Gospels (33) Luke 11:41-54

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: Gospels

Rusty's Notes

Luke 11:41-54
41 But give from what is within to the poor, and then everything is clean for you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.

• Tithing and didn’t help those in need.

43 “Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

• Pride
• If you are worried about tithing off the gross or net; or worried about how others might view and these things are important to you… I tell you to zoom out and look at the bigger picture.
• You can try to fix your finances, try to fix your marriage, try to fix your kids, try to keep your things in order.
• Zoom out.
• There is a bigger picture.

44 “Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don’t know it.”

• In Numbers it says that anyone touches a corpse is ceremonially unclean.
• You are causing people to fall into holes and die.
• Woe to you who are religious
• You meet a religious person and you will never be changed. You will just try to behave like them.
• You meet a person living a life by another you will be forever changed because it is Christ living in you.

• If I live my life by another… Do I make choices?
• Jesus lived His life by the Father
• I have the mind of Christ?
• 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 - 15 The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. 16 For
• who has known the Lord’s mind,
• that he may instruct him?
• But we have the mind of Christ.[1]
• Can I think like Christ?
• Do I have the ability to live like Christ?
• Paul said, “Christ is my life”
• “For me to live is Christ”
• He wasn’t working for Christ… He was enjoying Christ.
• Do we imitate Jesus or live by Christ’s life
• Can you do any work for God?
• But God can do incredible things through you.

 

• Ephesians 5:1-2 – Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, 2 and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.[2]

 

• How do you become perfect imitators? By living the law perfectly… impossible.
• Christ lived His life by the Father
• We are to live our life by Christ

 

• Let’s say you are able to change your behavior.
• There are 2 ways that happens:
• 1) Out of your own discipline
• 2) Out of living your life by another source

• How do you overcome temptation?
• You can do that in your own strength
• You can wait for God to do a supernatural work in your life to remove that temptation.
• There has to be a heart change

 

• Romans 6:6-7 -  6 For we know (choice #1) that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin.[3]

• Romans 6:11 - 11 So, you too consider (choice #2) yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.[4]
• Romans 6:13 - 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer (choice #3) yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.[5]
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 - 13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide a way out so that you may be able to bear it. [6]

 
45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.”
46 Then he said: “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, and yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.
47 “Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Therefore, you are witnesses that you approve the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments.

• You are in agreement with what your fathers have done.

49 Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’

• John the Baptist had just died.

50 so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world--51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.
“Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible.
52 “Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.”

• Religious people will try to kill you.
• 11 years in youth ministry… I taught law
• I taught performance
• I don’t question salvation
• I’d love to reteach
• Religion will never change one’s heart.
• Religion only causes people to try to conform in their behavior and it is impossible.
• Religion will kill you.

53 When he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to cross-examine him about many things; 54 they were lying in wait for him to trap him in something he said.[7]

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (1 Co 2:15–16). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Eph 5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 6:6–7). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 6:11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 6:13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (1 Co 10:13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 11:1–54). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.