ. Their teaching leads you to you. It’s good advice, not the good news of the gospel. And I bring this up because many of you, sadly, won’t stay in Philadelphia forever. We want to help you choose wisely as you join your next church.
As we conclude, I want to speak to those of you who, after hearing the Lord Jesus’ teaching in Luke 11, feel like hypocrites. Perhaps you realize that you’ve been prioritizing the external over the internal, focusing on the light while neglecting the weighty, loving the approval of people more than God Himself, and listening to voices that may lead you astray. If that’s you, I have wonderful news for you: Jesus dined with hypocrites. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, including hypocritical, legalistic sinners. His death on the cross was sufficient to pay the penalty for hypocrisy. So, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Bring Him every ounce of hypocrisy, and His blood will purify your conscience from dead works so that you can joyfully serve the living God.