Woes to Pharisees and Experts in the Law
Jesus accepts a Pharisee’s invitation, but the host is startled that Jesus does not wash before the meal. Jesus answers by exposing the mismatch between outward cleanliness and inward greed, then calls for charity that begins within.
A37s Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to dine with him; so He went in and reclined at the table. 38But the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. 39Then the Lord said, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well? 41But give as alms the things that are within you, and behold, everything will be clean for you.
Jesus pronounces woes on Pharisees who tithe herbs but neglect justice and God’s love, seek chief seats, and resemble hidden graves.
42Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. 43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”
An expert in the law objects, and Jesus answers with woes for loading people with burdens, honoring murdered prophets, and standing in the line of those who rejected them. He says this generation will bear the blood from Abel to Zechariah, because the key to knowledge has been taken away.
45One of the experts in the law told Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well.” 46“Woe to you as well, experts in the law!” He replied. “For you weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load. 47Woe to you! For you build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them. 48So you are witnesses consenting to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’ 50As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation. 52Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
As Jesus leaves, the scribes and Pharisees oppose him fiercely and press him with many questions, hoping to catch him in his words.
53As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things, 54waiting to catch Him in something He might say.