0952309 Woe to Pharisees and lawyers – Luke 11:37-54, A.D. 28 Bethany
Now as he spoke, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. And he went in and sat down to eat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. You foolish ones, did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give gifts to the needy from those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and the love of God. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, for you are like hidden tombs, and the men who walk over them do not know it.” And one of the lawyers answered and said to him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.” And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves will not even lift one finger to help with those burdens. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to 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 Zachariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I say to you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.” And when he came out of there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press upon him angrily, and to provoke him to speak many things; lying in wait for him and seeking to catch him in something he might say.
