Woe, Not Whoa
Luke 11:37-43 NKJ
37 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.
39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. 40 Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.
42 "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
Whoa is used in talking to a horse when you want them to slow down. As in, whoa horse, easy now. But there was no whoa in Jesus when He was talking to the Pharisees. He did not slow down in calling them out. And He was not moved to be overly polite that He was invited to eat with them. Jesus let this group have it. Woe meant an exclamation of grief. In other words, this is not going well for you.
Jesus was disturbed by how the Pharisees were consumed with outside activities and completely missed heart issues. The Pharisee that invited Jesus for a meal marveled that Jesus did not wash before dinner. The Pharisees had elaborate washing ceremonies. They were very concerned with washing things. Jesus said they washed the outside, but on the inside, they were full of greed and wickedness. Please pass the bread. And then Jesus declared that they were foolish to overlook the fact that the same God who made the outside made the inside also. And I'll take another helping of that beef, thank you.
Jesus went after the Pharisees much stronger than He did any other group. We do not see Him rebuking the tax collectors and known sinners in the same way as He did the religious leaders of that time. And that may have been the issue with Jesus. These Pharisees were the ones who portrayed themselves as the spiritual leaders of Israel, and they seemed to completely miss what God was saying and doing. Jesus said the Pharisees would give tithes and alms, offerings for the poor, and they would do it even with the spices they had. These guys were intent on tithing everything and thinking that would excuse any of their other behaviors. But again, Jesus called them on that. Tithing was appropriate and right, but don't stop there. Even more appropriate were the inward things of justice and the love of God.
The Pharisees did many things to appear righteous on the outside to people. And they loved the approval and favor that their posturing gained them. They loved the best seats in the synagogue and a greeting of honor in the streets. But Jesus said woe to all of that.
Jesus dropped about six woes on the scribes and Pharisees before they served dessert. But after His pronouncements, they most likely skipped dessert. Verses fifty-three and four of the chapter tell us that the dinner guests began to assail Him strongly and cross-examine Him, trying to catch Him in His words so they could accuse Him. And you think you've had some awkward family meals.
Application
The Lord has not changed in terms of what He believes is most important. Tithing is great, but we don't stop there. Going to church is always appropriate, but it doesn't give us an excuse to live anyway we want. We are to live our lives before the Lord, not before people. So we can't tithe and then skip doing the right things and ignore the love of God. It's the inside things that matter most. If we focus there, we can skip the woes.
Prayer
Lord, help me to live my life before You. What You think of me is most important.