“But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Jesus preached this topic more than once it would appear. In this instance Jesus was invited and he accepted the invitation to dine at a Pharisee’s home. The man that invited him noticed that Jesus neglected the ritual washing before dinner. Given the language here this was not to wash to clean his hands but more of a religious rite. When Jesus became aware of the Pharisees’ concern he used it to strongly confront them (Luke 11:42-52). He suggested they were more worried about outward appearances but in reality were inwardly full of “greed and evil. He also suggested many more areas they had come up short in. Pastor Travis will be preaching on the parallel passage in Matthew 23 on this Sunday. I encourage you to attend at Richland Baptist Church.
Notice that the Pharisees were highly religious. However they bypassed “justice and love for God.” Jesus is pointing out the two greatest commands to love God and and to love others. This is important. If our religion neglects love then it is worthless. Without love religion is cold dead legalism. Jesus was quite harsh with Pharisees (they were insulted; see Luke 11:45, 53-54), but not because they were unrighteous, but rather because they believed their strong religious devotion was more important than a loving relationship with God and people. This led them to self-righteousness. In the end prideful devotion is a poor substitute for a loving relationship. Put another way obedience to a religious system and or tradition is not an act of love toward God. Rather sacrificial and humble obedience to serve and minister before God and toward others is the fulfillment of the Love of God.
God Bless You
~BJ
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