Friday March 07
Beware of the False Teachers
Luke 11:45-52
45 Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also." 46 And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' 50 that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."
Luke 11 finishes with Jesus giving a personal, up-close, scathing word of rebuke and declaration of condemnation and judgment upon the religious leaders of His day. He pronounced three “woes” upon the Pharisees and their hypocrisy, and three “woes” upon the lawyers who were the religious “experts” interpreting the Law of Moses for the people.
That is why verse 45, tells us that after Jesus spoke His words to the Pharisees, the lawyer said, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also." The Pharisees believed, and were supposedly practicing all the traditional teachings of these lawyers. This opened the door for Jesus to condemn these lawyers too. I’m convinced that the false teachers of the Word of God will receive the greater condemnation on judgment day from God. We need to know how to identify them and avoid them.
First in verse 46, they don’t practice what they teach. They put a “religious works” burdens on others that they ignore themselves. Secondly, in verse 47-51, they glorify the Old Testament prophets as they attempt to identify with them so that they will appear to be authentic. They appear to know the Bible better than anyone else. And third, in verse 52, they claim because of that, they are the only ones who can properly interpret the Scriptures. The internet and social media are full of these false teachers today! Beware!
These “lawyers” that Jesus was condemning were guilty of robbing the common people of the knowledge of the Word of God. It was bad enough that they would not enter the kingdom themselves, but they were hindering others from going in! It is a serious thing to teach God's Word and not everyone is supposed to do it (James 3:1). Unfortunately, what some people call "Bible study" is too often just a group of unprepared people exchanging their ignorance.
The lawyers had convinced the people that nobody could understand and explain the Law except the trained and authorized teachers. We have some of that arrogant attitude showing itself today. Teachers who overemphasize the Bible languages give people the impression that the Holy Spirit cannot teach anyone who does not know Greek and Hebrew. We need to always remember that Jesus is the key to the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-48).
When you take away that key, you cannot understand what God has written. As helpful and necessary as theological studies are, the most important requirements for Bible study are a yielded heart and an obedient will. Jesus said in John 7:17: “If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.” In John 14:21 Jesus said: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
The best Bible teachers are men and women who learned the truth of God's Word on their knees and on the battlefield of life. They were Spirit-taught, not man-taught. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:13-14: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” A Spirit led Bible teacher will always glorify Jesus and not himself.
So serious is this danger of false teachers that Jesus will have more to say about it in Luke 12:1. (Also read 2 Peter 2-3)
Meanwhile, let us beware!
God bless!
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