Upside-Down Christmas: Luke 11

Luke 11

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One of the things you gather from the gospels is that the Jewish people of Jesus’ day had a really firm grasp on their uniqueness as the people of God. They were God’s chosen people and they were meant to be—and were—distinct from the peoples of the surrounding nations. In their zeal for purity and separateness from these peoples, they began to think of themselves as “better-than” or “higher-than” or something like that. Many of them—and mostly we’re talking about the religious leadership here, not the common man—many of them began to disdain their non-Jewish neighbors.

But Jesus turns this sentiment upside down.

By the way, this is the Upside Down Christmas podcast where we’re looking at how Jesus turns conventional wisdom on its head. And we’re doing that by working through the gospel of Luke one chapter at a time. And I encourage you to follow along by reading the chapter we’re looking at because we only get to cover a portion. Today, we’re looking at chapter 11.

This is the chapter where Jesus pronounces the “woes” on the pharisees and on the lawyers—these were those religious elites I was talking about. He says that they do all this work to look good on the outside while neglecting the more important aspects of the law—like mercy and justice. They wear all the right clothes and practice all the rituals and even tithe their garden herbs. But their lives aren’t characterized by love, they have little compassion for others, they disdain the poor, and on and on. They keep the commandments of God when it comes to what clothes they wear, but they miss the heart of God for their neighbor. “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.” (Luke 11:39-41)

You would think that it would be the religious leaders that would be the most moral and the ones who were closest to God. You would think it would be they who are the most fit to be judges of others and to tell you who was the good guy and who was the bad guy and all of that. But it turns out that’s not the case at all.

And in fact, Jesus turns the story on its head once again by lifting up foreigners as being better than them, more fit to be judges than they are. He even elevates their ancient enemies, the Ninevites, as better judges than them. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” (Luke 11:31-32)

Righteousness isn’t a matter of the right practices alone, Jesus says, but a matter first of the heart. In fact, it’s out of a heart of love that comes the righteousness that the Pharisees and the lawyers were after. And while it was almost impossible for them to believe it, there were foreigners and enemies that were more righteous than them because they demonstrated repentance and humility before God, rather than haughtiness and a better-than-thou attitude.

This is a real warning for the followers of Jesus because what it does it shows us that we can fall into the same trap. If we’re extra diligent to tithe and make sure we say our prayers and read our bibles every day and all of that, but we harbor hatred in our hearts for those who aren’t like us; if we refuse to love our enemies or we look down on those whose morals don’t match our own, we’re in danger of giving the appearance of cleanliness on the outside, but inside being full of death and decay. We must be sure to not only subject our outer lives to the Lord, but our inner lives as well.

Heavenly Father, we confess that our insides aren’t righteous and pure and that we love far less than we ought to; we think more highly of ourselves than we should; it’s easy for us to look down on others. Please forgive us and have mercy on us and change us. We want to really be like Jesus, not just to look like it on the outside. So please forgive us. And please teach us to love like Jesus loved us. Amen.

Family Devotion:

You’ll need props, so read ahead.

Read Luke 11:37-54.

Can we say…”Awkward?” Jesus is at a meal with the pharisees and he begins to point out where they use their religious practices to cover up what’s actually happening in their hearts.

Use this illustration: Get 2 solo cups. In the bottom of both cups, draw a heart. In one cup put dirt or trash—DO NOT let children see what’s inside (maybe use coffee cups with lids). Now on the outside, write on the cups good deeds and things that make you look like you’re a “good person.” For example, helping your elderly neighbor, going to church, praying with friends.

Now, explain that all of these things are good things to do, BUT Jesus is explaining that you can look good and holy on the outside, but if your heart is dirty on the inside then your actions become greedy and selfish. We need Jesus to clean our hearts.

What are some ways we can follow Jesus's teaching to focus on being clean on the inside, not just the outside?

How can we be like Jesus and show love for God and others in all that we do?

How is helping others an important part of being a Christian?