At then end of Luke 11, Jesus pronounces two more “woes” on the religious leaders of Israel. He rebukes them for building tombs or shrines for the prophets that their fathers had killed and then for taking away the key of knowledge so that others were hindered from entering in to the kingdom of God.
The first rebuke is repeated in other places in the gospels and carries the idea once again of blatant hypocrisy on the part of the Pharisees and scribes. Their fathers had consistently rejected the prophets that God had sent to Israel and eventually murdered many of them to silence their calls to repentance. In the generation of Jesus, the religious leaders were building shrines over the tombs of those slain prophets. The implied message was that the Pharisees and scribes approved of God’s prophets and would not have done what their fathers did if they had been in their place. However, Jesus knew their hearts. These same men had already rejected the teachings of John the Baptist and were rejecting the teachings of Jesus. In a short while they would have Jesus put to death just as their fathers had done to the other prophets God had sent.
The second rebuke accused them of distorting the meaning of scripture so much that they could not recognize the Messiah when he stood in front of them and by their teaching had prevented many others from seeing the truth and understanding God’s word as well. Because they had distorted God’s word, many whom they had taught would not enter the kingdom because they would not see Jesus for who he was. These two remaining “woes” seem like distant warnings that have no application to us today but there are warnings imbedded in these last woes for us as well.
The question has always been why did the leaders of Israel reject the prophets when they came and why did they come to hate them so much that they had most of them killed to silence their rebukes? I believe most of the reason rests in the human traits of pride and materialism. Pride refuses to acknowledge error and wrongdoing. When the prophets came to Israel they were always coming to call the nation to repentance because they had rejected the word of God and fallen into all kinds of sin including idolatry. When a nation is in error it is because it’s leaders have set the tone and led the way. To receive the prophets rebuke would have meant acknowledging sin and error on their parts and they were not willing to admit their failures. Rather than repenting, they claimed that God’s prophets were liars and heretics and eventually silenced many,
Materialism went hand in hand with pride because the leaders were living the good life. They lived off the taxes of the people and spent their days circulating with the rich and powerful. When you reach a place of privilege you become invested in the status quo. You like the way things are and turn a deaf ear to those calling for reform. Not only that but many religious individuals in places of privilege see their power and affluence as God’s seal of approval on their lives. When prophets show up declaring that their spirituality is a sham, that they need to repent, and that judgment is in the pipeline….it’s not a message that is welcomed by the religious or political establishment. Additionally, we can all fall into the trap of interpreting scripture in a way that justifies our own views and lifestyles and that condemns those who do not agree with us.
Eventually, those leaders who postured as those who loved and honored the prophets and who faithfully opened up God’s word to his people killed Jesus and persecuted the church. They were so certain of themselves that even the miracles of Jesus and those who followed him would not open their eyes. Pride refuses to ask, “Have I been wrong?” The love of money and the praise of men refuse to consider their error and to repent because it might require walking away from the good life or losing their membership card to the upper rungs of society. These leaders truly chose riches in this world over riches in the next world. They chose the pleasure of power and the praise of men over the applause of heaven. The scary thing is that they did not seem to recognize what they were doing.
What then are the lessons for us? First of all we must always be aware that it is possible to be wrong and possible to be deceived by the flesh and the enemy. Because of that we should constantly be asking the Spirit of God to lead us into all truth and to continue to give us hearts that will receive correction and be quick to repent. We should sincerely ask for accountability in our lives and seek out faithful Christians who will tell us the truth. We should even listen to our spouse who knows us better than anyone and to our enemies who may say some things we need to hear. When we are placed in positions of power and privilege we must monitor our hearts more than ever and invite accountability from spiritual people who have the character to offer course corrections when needed.
Ultimately, loving God, setting our mind on eternal things, and maintaining a heart of humility are the great safeguards. If we want God to speak to us and work though us in powerful ways, we must always be open to the leading of the Spirit and the course corrections he brings to us each day. Making small corrections each day is much easier than having to turn the ship 180 degrees and making up for lost time and opportunities. As I said yesterday, there is a little Pharisee in each of us so we must always guard against a tendency to ward pride and self-justification. But in doing so, we will be blessed!
