Thursday Devo
Scripture Reading:
Luke 11:43-46
43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”
46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.
43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”
46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.
Commentary from the ESV Study Bible:
11:42–44 Jesus directs three woes against the Pharisees. The first woe targets their hypocrisy in tithing every herb (such specific detail is not mentioned in Lev. 27:30–33; Deut. 14:22–29; 2 Chron. 31:5–12), but neglecting justice and the love of God. The second woe focuses on their love of the best seat (as illustrated in Luke 14:7–11). The third woe compares them to unmarked graves. According to OT law, coming in contact with a grave made a person unclean (see Num. 19:16). But if the grave was in the ground and had no marking, people might walk over it and become unclean without knowing it. Likewise people who follow the Pharisees are deceived, for they become “unclean” before God without even knowing that the Pharisees have led them astray.
11:45 The second set of woes (vv. 46–52) is directed at lawyers (experts in the law, another expression for “scribes of the Pharisees”; Mark 2:16; cf. Luke 11:53).
11:46 The first woe involves the lawyers (cf. v. 45) loading people with burdens by interpreting the law in light of their extrabiblical traditions and making it hard to bear. Worse still, they do not touch the burdens themselves, i.e., they make no effort to help people keep these laws.
11:45 The second set of woes (vv. 46–52) is directed at lawyers (experts in the law, another expression for “scribes of the Pharisees”; Mark 2:16; cf. Luke 11:53).
11:46 The first woe involves the lawyers (cf. v. 45) loading people with burdens by interpreting the law in light of their extrabiblical traditions and making it hard to bear. Worse still, they do not touch the burdens themselves, i.e., they make no effort to help people keep these laws.
Study Questions:
- While it may be easy to carry, the GOSPEL is HARD to HEAR. These religious leaders tell Jesus they are upset that he had hurt their feelings. And to this, Jesus responded, "Yep!" Because the truth hurts sometimes. And the TRUTH is that people that are lost are foolish, ignorant and dead on the inside. They are sick and dirty. They need a savior. One thing our culture fails to see is that God's love is TRANSFORMATIONAL, not AFFIRMATIONAL. We have become addicted to affirmation. "You mean I’m not perfect the way I am??" Jesus would say, "Nope." What is the difference between affirmational and transformational love? Which one is for our ultimate good? How do we learn to show this kind of love to others?
- Self-awareness is extremely rare in today's culture. We've turned into a people that rarely ever hear truth. It's all about not hurting someone's feelings. Sometimes Jesus hurt peoples' feelings. And the truth SHOULD sting us from time to time. That's how the Holy Spirit moves in us when we are out of bounds or heading the wrong direction. It's how we grow in our relationship with God and as Christ-followers. It takes confronting the truth, even if it hurts, and repenting and moving on with God. Could there be blind spots in your life that you have avoided addressing? Is there a hard truth that it's time for you to face head-on?
Pray:
- That you would embrace God's transformational love.
- That you would face the hard truths and change if necessary.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
4. Can a person be good enough to go to heaven? No. Because Jesus rose from the dead proving He is God, I believe a person is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)
(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)
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