Now while Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to take dinner with him, so He entered and reclined at table. The Pharisee noticed and was astonished [to see] that Jesus did not first wash before dinner. But the Lord said to him, Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside you yourselves are full of greed and robbery and extortion and malice and wickedness. You senseless (foolish, stupid) ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He Who made the outside make the inside also? Luke 11:37-40 [AMP]
Today I finished Luke 11 which from 37 onward is this interaction with a Pharisee who invited Jesus to dinner (or lunch as it can be interpreted) and then follows with a list of “Woe’s” to both Pharisees and Lawyers of the day.
My main focus is this discussion before eating with the Pharisee. 1) Jesus once against discerns the thoughts of the Pharisee and confronts the man on the tradition of washing from one’s hands the sin of the world before eating. It was a process described in minute detail in the Mishnah of ceremonially cleansing oneself before eating a meal. Jesus adeptly calls out the irony in this action in that it does nothing for the thing that actually matters….the condition of a person’s heart in the sight of God.
We all know that the Pharisees were so infatuated with how they were perceived on the outside even though they, on the inside, were corrupt and evil. None of the inside condition was out of the sight of God…He sees it all. Jesus goes as far to say that they are foolish and senseless in their actions. With just a little bit of reflection, the Pharisee would see the craziness of operating this way.
Application:
I have been guilty of paying more attention to my behavior than the condition of my heart. I will say that the focus of my motives and ‘why I do what I do’ has been on the forefront of my mind lately. This is in all aspects of my life: as a dad, husband, manager, leader, friend, and son. Am I just washing my hands and outside of my cup/plate…or, am I looking for the grime that is on the inside that can taint and sour the goodness of what the Lord wants to do in me. It all has to flow from a place of being sold out to my Lord and Savior. That cannot be unless I am consistently cleaning house and leaving my sin nailed to that tree on Golgotha.