The Key To Knowledge

Luke 11:37-12:12

Key Verse 11:52

"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." 

Once upon a time Albert Einstein tried to reduce all the laws and principles that are in operation in the world of physics, into an equation. But he died without much success. Still many scientists are attempting to accomplish the same. They try to do this, knowing that the universe works seamlessly and harmoniously because it obeys the body of the laws and principles built inside of it. They attempt to find the “key” to all the rules and decrees that work behind in the universe. 

When you think about it, the world of human life is far more complex than the world of physics. Yet, life phenomena indicate that just as the Lord God built the laws of nature into the world of physics, so also the Lord God built into the life of a man the law of life. And if we followed the law (or principle) given by God, our life should work beautifully, thriving to eternity. Would it then be possible for us to find the “key” to the knowledge of life? If we can, then where can we find it? In my humble opinion, the Prophet Isaiah answers the question: “He [Jesus Christ] will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure. Isaiah 33:6 Isaiah indicates that Jesus is the “key”. With this in mind, let us take a look at today’s passage. 

First, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

Look at verse 37-41. “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. “ 

In reading the passage one might ask, “Wow! Jesus is a kind shepherd. How come he’s so blunt?” Indeed Jesus’ rebuke surprises us. But each time we see Jesus rebuking someone we must remember one point clear: Jesus’ love. Proverbs 27:5 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” He did this out of his love for the Pharisees in the room. 

What then is the point of the rebuke? Jesus rebuked him for his inner condition. Despite his appearance on the outside, the inside remained unclean. It was filled with greed and wickedness. As the maker of man, Jesus knew the man inside and out. Jesus knew that when one keeps his inside pure, man will be truly happy. This is true in view of many Bible passages. For example James 3:17 says, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure…” Mark 7:20-23 then says, "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' " 1 Peter 2:11 then says, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” The expression “sinful desires, which war against your soul” indicates that Jesus saw that a war was going on inside of the Pharisee. Jesus came to bring peace to the man. So, Jesus rebuked him for keeping his insides unclean. 

How then can we keep our insides free and clear of the stains of sins? With human efforts it is not possible to remove the stains of sins. With a vacuum cleaner we can keep the carpet of a room free and clear of dusts or stains. But, it is not so with the sin stains stuck in a soul. For this reason, Jeremiah 2:22 says, ““Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me.” 

How then can one keep one’s inside clean? Jesus’ rebuke offers an answer to the question: “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.” Because Jesus is the maker of both inside and outside, he can make our insides clean. Then daily as Jesus said, we can live a life that is “giving”. Then instead of greed, the spirit of giving rules us. This in turn makes oneself to be pure. 

Second, tithing, justice, and love of God

Look at verse 42. “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.” 

The Pharisees refer to one of the religious groups of Jesus’ day, dedicated to practicing what the Scriptures teach such as justice and the love of God. As a Pharisee, this man must have studied the Scriptures cover to cover. Yet, how come he neglected God’s justice and love? That is a good question. In view of the generality of Scripture, we can say that he failed to practice justice and love because he did not know Jesus as the Lord and Savior. Most likely as a Pharisee he must have tried hard to practice justice and the love of God. But he ended up being greedy. This already tells us that despite his super human efforts, still on his own he could not overcome the selfishness built inside of him. So we can say that the Pharisee failed for on his own he was categorically “incapable” of practicing God’s justice and the love (of God). 

What is truly amazing is that this man had Jesus right in front of him. Because he had Jesus right in front of him, he could have humbled himself and accepted Jesus as His Lord and Savior. But in pride, he regarded himself as better than Jesus. In his mind, he even looked down on Jesus for not washing hands before the meal. 

Third, you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

The third factor, which is critical for the joy of life, is knowing one’s true value in the Lord. As God originally created each person, with or without any external (or physical) conditions (such as the kind of car you are driving, or the kind of job you are retaining, or your physical appearances such as color, height, or gender), each person can find himself as No. 1 in the whole universe. In other words, as God created all of us, we can say, “You are No. 1, I am No. 1, we are No. 1’s, and all are No. 1’s.” We are all Numero Unos. So, you do not have to look at the mirror twelve times a day, nor do you have to try to read people’s minds all the time. 

But it was not the case with the Pharisees. Look at verse 43. “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.”  Please note the two words: “Woe” and “love”. Because they “loved” the most important seats, Jesus said, “Woe to you.” “Woe” means “heartache”, “misery”, “sorrow”, “affliction”, or simply “suffering.” So what Jesus said can be interpreted to mean that the Pharisees’ hearts felt miserable, sorrowful, afflicted, painful, all because they loved the “most important” seats in the synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. By definition the most important seat in a synagogue is only one, but many Pharisees were coming to a synagogue. That was the problem. In addition, each time a Pharisee went out to a marketplace, he was looking for (and even secretly begging) people to greet him saying, “Oh, Rabbi, good morning, sir. How are you sir?” If the greeter misses the word “Rabbi” or “sir” all of sudden, the Pharisee felt sharp pains inside. He lost the joy of life. 

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.” Again the fact that the Pharisees “loved” the most important seats indicates that external conditions such as “an impressive” title, was necessary for their happiness. In other words, their happiness depended on what they had, rather than on who they were. In modern society, the problem Jesus is pointing out here came to have different names such as “a recognition problem” or “a lack of self-esteem.” 

