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Discussion Notes
Conversation with
a Pharisee
Luke 11:37-54
Try to imagine being a Jew living in first century Palestine.
You were part of the people of God. You are a descendant of
Abraham – and it was to Abraham that God had promised
to bless the whole world – the whole world to be blessed
through your family – you are part of God’s plan
for the salvation of the world. And if you asked any Jew what
it meant to welcome the kingdom of God and to ready for the
coming of the Messiah, the answer would be to have the Law,
the Torah, so deeply ingrained within me that I would become
a living, breathing interpretation of God’s law.
You were living in a time when injustice
was rife, when God’s people were being morally trampled
upon and frustrated. And you would feel the injustice of your
world, and live with the tension of worshipping a God of justice.
And if you took this seriously then from an early age you
would be studying your Scriptures, and trying hard to live
a life consistent with your studies.
This would mean being part of a school of
people that took holiness seriously, learning that when the
Scriptures are opened, you are drawn into the very presence
of a Holy God. And it is your experience of God’s holy
presence that defines who you are. If your greatest desire
is to please God, then you might – if you worked and
tried hard enough, be able to become one of those people whose
name was based on the holy presence of God with his people.
You would become a Pharisee.
The Pharisees were deeply respected by the
common people. They were politically active, motivated by
Scripture, passionate, committed, holy. They would take the
Word of God as seriously as was possible, and would serve
the people of God by committing to that law. And the three
distinctive features of the people of God in these times were:
Circumcusion, Keeping the Sabbath, and the food laws. All
of these were foundational to the identity of your people.
And then you hear that one who could well
be the Messiah, the one ready to make your people who they
are and lead them to freedom, you hear that the Messiah is
here. His teaching is deeply radical, and the way he treats
Scripture and the Law would fill you with excitement and anticipation.
So you invite him to your house for a meal. What an event
that is going to be…
[Bible Reading here Lk 11:37-53].
Well, what kind of a guest was that? He begins
by riding roughshod over the laws that define who you are
as a people, and epitomise holiness. And when you look surprised
he lays into you, and your whole life of devotion to God.
How can this possibly be God’s Messiah? Food is a gracious
gift from God, and the Messiah, simply by tucking in without
taking the time and effort to prepare himself to accept this
gift of grace, seems to be taking God’s grace for granted!
Then he turns and accuses you and those like you, of being
hypocrites – What kind of Messiah is this?
Questions for discussion:
1. How might you feel if you were the Pharisee
who had opened his home to Jesus, only to be the target of
his prolonged rant against you and your friends? How willing
would you be to hear anything he has to say?
2. Walking over a grave would render you ritually impure.
What is Jesus saying then about the Pharisees (v44) and why
might he have said this?
3. Compare Mt 5:22 with Lk 11: 40! What’s that all about?
4. Where is the Pharisee in you?
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