The War of the Pharisees and The Legal Experts

By Mary Vee
Luke 11 

From Luke's Journal 

Inside Jerusalem's city walls.
Photo by Mary Vee.

My name is Luke, I am a disciple of Jesus. The other disciples are here with me as well. 

We have been at a home where Jesus is talking to Pharisees. There is a crowd of people listening who have entered the home to hear what Jesus says. Needless to say the house is packed with people.

After a long time of Pharisees asking questions, we finally had our meal. It was clear to me that the Pharisees wanted to make Jesus mad. To get him to make a mistake in what he said or did. But Jesus never did.

We ate our meal, and even while we had our food, the Pharisees continued to fire questions at Jesus. He answered every question, teaching the people the truth.

As Jesus finished his meal he said three things to the Pharisees: Woe to you because you neglect justice and you don't love God. Woe to you because you do things for attention. Woe to you because you think you are important and you are not.

When Jesus finished saying those words, an expert in the law said, "Teacher, when you talk like that, you offend us and our profession."

Jesus faced him and said, "The same horrors wait for you, because you create so many demands that weigh the people down. Demands you would never follow yourself. 

"Woe to you because you're no different from your ancestors who killed the prophets from long ago. You are murderers!  You agree with what they did and would do the same thing today, yet you build tombs to honor the prophets. Hypocrites. 

"God in his wisdom said, 'I will send prophets and apostles, some of whom the religious leaders will kill and others will be persecuted.' Your fathers before you have done this and you will too. 

"You will be held responsible for killing all of God's servants since the beginning of the world, from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary in the Temple. Yes, you will be charged for this.

"Woe to you because you have hidden the truth from the people. You've chosen not to accept or believe what you've discovered then you prevented them from hearing and believing the truth for themselves."

The Pharisees and experts of the law stood and shook their fists. Their anger raged. From that time on, they worked hard to oppose everything Jesus said and did. They opposed him fiercely and threw wicked questions at him, waiting to catch him in anything he might say to arrest him. 

These leaders rarely got along before, but now they worked together to arrest and get rid of Jesus, the Messiah.    


I will share more of what he taught the next time.

 Come back to read the next story.

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sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.