March 19, 2025 Morning Devotional

Morning Devotion: Read Luke - Hypocrisies of the Religious Pharisees

Luke 11:37  And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. 38  And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. 39  And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. 40  Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? 41  But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. 42  But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 43  Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. 44  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

There is a vast difference between the religious person and the person who is a true believer in Christ Jesus.

The true believer in Christ Jesus, knows from whence he came. He knows he was dead in sins and could do nothing to save himself. Upon such knowledge he seeks the only one who could ever save his soul and that my friend is Jesus.

Upon that realization there is a change in the mind which brings about a change in heart and in humility and contrition that person trusts in the Lord.

The religious person believes they are saved by works such as the Pharisees. They thought that by keeping the law of the bible they would be saved. That mindset is nothing more than “I did it my way.” Which is nothing more than pride.

We see that in our text that Jesus had not washed His hands before dinner. They marvelled at it. Jesus used this moment to teach a very valuable lesson.

Luke 11:39  And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

Luke 11:44  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

They were more concerned with the outside appearance rather than the inside of which the Lord made both.

Luke 11:40  Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?

Notice again that the Lord calls them fools.

Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

We now know that they were not born again because the Lord identified them as fools.

Then we see that they relied on their giving

Luke 11:41  But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

They thought their giving made all things clean and they were ok with God. Just because one gives something to the church does not make them born again christians. (There are many religions that want you to do just that, in fact their whole religion is based on your giving in order to trap you into thinking that’s how you get saved, to name a few, lighting candles, giving money, buying indulgences, paying for prayers, paying for those in purgatory, etc.)

However, the born again believer gives because they know they are already saved, they are already cleansed by the blood of Jesus; they give to the Lord.

Another identifying factor of these Pharisees was their pride.

Luke 11:43  Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.

You see, the religious Pharisees looks clean on the outside but not on the inside, they were self reliant and prideful, and thought they deserved respect and the highest seats in the synagogues.

These were the same guys that crucified Jesus for envy. Mark 15:10  For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

How do you define your salvation? It based on “I was baptized”, or I took communion”, or “I gave?”

To the true believer it is “Jesus saved me an unworthy sinner.”

The choice is still yours,

Pastor Cook