“One of the lawyers answered him, ‘Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.’ And he said, ‘Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.
“’Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,” so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.’” (Luke 11:45-52 ESV)
These who are called “lawyers” here were those who were learned in the law of the Old Testament. They were experts in Jewish law of the Old Covenant. But the word translated as “lawyer” can also be used in reference to those who were experts in secular law. I believe by the context, though, that Jesus was speaking to those who were well versed (experts) in the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions, which also included the biblical requirement of circumcision.
Today this might be applied to those who deem themselves to be the experts in biblical law under the New Covenant, and some people who follow them might call them “theologians.” And many of them are now long dead, but we have some still today who regard themselves as theologians and experts in New Covenant law. And there are many people alive today who are following these dead theologians and what they taught, and sometimes it appears as though the theologies take precedence over the Scriptures themselves.
But this can also certainly apply to anyone who has gone to a Bible college or a seminary who has studied the Scriptures and who may feel as though their degree in theology sets them above those who do not have such degrees. Now, not everyone does this, but there are many who do. Or it can apply to anyone who deems himself or herself an expert in biblical theology, and so they think that they are better than they really are just because of all the head knowledge that they have acquired over the years.
So, is God against us having Bible knowledge? Absolutely not! We who follow him are to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their context under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and who are seeking God for truth. Then we are to be those who are putting that truth into practice in our daily lives, by the power of God living within us. And then we are to be sharing the truth of the Scriptures with our fellow Christians and with the people of the world, and we are to be actively refuting the lies of the enemy, too.
So having biblical knowledge is not the issue here. It is in how we use the knowledge that we have, either for the glory of God, or for the glory of self, or either to show how much we know, or in order to help others to know the truth that can save their souls from hell. And do we lead other people to us? Or do we lead them to the Scriptures and to the Lord? For we are not to be worshipers of man. We should not be those who are raising man up to almost God-status to where they are being worshiped instead of God.
So, what would be burdens too hard to bear? Legalism, perhaps. But it is not legalism to teach what Jesus taught and what his NT apostles taught when they taught us that the faith to believe in Jesus comes from God, and not from ourselves, and so we don’t get to choose what that faith looks like. God does! And when we tell them that God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ results in us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but to God, because we were created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
So, what was Jesus’ main issue with these theologians (experts in the law)? They were hypocrites, just like the Pharisees. For they were putting burdens on others that they did not take upon their own selves. And they consented to the evil deeds of their fathers who killed the prophets of God. And they took away the key of knowledge, and they did not enter themselves, and they hindered those who were entering into the knowledge of God, not the knowledge of man.
So, this would be like those who preach “the gospel” today but who teach a human-based version of it, and not the gospel that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught. For some of them, it is because their faith is based in the teachings of man and not in the teachings of Christ and his NT apostles, if taught in their proper context. And in that sense, they have “taken away the key of knowledge” which comes from God and which is given to us by the Holy Spirit who teaches us what the Scriptures teach us.
And so by teaching people the lies, and not the truth, because they are relying upon the teachings of these “experts” to tell them what is truth and what is not truth, they absolutely do hinder other humans from entering into the kingdom of heaven because they are teaching them lies. And one of the biggest lies being taught today is that we can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and now all our sins are forgiven, and heaven is secured for us when we die, but regardless of how we live. Just not biblical!
For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our former lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die to sin daily, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For Jesus also said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING God’s will.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Broken Cord
An Original Work / August 29, 2018
Your bond is broken with your Lord and Savior
And your testimony is separate from Him.
Your words not matching your actions today.
Repent of your sin and bow down and pray.
Live what you testify in truth always.
Purity’s lacking in your life and witness,
For you profess one thing, but other you do.
Not moral, spiritual. Still of the flesh.
Not living in truth to what you confess.
Lying about it puts you in a mess.
Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis true of you.
Masquerade righteousness – none of it true.
Your heart is not given to your Lord God.
Because of how you live, you are a fraud.
Turn from your sin and give your life to God.
https://vimeo.com/287303934
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