Episode Transcript
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Josh.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: And I'm Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: And today on reading the Gospel. We're looking at Jesus teaching on hypocrisy. This is found in Luke, chapter eleven, verses 37 through 54. We invite you to use your Bibles and follow along with us as we begin in Luke, chapter Eleven, verse 37.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at the table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, now, you Pharisees, cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish. But inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
You fools. Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?
But give as arms those things that are within? And behold, everything is clean for you.
But woe to you, Pharisees, for you tithe, mint and rue and every herb. And neglect the justice and the love of God.
This you ought to have done without neglecting the others.
Woe to you, Pharisees, for you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, for you are like unmarked graves. And people walk over them without knowing it.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: One of the lawyers answered him, teacher, in saying these things, you insult us also. And he said, woe to you, lawyers also. For you load people with burdens hard to bear. And you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you. For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses, and you consent to the deeds of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute. So that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world. May be changed against this generation. From the blood of Abel and from the blood of Zechariah. Who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 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. As he went away from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to press him hard. And to provoke him to speak about many things. Lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
Why did Jesus go into this dinner?
We would assume that these were his know. These are the people who are going out to get him. Why would he even put himself in that situation?
[00:03:49] Speaker B: It's his own teaching. Who said, love your enemies. Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost. Jesus Christ is interesting. In absolutely anyone's well being. There is no partiality. I see this like the extra mile Jesus was talking about. To reach them in their own houses, in their places. I see the love of God going the extra mile here.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: I agree. Going into these places.
I wonder if he didn't wash his hands, knowing it would start this exchange, knowing it would provoke a deeper conversation.
And we know the fruit of Jesus'ministry. Because we see in the book of Acts many of these leaders, many Pharisees, many sadducees, many of the priests becoming Christians. And joining the group at the time, which was called the Way.
So these thoughts, these seeds that were planted, we don't know when it comes to fruition.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: And the crucifixion gave a completely different perspective. And, of course, resurrection gave a completely different perspective to his teachings.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Do you think these Pharisees knew that it was a show, what they were doing, that what they did on the outside didn't match what was inside?
[00:05:20] Speaker B: They knew for sure that they wanted to kill Jesus Christ.
And as in a couple of previous episodes, they did that intentionally. And for that reason, Jesus Christ associated their character. With the character of the enemy. Who is a killer and a liar. From the beginning.
Maybe some of them might have been quite sincere in their beliefs. Like the apostle Paul, right, Saul, who became Paul later.
But for sure, some of them realized they want to do something wrong. It was completely against the will of God to Take someone else's life.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: And at this point, they looked back to the Old Testament, to the prophets who were persecuted, to the prophets who were killed. And they looked at them as godly people.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: And by the way, that reference of Jesus Christ to those who have been killed, from Abel to Zechariah. Shows that either the Host, the Pharisee who hosted the dinner. Or some others who were in the room, had exactly the same thoughts. They were trying to kill him. In fact, this is how the whole story ends. Waiting for him, to catch him with something. So he might accuse him and annihilate him, remove him from among themselves.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: And so Jesus comes into this dinner. And he accused the Pharisees of being clean on the outside, but dirty on the inside.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: It is interesting that this looks more like an answer of Jesus Christ to their thoughts. Or maybe to their chatter or gossip between themselves.
And Jesus Christ is not the initiator, but he is responding to their thoughts, to their ideas, to their view of holiness.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: And recorrecting, putting the emphasis back where it should be. That it's not that the outside is unimportant. It's that if you take care of the inside, the outside will be clean. Also, I think this is when we ask questions, what do you get out of this? I know we're doing a little bit backwards, but this is what I get out of it. That our focus should not be as much on the outside. How I look when I go to Church, how I say, how I act. But our focus should be on the inside.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: And this is the essence of Christianity, is a change of the heart and a change of the mind. And little by little, that change will be translated into behaviors, into a lifestyle.
[00:08:16] Speaker A: Which is the outside that others see. So what does this story tell us about God?
[00:08:23] Speaker B: Jesus Christ getting closer to the cross, becoming more and more direct.
And I see this, a pattern throughout the Bible.
When the flood was about to happen, Noah and his preaching was direct.
When a disaster in the Old Testament was about to happen, like the Assyrian Deportation or Babylonian dEportation, the prophets were more and more direct.
Jesus Christ getting closer to the cross. He is even more and more direct to the Pharisees.
I saw that throughout Christian history. When we realize that something significant is going to happen, we become more direct.
And, Josh, I think that closer we get to the last days, to the second coming of Christ, our preaching, our teaching of the word of God should be more direct, more clear and to the point.
I see a God who sees the danger that is coming. Like the train is coming towards you, and he's warning people. I see this words, which are quite harsh, especially when you go and visit someone as one of Jesus'last chances, to warn these guys to turn around, to remove the hypocrisy. And Jesus Christ breaks it down from their spiritual life to their social life, to their religious habits and so on.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: So are you saying that we should go stand on the side of the street and yell at people and point out all their outside mistakes because we're living near the time Jesus is coming?
[00:10:19] Speaker B: I didn't mean that. First of all, that is a very inappropriate approach.
Jesus Christ has been with these Pharisees for years now. He had a chance to interact.
He planted the seed of God. And look at the previous episodes, the above part of Luke, chapter eleven. He talks about the light that comes inside you and takes over little by little, until it conquers all the darkness and push it out. So Jesus Christ's teachings have been gradual. This is like the last appeal. We are not called to talk to people directly until we had a chance to connect to them, to listen to their concerns, to show them sympathy, to help them in need, and after that, to invite them to come after Jesus Christ. I think that just before the second coming of Jesus Christ would be like an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And they will directly call people to repentance.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I completely agree. And I think in this, as Jesus is calling the Pharisees out, like you said, this is not the first time he's been having these convErsations.
And so this is a more direct appeal to them in their home, not in a public space, not tearing people down in front of the general population, but in a more private setting, I guess you could say, to direct and to reach them.
For me, as I read through this, I see, as we said earlier, a God who is interested in saving even those who consider themselves righteous, even those who would put Jesus on the cross, that God wants them in heaven too, and God who loves us so much, even though we work against him. How is this section speaking to you today?
[00:12:28] Speaker B: When I read this a couple of times, I asked the Lord to search my heart and to show me if there is a discrepancy between what I want to be and who I really am.
Because many times we don't see those differences. We need the light of the word of God to show us, like in a mirror, our defects. We need also some godly people around us. We really need some good spiritual mentors.
Once in a while. We might need some trials used by God to reveal our weaknesses, the cracks in the pot.
And God is using absolutely different methods to grab our attention not only to him, but to our disconnects between the inside and between the outside.
[00:13:32] Speaker A: For me, as we close, I see here Jesus is saying, you're tithing the mint and the herbs, but you're forgetting justice and the love of God.
I think so many times we focus on the very narrow little things, the minute the jots and tittles in the law, and we forget to do the basic things that God has called us to do.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: We majoring in minors. This is one of the cognitive distortions.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: And we forget to do the most needed work of unburdening the oppressed. Let's pray. Father God, I pray that you will help us to reorganize our lives.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: That our focus is not on the tiny things, but our main focus is on relieving the burdens of the sinners and the oppressed, the poor and the needy. And that, Father, as our focus changes to that, you will also have us be obedient in the little things as well.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Father, may we seek to spread the love of God everywhere we go. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