This “recognition” problem is prevalent in both Asian and western societies.  One Korean missionary who went to Canada felt unhappy because one of his Bible students never called him, “Missionary”. This student studied the Bible with the missionary for more than three years. Yet he never called his Bible teacher “missionary.” He simply called him by his name. So, the missionary secretly prayed to God saying, “Oh, Lord. Please open his spiritual eyes to see that I am a servant of God, that he would call me “Missionary” even just once.” I see that the same problem exists in the western society. Once upon a time, I saw a movie. In that movie, a 21 year-old son, kept calling his father “Tom.” The father expected the son to call him “Daddy” or “Father.” But the son kept saying, “Hey, Tom.” Finally, the father had enough, and as the son was leaving the living room to go upstairs, he shot back at his son saying, “Stop calling me by my name.” “Okay, Tom” the son replied. 

By sharing examples like this, I do not mean that all sons should call their fathers by names, nor do I mean that all students treat their teachers lightly. If anyone earned an honorable title like Ph.D we should call that person “Dr.” 

But my point is that we should not let our external conditions such as a title or a position in society or at work affect our sense of self-worth. With or without anything external, as created by God, each person is already “very good”. Genesis 1:31. In addition, God sent Jesus to forgive us of our sins, and adopt us as His children. When we meet Jesus personally, as God washes us of our sins, we can be set free from shame and guilt. Then, in Jesus we can find our true value in the Lord. We also can respect others as better than each of us. 

Fourth, you are like the unmarked graves.

It has been said, that finding a problem is half the solution. By the same token, when one does not know the kind of problem he has, it is categorically impossible for him to solve the problem. For example, when a cancer patient does not know that he has a cancer, it is impossible for him to find the solution to the problem. 

Jesus is the doctor of all. He is the doctor of doctors. He knows our problem inside and out. When Jesus saw the Pharisees seated around the eating table, Jesus saw that they were all “dead.” How dead were they? Look at verse 44. "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it." In Cairo Egypt, there is a national museum where they put a lot of mummies of the Pharaohs of the past. One of the most famous mummies displayed was the mummy of the Egyptian Pharaoh called “Tutankahmum.” The boy king died in his late teens and remained at rest in Egypt's  HYPERLINK "http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/kv.htm" Valley of the Kings for over 3,300 years. All that changed in November 1922, when Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered by the British Egyptologist Howard Carter who was excavating on behalf of his patron Lord Carnarvon. His tomb almost escaped discovery and could remained undiscovered to this day. His tomb is a typical example of “unmarked” graves. Now, Jesus called the Pharisees “unmarked graves.” In other words, they were no different than mummies. “How insulting?!” one may say. But, still what Jesus says is true. And it was out of his love for them. 

Jesus’ rebuke then opens our eyes to the helpless condition of all human beings without Jesus. Categorically the Pharisees were the finest group of people among the Chosen People Israelites of Jesus’ day. Yet, despite their super human efforts to live righteously they ended up being like a bunch of walking mummies. In Jesus’ eyes, they were no different than, “moving zombies.” Imagine you being invited by a talking zombie, having a dinner fellowship with him. Even if you got served a nice dish like a juicy New York Steak, would you feel like eating it?

Fifth The Law and the Prophets

In verses 45-53, then, in response to  one of the experts in the law retorting to Jesus for insulting a guest as honorable as he, Jesus rebuked the man (and all the teachers of the law) so they would repent and turn to God.  Let us read this passage responsively. In this passage, Jesus talks about the law and the prophets. Jesus rebuked them for not only being ignorant of the law of Moses but also persecuting the prophets sent by God. Why did they do that? Luke 24:44 answers the question, for in Luke 24:44 Jesus said, "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." The Law of Moses and the Prophets (along with the Psalms) point to Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. They all reveal that Jesus is the one who can save them from the power of sin and death. Speaking of the same truth, Jesus himself said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:1b

Sixth, the yeast of the Pharisees 

As we already saw, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were upset by Jesus’ words. But we know that Jesus did not say what he said, just to make them upset. Rather like a surgeon Jesus performed surgery on them, getting to the core of their rotten self. 

At the same time, Jesus saw that the disciples might fall victim to the bad influence of the Pharisees. So what did Jesus do for his disciples? Look at verses 12:1-5. “Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” In this passage Jesus alludes to the dire truth that unless we truly repent of our double life, and turn to God, meaning business, we have no choice but to be thrown into hell and suffer eternal loss. According to the passage at the time of final judgment, every single act of sin will be exposed by God’s judgment. This indicates that no one can escape from God’s judgment. But the Bible says that God sent Jesus to forgive his believers of their sins. This tells us that it is only in Jesus that all of our sins can be wiped out.

Seventh, don’t be afraid. 

What then should we do? Look at verses 6-12. “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.  But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say,  for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." This passage teaches us that when we truly repent and turn to God, all of our sins will be removed. Then, Jesus will grant us his Holy Spirit. By the power of the Spirit we can overcome the life of duplicity. Through the power of His Spirit, we can live  as powerful instruments of God’s light, despite challenges such as peer pressure. 

One word: key to knowledge

    

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