Confronting Error with Condemnation, not Conversation, Luke 20:45-47

And now we come to the Word of God again, and Luke 20 is our text…Luke 20. We have arrived at the end of this chapter and we’ll look at the final three verses…Luke chapter 20 verses 45 through 47. Let me establish them in your mind, follow as I read. Luke chapter 20 beginning at verse 45.

“And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

Strong words. Unmistakable words. Backing up a little bit from this text and approaching it from afar off, we need to be reminded that the Bible warns us about false teachers from beginning to end. There have always been and there always will be false religious leaders who operate for Satan. They operate out of the kingdom of darkness, but they operate as if they are messengers from God.

In the twentieth chapter of the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul met with the Ephesian elders and he said to them this, “I have not ceased to warn you night and day with tears for three years.” Warning you about what? “Savage wolves who will come in not sparing the flock and of your own selves perverse men who will arise to do destruction with their heretical teachings,” is the implication. “Expect it from the outside and from the inside.”

In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 13 to 15, the Apostle Paul said that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. That is to say he comes as if he represents God. So don’t be surprised if his messengers are also disguised as angels of light.
False teachers robe themselves in the garments of God. They want people to believe that they represent God, that they know God, that they have insights into spirituality and divine truth and divine wisdom, even though they are the emissaries of hell itself. The Apostle Paul in writing to Timothy, helping him to understand ministry in the church said this in 1 Timothy 4, “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times, these times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars.” Demon doctrine energized by demon spirits in hypocritical false teachers who lie.

Second Peter, chapter 2, verse 1, says, “False prophets also arose among the people just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies. They will bring swift destruction upon themselves, many will follow their sensuality. Because of them the way of truth will be maligned. In their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle, their destruction is not asleep.”

And you remember, of course, the words of Jude. “I make every effort to write to you about our common salvation, but I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith.” Why? “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Beware…beware…beware of false teachers. As we read in 1 John chapter 2, there are many antichrists. They are everywhere and you who know the truth must protect yourselves from them.

Never were false teachers more aggressive than during the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was as if hell amassed its heaviest assault on any one person on the Lord Jesus during those three years. And we would understand that. We would understand that. To thwart the gospel purposes of God, Satan unleashed everything he had on Jesus Christ. And when we ask…Who were the agents of hell? Who were the agents of Satan who attempted to thwart the purposes of God? Were they the criminals in the culture? Were they the tax collectors, the traitors? Were they the prostitutes, the thugs, the thieves? No. The emissaries and agents of Satan were the most devout, the most religious, the most respected religious leaders in Israel…the scribes and the Pharisees, along with the Sadducees and the Herodians. They all came together against Jesus Christ. They amassed all their ability, all their demonically designed spiritual ability to attack Him, to bring Him down to thwart the purposes of God. Keep it in mind, the enemies of the gospel were and always are most formidable when they are religious…especially the Pharisees and the scribes because they controlled the dominant religion of Judaism at the time. They are relentless in their assault on Jesus.

They didn’t get along with the Sadducees because they had very different theology. They didn’t get along with Herodians because the Herodians were political and they were attached to Herod who wasn’t even a Jew. They had great differences with one another, did the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Herodians, but on one thing hell brought them all together and that is on getting rid of Jesus. And on Friday of Passion Week, they succeeded by the purpose of God, they succeeded in having Him crucified.

As we come to Luke chapter 20, however, it is Wednesday of Passion Week. It is Wednesday. It’s been a long day, a long day in which Jesus has been in the temple moving in and around the masses of people in the temple, He has been teaching the crowds. And He has been engaged in confrontation with the Pharisees, the scribes, the chief priests, the Sadducees, and the Herodians who all have made their assaults on Him trying to discredit Him publicly so they would have a just cause to have Him executed because He was such a threat to the kingdom of darkness and to their own earthly position. They’ve tried everything they know and they have not succeeded.
So we read in chapter 20 and verse 40, they didn’t have enough courage to question Him any longer about anything. They were done. They had exhausted all their options. It was over. They asked Him no more questions. And then we said in verse 41, Jesus begins to ask the questions and mercifully, compassionately, kindly He brings up the issue again of the identity of Messiah as not just a Son of David but a Son of God, THE Son of God.

In verses 41 to 44, you remember from last week, He takes them back to Psalm 110 in which David calls Messiah, “My Lord.” So Messiah is both David’s Son and David’s Lord, and therefore He is a man yet to be born, but He must also be God who was alive at the time David spoke. So in one more compassionate effort, Jesus affirms again His deity and the necessity of Messiah being both God and man. That is an act of compassion. In a sense, it’s a final act of compassion, one more time to speak of His identity as the true Messiah, Son of David, Son of God.

And now He is done. He’s done talking to the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians except by necessity at His trial. He is done speaking to the crowds, the people and verse 45 says, “While all the people were listening, He said to His disciples…” This is a transition. People are still listening but He turns to speak to the disciples, this is what He will now do from here on. No more messages to the crowds. From now on He speaks to His disciples. Very important transition. He said all there is to say, nothing more can be said. He’s answered every question that could be raised. He will turn and give instruction to those who are still following, still showing interest, still wanting to learn from Him, still following Him. The attackers are gone and the crowd fades away.

But there’s one final message for everybody to hear, disciples and people. And it is the message of verses 46 and 47, “Beware of the scribes.” He goes out with a warning. The final message, any time somebody gives a final message, it’s got to be an important one. What is the last thing Jesus has to say to the crowds? We want to know what that last word is, it is a word of warning. Not only a word of warning, but a word of condemnation. Beware of them, they are dangerous and they will receive greater condemnation…end of verse 47. So He warns the people about them and He pronounces damnation upon them. Very strong words.

“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”