Luke 11:45-46 45And answering, one of the lawyers said to him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46And he said, “Woe also to you lawyers, because you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”
Obviously Jesus hit a nerve of conviction at the dinner in the Pharisee’s house. One of the guests, who was a lawyer, someone knowledgeable of the Jewish law, spoke up in defense of the way the group lived. His response is emotional and not factual. People often take criticism personally and not objectively. This response may be due to a felt need to defend one’s position, practice, or prerogatives. Jesus hit the nail on the head in his evaluation of the Pharisees, scribes, lawyers, and other Jews who were involved in the types of practices Jesus pronounces in these woes.
Jesus continues with three more woes. The fourth woe condemns the lawyers who loaded people down with their interpretations of the law. Laws tend to become more and more detailed over time. Even modern lawmakers add more and more to the laws of the land every year. The Jewish lawyers had many oral interpretations of the Old Testament laws. They got caught up in their additional interpretations so much so that they neglected the heart of God’s law, which is love. Deuteronomy is clear about the central purpose of the law: loving God and loving one’s neighbor.
Something attracts people to the minutia of religion. Perhaps it is a sense of inferiority and the need to impress people. A person can find self-worth in piety and not in God. The “doing” should not replace the “being.” What we do and how we act should be a result of our relationship with God. The law in any form can become a burden if it is not filtered through love.
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