37 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
37 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Luke 11:45–54"
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date = "2022-12-14"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Lk11.45-54)
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After the verbal thrashing Jesus gave the Pharisees, one of the experts of the
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law has the nerve to tell Jesus, "Hey, you insult us too when you say things
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like that." I mean, did he really think it was unintentional? Or that by
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calling attention to it Jesus would back down with an "Oops, sorry. No
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offense"?
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Jesus doubles down instead. He condemns them for adding extra rules and
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requirements to the Law of Moses that make it a burden to those trying to
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follow them. They said things like "Don't let your wife look in the mirror on
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the Sabbath, or she may see a gray hair and pluck it out, which would be work,
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and thus forbidden," or "Only walk 200 steps on the Sabbath, unless it's to and
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from your own property." In that last case, the rich could send servants to put
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broken items out on Friday every 200 steps so they could go wherever they like
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since they would only be going to their property each time. All of these extra
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rules were insanely hard to remember, much less fulfill, and they got very far
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from what the Lord originally said: "Six days you shall labor and do all your
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work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall
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not do any work…" (_Deut 5:13–14_)
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The religious elite considered themselves pious for building tombs to honor the
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prophets of old, but by rejecting Jesus they were rejecting the prophets'
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message, just like their forefathers did when they persecuted and killed those
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prophets. They hid the truth from the people and themselves by twisting the Law
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to their own devices and neglecting what the prophets had said.
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* * *
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Give us ears to hear what You have said in Your Word with clarity and a will to
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follow it.
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