30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 11 37-54 Repenting from hypocrisy Woe 11
📖 Luke 11:37-54
*Being a bridge* _Luke 11:37-54_
Our Lord is confronting the Pharisees and the religious leaders by addressing the double standards of their life, which they were blinded about. Our Lord loved them and longed for them to repent and turn to Him but repentance and turning to God was the not in their heart and mind. They considered themselves righteous and in their mind, it was sinners, who needed repentance _Luke 11:42. Friends, do we see how easily we too can become pharisaical, if we are not open to God’s correction?_ Let us remember that our Lord is not only reaching out to the Pharisees but as He is reaching out to them, He is reaching out to us too, warning and teaching us how to live.
Our Lord called the Pharisees as unmarked graves and that men who walked over them, were not aware of them _Luke 11:44._ What was our Lord pointing out to the Pharisees? The instruction from the Lord to the Jewish people was that a person would be unclean for a certain number of days, if he would come in contact with a grave or the bone of man _Numbers 19:16._
Our Lord told the Pharisees that they were like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside were full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness _Matthew 23:27._ Put differently, the Pharisees by looking spiritual and pure, externally but with wrong attitudes, motives and intentions, inwardly, were causing uncleanness or contamination to those, who came in contact with them _Matthew 23:28._
They were not aware that they were actually polluting others and not enabling others to draw closer to God. They were hindrances and not bridges for people to enter into the kingdom of God.
_Do we realise friends, that if we get carried away with external show of religiosity but are not letting God to cleanse us of our wrong motives, then we are being just like the Pharisees, defiling others and not being a bridge for others to grow in their walk with God?_
We must always stand before God and as we stand before Him, we become conscious of the holiness and glory of God. We are also, simultaneously, become conscious of our own unworthiness and sinfulness before Him. We then allow God’s Holy Spirit to work on each of those issues that our Lord confronts us about. We let God to change and conform us more and more into His character and image. This change, within us, of being conformed to the image of Jesus is when we are bridges to allow others around us to believe in Jesus. If we are not open for God’s correction then we end up being hindrances and not bridges for Jesus _I Timothy 1:15-16._
_Let us be bridges for others to come into His kingdom and not hindrances._
*Thought to ponder*
```Imagine the impact we would have, if all of us, wherever we are, were to be bridges for Jesus.```