Lesson 2557

(Lesson 2557)(12-20-18) Luke 11:37-41
    “ And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat ,down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.”

    In today’s quote, Jesus made the point that nothing that was created by God could cause a sin to the body.
    The Pharisees of that period were sticklers for traditional rituals, much like many so-called Christians of today. Ritual external washing, or baptismal cleansing, was written into the old law of the Jews; However, so was loving and respecting one’s neighbor as equals and treating them fairly in their daily dealings.
    In today’s quote, Jesus condemned those Pharisees for practicing the easiest parts of the law, such as minor rituals and sacrifices, while ignoring the substantive parts, such as fairness in their dealings and charity toward their neighbors.
    Many of those same faults are prevalent among today’s so-called Christian church members. They insist that everyone attend “church” every time the doors are open while ignoring their over-riding duty to “go” and teach the word of God to “every creature” and diligently attending to the needs of weakest in their communities.~