What Jesus Did

[Jesus said,] "Yes, what sorrow awaits you [Pharisees]! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on."

—Luke 11:44 NLT

Key Thought


All of us have a tendency to look at our sins and shortcomings and dismiss them as less serious than other people's sin. Jesus was confronting the Pharisees about their sin. The Pharisees were generally considered to be some of the most righteous people living in...

 

"Teacher," said an expert in religious law, "you have insulted us, too, in what you just said." "Yes," said Jesus, "what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in...

 

[Jesus said,] "What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces."

—Luke 11:43 NLT

Key Thought


What drives you? Whose approval matters most to you? The praise of our peers often drives us. We talk about peer pressure influencing teens. However, we often fail to acknowledge that we, as adults, allow approval pressure to affect us, too. Religious leaders are...

 

[Jesus said,] "What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things."

—Luke 11:42 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus reminded the Pharisees, and us, that tithing is important. They shouldn't neglect their tithes. However, tithing down to the minute detail isn't the ultimate issue in giving. Working to ensure...

 

As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. Then the Lord said to him, "You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy — full of greed and wickedness! Fools! Didn't God make the inside as well as the outside? So clean the inside by...

 

[Jesus said,] "No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your...

 

[Jesus said,] "The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here — but you refuse to listen. The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here — but you refuse to repent."

—Luke 11:31-32 NLT...

 

As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, "This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God."

—Luke 11:29-30 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus does not go about his ministry to provide a "proof show" for doubters or a "miracle spectacular"...

 

As [Jesus] was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, "God bless your mother — the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!" Jesus replied, "But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice."

—Luke 11:27-28 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus never passed up an opportunity to help people move to a higher truth. Yes, there were those who criticized him. Yes, there were those who idolized him. He came, however, to bring God's...

 

[Jesus said,] "When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, 'I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before."

—Luke 11:24-26 NLT

Key Thought


Many people look at religion and...