“Woe to you Pharisees”

Read Luke 11:37-44.

The controversy about Jesus and Satan earlier in this chapter had been sparked by the Pharisees and the experts in the law (Mt.12:24; Mk.3:22). By their opposition to Jesus they showed that they were against God’s kingdom (11:23) and their recurring disapproval of Jesus again surfaces here (37-38; 7:36-39; 14:1).

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Once again Jesus rebukes the hypocrisy that focuses on outward appearance while ignoring inner righteousness (39-41; Mk.7:1-8) – “Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside” (Mt.23:25-26). He speaks three woes against them. Those who live by the values of God’s kingdom are “blessed” (6:20-22) and “woe” stands in contrast to that (6:24-26). “The woes describe the wrong way and pronounce judgement on those who follow and teach it” (France).

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They have lost sight of what matters most – “justice and the love of God” (42; Mic.6:8). They seek prestige and honour for themselves rather than for God (43; Jn.12:43). The third woe declares that they are like “unmarked graves which people walk over without knowing it” (44), making themselves ceremonially unclean. What irony that those who claimed to be religious teachers in fact defiled their listeners!