Everett Henes: Jesus' woes

Misunderstandings of Jesus abound. Sometimes, when people tell me what they believe about Jesus I wonder what Bible they are reading. The truth, though, is that they’re not really reflecting on the Scriptures. They’re more than likely reflecting on their own ideals, and pushing those onto Jesus. After all, if he’s so great then wouldn’t he agree with them on most things? When we visit art museums that depict Jesus, I remind my children that we learn more from these pictures about the artist and his time than we do the Savior.

I draw this out, because the close of Luke 11 has Jesus being different than we usually expect. We hear of his miracles and his teachings. We read of the compassion he showed to those who were rejected in his day. He dined with sinners and loved many. But he didn’t love everyone, and that’s hard for people to understand. There were those who sought to work against Jesus, and he stood opposed to and condemned them. The end of Luke 11 includes some of these, often referred to as the “woes of Jesus” as he directs his attention to the Pharisees and Scribes.

The term "woe" can be used several different ways. As a word it means, “grief, anguish, affliction, wretchedness, calamity, or trouble.” It can be the voice of surprise, or sorrow. It is often used to speak of misfortune. Sometimes, in the Bible, it is tied to sin and rebellion and the resulting judgment from God. This is how Jesus uses it against the Pharisees and Scribes.

Jesus confronts their hypocrisy, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” (Luke 11:39) He also confronts their pride, “Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.” (Luke 11:43) They sought to make themselves look good while their hearts were far from the Lord. They were rebellious against God, but wanted people to think they were faithful.

How did Jesus know they were rebellious against God? Because they rejected him. “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.” (Luke 11:47) There are many prophets in the Old Testament that were killed by the people. Jesus cites two Old Testament figures: Abel and Zechariah. I know what you’re thinking — they aren’t prophets. Nothing is said in Scripture about Abel being a prophet and Zechariah was the son of a priest who was clothed in the Spirit of God for a moment before he died.

Jesus takes the first martyr in the Bible (Abel) and the last martyr, Zechariah, and using them to represent all who were killed in between, which would include all of the prophets. Both had a message from God – even if Abel’s was only spoken in silence in Scripture. Jesus is saying that their fathers had killed all of God’s messengers before and that they were building the tombs for the prophets. Basically, their fathers might have killed them but that they were fine to let their words remain dead.

The Pharisees and Scribes were not pleased with Jesus’ words. They go out of their way to try and trick him, asking him all kinds of difficult questions. Luke paints a very vivid picture for us (verse 53). They “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.”

The "pressing him hard" is word for hostility and the words he uses "lying in wait" and "catch" are ones that are often associated with hunting. They see Jesus as their prey and they wish to catch him in something. They treat Christ just like they do the prophets; they kill him. They take the Word of God made flesh and treat him just like they do the written word, as something that can be manipulated and shut up.

They have the Key of Heaven in their presence, but they refuse to enter in. Do you see the stubbornness of unbelief? It is too easy, living in a sinful world, to fall into hypocrisy. You must come to Christ as the one who is holy and true, confessing that you are not. Our only hope is that Jesus was not a hypocrite. He was really God and really man and he came to bring salvation to you and me.

— Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Everett Henes: Jesus' woes