While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. ³⁸ The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. ³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you. ⁴² “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.” ⁴⁵ One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.” ⁴⁶ And he said, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. ⁴⁷ Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. ⁴⁸ So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰ so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, ⁵¹ 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 charged against this generation. 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.” ⁵³ When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.” Luke 11:37-54

This reading ends with words that indicate that the scribes and the Pharisees are waiting for Jesus to say something so that they can “…catch him in something he might say” – or in other words, to arrest him. They seem to hang on every word, hoping that he will give them some reason to take him away from the crowds who are so influenced by him. Even in the first century, people couldn’t wait to catch their opponents saying something they could use against them – to persecute and belittle them.

There is something satisfying in the demise of our enemies – whether we are willing to admit it or not. Unfortunately, we also see this happen in the church. Now, I know what you are thinking: “Do people of the church have enemies?” The answer is obvious: the church is made up of people – broken, fallible, and imperfect people. People who go to church are not perfect – but are perfectly aware of their brokenness. We can only pray that the Lord will give us patience, and take away our evil inclinations. Jesus commands us to love – love even those who seek to belittle us and the church.

Pastor Dave

“While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” ²⁸ But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”²⁹ When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ³⁰ For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. ³¹ The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! ³² The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah…” Luke 11:27-32

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”  Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? I find it interesting here that Jesus does not accept the compliment, but deflects it away from himself to G-d. Jesus will go on to heal many and still he is criticized for his actions. As such, there will be a lot of people who will hear the word and yet will not allow it to penetrate their very being. But, can we blame them? Someone like Jesus does not come along often – and so when he does, it is hard to know whether we should believe or not. And yet, one woman raises her voice above the din of voices and calls him blessed. Will we be the lone voice calling him blessed – among the other voices around us? This is the word that we hear, to be a witness for Jesus Christ, and we are to share the love of G-d through Jesus Christ with others.  Will we obey?

Pastor Dave