NOTES for Luk 11:47-54
The key phrase underlying the conversation between Christ and the Pharisees that we read today is 'and that is all.' This is what makes legalism so attractive: its limited scope. Legalism teaches that one must fulfill in every detail the set of commandments known since the time of Moses—and that is all, nothing more is required; all that remains is to sign for receipt of the blessings of paradise. God's participation in all this is neither needed nor envisaged: He is obliged to 'pay out' the salvation owed to those who meet certain conditions whose origin we ourselves have attributed to God. And because of its remarkable convenience, legalism is by no means confined to Judaism: it is a spiritual disease of all humanity. It is not for nothing that the Lord Jesus Christ calls His disciples to beware of this leaven.
When people treat their employer in this way, we call it 'working to rule'; and we all know that when you work to rule, following instructions strictly, without departing from them by a single step or doing anything outside their limits, the work of any institution comes to a complete standstill. Even ordinary working life is incomparably richer than any set of rules. Moreover, experience shows that working to rule places a solid, impassable wall between you and your employer. In essence, legalism is working to rule against God.
By contrast, the key word for the path to which Christ calls us is 'together.' Together with God in the whirl of life, where something new and unforeseen arises at every step. Together with God, when the only firm 'instruction' is always to be with Him. It is no accident that in today's passage the Lord Jesus recalls the prophets whom legalism destroyed: their entire preaching is a call to be with God every minute. The whole essence of the prophetic proclamation is that the only goal of our life is God. We are destined to receive no other reward—but could there be any greater reward than this?
And the prophets, anticipating the Lord Jesus, say that very little is needed to be with God: to share in His love, with which He loves our neighbors. In most cases this goes largely unnoticed by others and therefore brings no honor, no 'chief seats in the synagogues,' as Christ puts it. Nor does God give us His praise, but Himself. Thus the choice between Christ's path and legalism turns out to be a choice between the Incomprehensible One Himself and what we can obtain from Him.