Luke 11:45-54
You’re Blocking the Door
We are still in the section where Jesus was correcting the incorrect.
In \\#11:37-44\\, Jesus had been rebuking the Pharisees for what I
called their shallowness.
1. Other religious leaders were there and the lawyers took
offense.
2. Basically they said, "Jesus, what you are saying about
hits us too."
3. Jesus did not say it, but it was as if Jesus said, "I
meant it to do so, but if that offends you, I will speak
directly to you."
4. So Jesus began in \\#46\\ to speak directly to the
lawyers.
I. \\#45\\ Note WHO Jesus corrected.
Luke 11:45 Then answered one of the lawyers,
and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou
reproachest us also.
A. The Greek for "lawyer" is different from our concept of
lawyers.
1. The Greek word used here refers to an expert in Jewish
Theology, in the Old Testament.
2. The reason the King James called them a "lawyer" is
because Jewish theology and secular law came from the
same Book, the Old Testament Bible.
3. Ours did too until recent years!
B. Last week I mentioned the many volumes of commentary and
traditions that had been added to the Scriptures of the Old
Testament.
1. The Jewish traditions added multiple volumes of
explanations and commands which were treated with as much
if not more respect than the words of God.
2. It would have been the lawyers who added all of that
material.
3. So these would have been the group that had corrupted the
Word of God.
a. Again I point out that they may have had the best of
intentions but that does not matter.
b. The end result was they polluted the Word of God and
confused the people of God.
C. Friend, that is exactly what has been done in our day by those
who have produced books of faulty and corrupt books called
Bibles.
1. The last time I attempted to check to see how many
English translations of the Bible there were today, I
found an article which said no one knows.
a. The writer went on to say that there is no way to
count the number of translations because the line
between a translation and a paraphrase has become
so blurred that no one can.
b. I don’t know the writer but I do know that is just
plain liberal, ignorant foolishness.
c. There is only one definition of a translation.
(1) A translation is, as much as is possible, a word-
for-word rendering of a speech or written
material from one language to another.
(2) Anything else might be a paraphrase, or a
commentary, or a complete farce and it is NOT
a translation.
(3) You cannot come up with even 10 to 15 honest
translations of a text, let alone hundreds and
thousands.
2. It is sad that the religiously educated of today have done
exactly the same thing as the lawyers of Jesus’ day.
a. They may have started out with the best of intentions,
but intentions do not matter.
b. They have corrupted the Word of God and confused the
people.
c. And as Jesus pronounced woe upon the lawyers of His
day, I have a feeling He will have something to say
some Bible publishers of our day.
II. Note WHAT Jesus corrected.
A. \\#46\\ Jesus corrected them for the labors they would not
perform.
Luke 11:46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye
lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to
be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens
with one of your fingers.
1. This was a reference to the man-made laws the scholars had
added to God’s Word.
a. Get this because it is from Biblical examples like
this that the term "legalism" was coined.
b. What is legalism? Legalism is when man’s commands are
added to God’s commands.
(1) Legalism is not preaching obedience to God’s
commands.
(2) It is adding to God’s commands man’s commands.
c. There is a big difference.
(1) It is not legalism to preach adultery, lying,
drunkenness, jealousy, laziness, pride, wrath and
so forth are sins.
(2) That is agreeing with God and sharing the news.
(3) That is NOT what the lawyers were doing.
d. They were adding their own list of rules to God’s
rule.
(1) That is dangerous.
(2) We need to preach what God says, carefully
explain what it means, and then get out of the
way and let God do what God wants to do with it.
2. Interestingly, Jesus was not condemning the lawyers here
for what they had added to the Law.
a. He was condemning them here because they had exempted
themselves from their own commandments.
Luke 11:46 … ye yourselves touch not the burdens
with one of your fingers.
b. This rebuke was not about the lawyers interpretation
of God’s Word but about their obedience to it.
c. What hypocrisy! They were not even attempting to do
what they were condemning others for failing to do.
(1) It is like politicians creating laws and then
exempting themselves from it.
(2) High ranking law officers who are supposed to
enforce laws but let their friends slide.
(3) Or preachers preaching on the sins of others but
overlooking their own.
3. We know there are no perfect leader—not outside of the
church and not inside the church.
a. Understanding and proclaiming the Word of God is a
difficult task.
(1) God made it that way.
