Luke 11:42 Commentary and Bible Study

The word ‘But’ connects this verse with the previous. Instead of giving what lies within us – love, mercy, kindness, gentleness – the Pharisees gave only things that could be seen, and they made sure that everyone noticed what they were giving. Self-righteousness and hypocrisy distort everything that is wholesome, and turns what is good into what is evil. This passage with its six woes is a study in hypocrisy, and all the evils that come from it. It is the same pattern is every case. Always, self-righteousness is to the fore; always the eye is on a reward in this world, a reward that comes only from man and not from God. Always the heart is forgotten about, and the workings of the outward man alone are considered. Always God is reduced to a petty being who is easily deceived and can see no further than the skin.The Pharisees tithed ‘mint and rue and all manner of herbs.’ Hendriksen reminds us that the law did not mention these, but the Pharisees were determined to outdo themselves, and to even exceed the requirements of the law in their striving for a personal earned righteousness. The Lord represents this as ridiculous, because there was a complete failure to engage the heart in religion. Why was so much attention given to these excessive details, when no attention was given to the far weightier matter of heart obedience? For the simple reason that one could be seen, and the other could not be seen. Because heart religion could not be seen by men, it was of no use to the Pharisee. His religion stopped there, and the idea of obtaining a reward from God for acts that God alone could approve, almost never entered his mind. What blindness! What distortion of true religion! What a vain hope of salvation! Even the Pharisee was to be pitied for his blindness, but he needed a sharp rebuke, for nothing else would get through to him. There are three duties mentioned in this verse, and the Pharisees only did the first of them. They passed over the second two: ‘judgment and the love of God.’ By ‘judgment’ Christ means justice, the standard by which true judgments are made. This is what Moses commanded the judges under the law to practice (Deuteronomy 1:16-17). They were to be free from partiality, from fearing the great, or from receiving bribes to bend justice in favour of the rich and powerful. The love of God was the summary of man’s duty towards God, a love that resulted in obedience to every commandment of God. These last two requirements were passed over completely, but the first is to be done without neglecting the other.