Luke 11: 27-54, One Greater Than Solomon

Jesus continues his teaching ministry in Galilee.

Luke 11: 27-28, Blessed
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you."

He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

A fan praises Jesus in the way that she best understands. Jesus's response generalizes the blessing to all who are eager to follow God.

Luke 11: 29-32, A wicked generation
As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

Nineveh was an ancient enemy of Israel that, according to the Old Testament book of Jonah, responding to Jonah's preaching. The Queen of the South is identical with the Queen of Sheba, a visitor to King Solomon described in I Kings 10.  In both cases we see a Gentile, like Luke, drawn to the Jewish nation and responding to the God of the Jews. In contrast, many in the crowds around Jesus (certainly the Pharisees) were relying on their legalistic religious structure for their standing before God. Jesus confronts this spiritual arrogance.

Luke 11:33 - 36, Combating darkness
"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

"Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you."

This spiritual metaphor suggests that the audience open up to the message of God. Good eyes here are associated with openness, with paying attention; bad eyes are associated with resentment and bitterness.

Luke 11:37-41, Inside versus outside
When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.

Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you."

The Pharisee, who has invited Jesus to dinner, is surprised that Jesus is not following the appropriate protocols.  The legalist is focused on outward appearances of "religion" when, Jesus says, it is the inside of one (the heart, soul, mind) that really matters.

Luke records a brief sermonette of Jesus about the legalism and hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

Luke 11:42-44, Inside versus outside

"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

"Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

"Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it."

The Pharisees believed that touching a dead person or even touching a grave made one unclean. Jesus calls them "unmarked graves" -- they made others unclean without the others even being aware of their uncleanness!  This is an especially brutal insult to the Pharisees' self-righteousness!

Luke 11: 45-52
One of the experts in the law answered him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also."

Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. "Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, `I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.'

"Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.

"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering."

The followers of Jesus found him entertaining, as he was always ready to attack religious hypocrisy, often in colorful ways.  Here, when an expert in the Jewish law (Torah) says, "I feel you have insulted me, also", Jesus responds with "Got that right!"  And then to clarify, Jesus goes on to describe the hypocrisy of the legal experts.  (A modern form of "legal expert" might be a "seminary professor" -- the idea is that these individuals knew everything about the Jewish religion ... and were proud of it.) In this case, the Torah experts, who honored the ancient prophets, are accused of acting just like the ancient Jews who attacked and killed these same prophets.

Our rationalization always allows us to claim to be the "good guys"; in modern Christianity I see some who claim to follow Jesus yet act just like his Pharisaical opponents! (I'm glad I'm not that way at all!  wink.)

Luke 11:53-54, More attacks will come
When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.

The Pharisees and Torah experts have objected to Jesus's reformative ministry from the beginning. It is not surprising now, once they have been clearly insulted by Jesus, that their opposition begins to solidify, becoming an organized attack.  Luke continues to foreshadow the cross.