Luke 11:41 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 11:41

Comments

The Greek here says, ‘Give the things that are within as alms.’ Some understand this to mean, the things that are within the cup and the things which are placed on the plate, that is, the things which the poor have need of for their sustenance – give alms of these things. But surely the thought contained in the previous verses points in a different direction. Christ has switched the idea from what makes unclean in verses 39-40, to what should be given in verse 41. In both cases there is a comparison between what is without and what is within. Think about cleanliness both of the body and of the heart, and give what is within as well as what is without. We read in verse 42 about what the Pharisees chose to give as part of their almsgiving, and verse 42 extends the thinking of verse 41. The Lord requires us to give not just our material goods, such as we have, but to give what is within the heart also. He says this in contrast to the Pharisaical practice of limiting giving to what was external only. This is then equivalent to the saying, ‘I will have mercy, and not sacrifice’ (Matthew 9:13). Jesus says, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind’ (Matthew 22:37). How can we worship God with the outer man, and not with the inner man. Part of our worship is obedience to his commandments to show mercy.‘All things are clean unto you.’ What Christ says here is equivalent to saying, you will be accepted by God, justified, sanctified, and totally transformed. How so? Because he who has given the inner man to God, has yielded his whole being to God and submitted to the Lordship of Christ. He is a converted man, and he has obtained the true cleansing that comes from above. He is no longer concerned only with a ceremonial cleansing that leaves sins unforgiven, but he has been altogether washed. That external ceremonial washing which was only a token, has been replaced with the true washing. The existence of a new nature which God has created within the person is evidenced by a love for God and for fellow men and women that comes from the heart.

Application

There are those who think that religion can be reduced to the payment of certain outward things to God, while the heart remains free from participation, withheld from him. They treat God as if he could see no further than man can see, and was satisfied with these paltry gifts, while the real person, the inner man, is not included in worship. Can we worship God as he wants when we only worship him with half, or less than half, of our being? Certainly not. Because he made the inner man as well as the outer man, he insists that we worship him with both. Old Testament worship focused on the externals of worship, because it was designed to teach an unspiritual people, the majority of whom were unconverted and incapable of worshipping with the inner man. By teaching them to worship with the outer man, they were being taught the basic principles of worship, but this was never going to be sufficient while their hearts remained alienated from God.

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Luke 11:41 Commentary and Bible Study