NOTES for Luk 11:42-46
How clever, upright, and discerning we all are when we look at other people's actions! We immediately see where they act contrary to reason, conscience, or moral standards. What becomes of all that when it comes to our own actions? At once we find all kinds of reasons, circumstances, and excuses...
In the Letter to the Romans Paul writes: “Do you suppose, then, that you will escape God's judgment, you who condemn those who do such things and yet do the same?” In the Gospel of Luke the Lord addresses Israel's “spiritual leaders”: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.” Our attempt to justify ourselves by exalting ourselves above those we consider more sinful than we are is futile. God shows no partiality. He looks at us not in comparison with one another, but as we are; His standard is not relative but absolute, and we earn “positive marks” only when we are led by God's love.