JESUS WRECKS A DINNER PARTY
LUKE 11:37-42 NKJV
37 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.
39 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. 40 Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.
42 "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. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
In the day with no restaurant culture, to invite someone into your home to eat was an honor. But Jesus was not as concerned with being the perfect dinner guest. He had more important issues to address.
To be fair, the Pharisees were not typically inviting Jesus to dinner to get to know Him better. They would try to catch Him in His words or judge Him by their laws.
This Pharisee in our passage is off to a bad start when he is astonished that Jesus did not wash before dinner. But Jesus spoke to the bigger, more important issue.
The Pharisees were most concerned with outward cleanliness. They went to great extremes to clean utensils and their bodies and garments. Nothing wrong with being clean, but they ignored being clean on the inside. Jesus told this man that the Pharisees were full of greed and wickedness. And if they were going to be clean anywhere, it should be on the inside.
I am guessing that was an awkward moment.
Oh, but Jesus was not done. He then went after the Pharisees' practice of tithing. They would tithe everything that came their way, even the herbs and spices in their possession.
But once again, they neglected the bigger items of justice and the love of God. Tithing was good, but it did not excuse them from the more important inside matters of the heart.
Jesus went on to pronounce woe to the Pharisees and lawyers present. This was not like whoah horsey; this was a pronouncement of misery.
The dinner party concluded with the scribes and Pharisees verbally attacking Jesus and peppering Him with questions. I am guessing Jesus was not invited back.
APPLICATION:
With God, it's still about the heart. The inside things of love, justice, kindness, and generosity are more important. How things appear on the outside did not impress Jesus then, and they do not impress Him now. He has not changed. He is still the same yesterday, today, and forever.
PRAYER:
Help me, Lord, to live more concerned with inside qualities than outward appearance.