(2) I don’t want to make it sound like only an elite
few can do it, but it does take a gifting of the
Spirit of God to do it.
b. But no mercy need be shown to a preacher who will
not even try to live what they do profess to preach.
B. \\#47-51\\ Jesus corrected them for the deaths they did not
stop.
1. Israel had a history of killing God’s prophets.
a. Jesus seemed to be placing the responsibility for
that on this group of religious leaders.
b. Why was Jesus do that? Because their corrupting of
the Word had led to those deaths.
c. Their kind had been around a long, long time, just
without the robes of dignity.
Jer 23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken
not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy
unto you: they make you vain: they speak a
vision of their own heart, and not out of the
mouth of the LORD.
Jer 27:9 Therefore hearken not ye to your
prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your
dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your
sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall
not serve the king of Babylon:
10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove
you far from your land; and that I should drive
you out, and ye should perish.
Eze 13:3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the
foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit,
and have seen nothing!
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination,
saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not
sent them: and they have made others to hope that
they would confirm the word.
d. Preachers and teachers, we are responsible for what
our words do, whether they excite people to do right
or to do wrong.
(1) Through the years the writings of the Jewish
scholars had excited many to do wrong, even to
kill God’s true prophets.
(2) Jesus’ rebuke of that generation indicated they
had done nothing to stop that from happening
again.
(3) No doubt they thought that had but they had not.
Luke 11:53 And as he said these things unto
them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge
him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of
many things:
54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch
something out of his mouth, that they might
accuse him.
2. Here is the strange thing about false prophets.
a. Most of them think they are right.
b. They think their view is the correct view,
that their interpretation is the correct
interpretation,
that their preaching is the true preaching,
and that their relationship with God is the right
kind of relationship.
c. That is what I think too.
d. As I often say, "If a person thought he was wicked or
wrong, he would change."
3. So what can we preachers do to make sure our preaching is
correct and what can we church members do to be sure we
are being taught correctly?
a. We must stick very, very close to the Book.
b. Our motto should be “The least of us and the most of
His Word.”
c. It is a dangerous thing to read a verse and then speak
for an hour without needing any others.
C. \\#52\\ Jesus corrected them for the knowledge they would not
allow.
Luke 11:52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have
taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not
in yourselves, and them that were entering in
ye hindered.
1. These leaders had lost not only the truth but the key to
know anything at all!
a. Jesus said they had lost "the key of knowledge."
b. How had they done that?
(1) They had so corrupted the Word of God that people
could not rely on it.
(2) What we think about the Bible determines our view
about every other thing.
c. Such is evident today.
(1) If you do not believe in the Bible, you likely
do believe in evolution.
(2) If you do not believe in the Bible, you likely
reject God’s intervention in history.
(3) If you do not believe in the Bible, you likely
reject God’s teaching of discipline regarding
your children.
(4) If you do not believe in the Bible, you likely
reject God’s teaching about work.
(5) If you do not believe in the Bible, you likely
reject God’s teaching on crime and justice.
(6) If you do not believe in the Bible, you likely
reject God’s teaching on purity and morality.
(7) And these are just a few areas.
d. Indeed, a person who does not have and believe the
Word of God has lost the key to knowledge.
(1) If a mechanic loses truth, your car will quit.
(2) If a lawyer loses truth, the guilty will
be free and the innocent will suffer.
(3) If a doctor loses truth, the sick will worsen.
(4) But if a people lose the knowledge of God, they
do anything right!
2. Jesus made the most heart breaking statement that can be
made of anyone—especially one entrusted with spiritual
matters.
a. Those lawyers were not going to heaven.
(1) Just because you have an interpretation of the
Bible does not mean you are going to heaven.
(2) These people might—MIGHT—read the Bible, but
they no longer accepted it for what it said.
(3) That is always a sign that a person is lost.
b. And they weren’t lettings others go there either.
(1) Jesus had hinted at this truth to the Pharisees
when he called them "graves which appear not"
that "men walk over" but "are not aware of."
(2) But this is no cloaked statement. It was plain,
direct, and brutal.
(3) Through the mishandling of God’s Word, these
lawyers were hindering earnest seekers from
entering heaven, from being saved.
God help us that whether we chose heaven or hell for ourselves, we
do not block the door for another. I can think of nothing worse than
being responsible for another’s damnation.
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