37 When he finished that talk, a Pharisee asked him to dinner. He entered his house and sat right down at the table. 38 The Pharisee was shocked and somewhat offended when he saw that Jesus didn't wash up before the meal. 39 But the Master said to him, "I know you Pharisees burnish the surface of your cups and plates so they sparkle in the sun, but I also know your insides are maggoty with greed and secret evil. 40 Stupid Pharisees! Didn't the One who made the outside also make the inside? 41 Turn both your pockets and your hearts inside out and give generously to the poor; then your lives will be clean, not just your dishes and your hands. 42 "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but manage to find loopholes for getting around basic matters of justice and God's love. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. 43 "You're hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You love sitting at the head table at church dinners, love preening yourselves in the radiance of public flattery. 44 Frauds! You're just like unmarked graves: People walk over that nice, grassy surface, never suspecting the rot and corruption that is six feet under." 45 One of the religion scholars spoke up: "Teacher, do you realize that in saying these things you're insulting us?" 46 He said, "Yes, and I can be even more explicit. You're hopeless, you religion scholars! You load people down with rules and regulations, nearly breaking their backs, but never lift even a finger to help. 47 "You're hopeless! You build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed. 48 The tombs you build are monuments to your murdering ancestors more than to the murdered prophets. 49 That accounts for God's Wisdom saying, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, but they'll kill them and run them off.' 50 What it means is that every drop of righteous blood ever spilled from the time earth began until now,. 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was struck down between altar and sanctuary, is on your heads. Yes, it's on the bill of this generation and this generation will pay. 52 "You're hopeless, you religion scholars! You took the key of knowledge, but instead of unlocking doors, you locked them. You won't go in yourself, and won't let anyone else in either."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 11:37-52
Commentary on Luke 11:37-54
(Read Luke 11:37-54)
We should all look to our hearts, that they may be cleansed and new-created; and while we attend to the great things of the law and of the gospel, we must not neglect the smallest matter God has appointed. When any wait to catch something out of our mouths, that they may insnare us, O Lord, give us thy prudence and thy patience, and disappoint their evil purposes. Furnish us with such meekness and patience that we may glory in reproaches, for Christ's sake, and that thy Holy Spirit may rest upon us.