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The Lawyers Denounced
Luke 11:46 And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
The Lord used this as an occasion to lash out at some of the sins of the lawyers. First of all they oppressed the people with all kinds of legal burdens, but did nothing to help them bear the burdens.
As Kelly remarks, “They were notorious for their contempt of the very people from whom they derived their importance.” Many of their rules were man-made and were connected with matters of no real importance.
Luke 11:47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. :48 In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.
The lawyers were hypocritical murderers. They pretended to admire the prophets of God. They went so far as to erect monuments over the tombs of the OT prophets. This certainly seemed to be a proof of their deep respect. But the Lord Jesus knew differently. While outwardly dissociating themselves from their Jewish ancestors who killed the prophets, they were actually following in their footsteps. At the very time they were building tombs for the prophets, they were plotting the death of God’s greatest Prophet, the Lord Himself. And they would continue to murder God’s faithful prophets and apostles.
Luke 11:49 Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’
By comparing verse 49 with Matthew 23:34, it will be seen that Jesus Himself is the wisdom of God. Here He quotes the wisdom of God as saying, “I will send them prophets.” In Matthew He does not give this as a quotation from the OT or from any other source, but simply presents it as His own statement. (See also 1 Cor. 1:30 where Christ is spoken of as wisdom.) The Lord Jesus promised that He would send … prophets and apostles to the men of His generation, and that the latter would kill and persecute them.
Luke 11:50 that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,:51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
He would require of that generation the blood of all God’s spokesmen, beginning with the first recorded case in the OT, that of Abel, down to the last instance, that of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple (2 Chron. 24:21). Second Chronicles was the last book in the Jewish order of the OT books. Therefore the Lord Jesus ran the entire gamut of martyrs when He mentioned Abel and Zechariah. As He uttered these words, He well knew that the generation then living would put Him to death on the cross, and thus bring to an awful climax all their previous persecution of men of God. It was because they would murder Him that the blood of all previous dispensations would fall upon them.
Luke 11:52 “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
Finally the Lord Jesus denounced the lawyers for having taken away the key of knowledge, that is, for withholding God’s Word from the people. Though outwardly they professed loyalty to the Scriptures, yet they stubbornly refused to receive the One of whom the Scriptures spoke. And they hindered others from coming to Christ. They didn’t want Him themselves, and they didn’t want others to receive Him.
Response of the Scribes and Pharisees
Luke 11:53 And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, :54 lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.
The scribes and the Pharisees were obviously angered by the Lord’s straightforward accusations. They began to assail Him vehemently, and stepped up their efforts to trap Him in His words. By every possible device, they sought to trick Him into saying something for which they could condemn Him to death. In doing so, they only proved how accurately He had read their characters.
TEACHING AND HEALING ON THE WAY TO JERUSALEM (Chaps. 12–16)
Warnings and Encouragements (12:1–12)
Luke 12:1 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
An innumerable multitude … had gathered together while Jesus was condemning the Pharisees and lawyers. A dispute or a debate will generally attract a throng, but this crowd was also drawn, no doubt, by Jesus’ fearless denunciation of these hypocritical religious leaders.
Although an uncompromising attitude toward sin is not always popular, yet it does commend itself to the heart of man as being righteous. Truth is always self-verifying.
Turning to His disciples, Jesus warned, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” He explained that leaven is a symbol or picture of hypocrisy. A hypocrite is one who wears a mask, one whose outward appearance is utterly different from what he is inwardly.
The Pharisees posed as paragons of virtue but actually they were masters of masquerade.
Luke 12:2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. :3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
Their day of exposure would come. All that they had covered up would be revealed, and all that they had done in the dark would be dragged out into the light.
Just as inevitable as the unmasking of hypocrisy is the triumph of truth. Up to then, the message proclaimed by the disciples had been spoken in relative obscurity and to limited audiences. But following the rejection of the Messiah by Israel, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the disciples would go forth fearlessly in the name of the Lord Jesus and proclaim the good news far and wide. Then it would be proclaimed on the housetops, comparatively speaking. Godet remarks, “Those whose voice cannot now find a hearing, save within limited and obscure circles, shall become the teachers of the world.”
Luke 12:4 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. :5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
With the encouraging and warm-hearted words “My friends,” Jesus warns His disciples not to be ashamed of this priceless friendship under any trials. The worldwide proclamation of the Christian message would bring persecution and death to the loyal disciples.
But there was a limit to what men like the Pharisees could do to them. Physical death was that limit. This they should not fear. God would visit their persecutors with a far worse punishment, namely eternal death in hell. And so the disciples were to fear God rather than man.
Luke 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. :7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
To emphasize God’s protective interest in the disciples, the Lord Jesus mentioned the Father’s care for sparrows. In Matthew 10:29 we read that two sparrows are sold for a copper coin. Here we learn that five sparrows are sold for two copper coins. In other words, an extra sparrow is thrown in free when four are purchased. And yet not even this odd sparrow with no commercial value is forgotten in the sight of God.
If God cares for that odd sparrow, how much more does He watch over those who go forth with the gospel of His Son! He numbers the very hairs of their head.
Hinson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hinson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson
