“Woe” is a word that isn’t used much in our culture. Probably the most common use is in the phrase “Oh, woe is me!” when someone is distraught over something not of their own doing. Think Winnie the Pooh character, Eeyore…life has just dealt me a bad hand. The Greek word interpreted “woe” is an interjection that can be an expression of grief – as we typically use it – or an interjection of denunciation. When Isaiah uses the word before the throne of God in Isaiah 6.8, he is expressing udder grief. However, in today’s passage, Jesus is clearly using it as a denunciation.

Lord help us that you may not pronounce these woes upon us!

[Luke 11.37-54]

37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 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. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 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. 52 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.”

53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ What is Jesus drawing attention to when he contrasts our outside and our inside?

+ What behavior is Jesus condemning in the first “woe”? [v. 42]

+ What behavior is Jesus condemning in the second “woe”? [v. 43]

+ In the third “woe,” walking over a grave was an unclean act in Jewish Law – it made you unholy and separated you from God. What is Jesus saying about the teachings and the spiritual leadership of the Pharisees in the third “woe”? [v. 44]

+ The “lawyers” in v. 45 were the experts in Jewish law…aka the Scribes. Jesus seems to be describing the same sin in the Scribes in His two “woes” of vv. 46-47. What is it? [HINT: see Jesus’ rebuke in Mark 7:6]

+ Finally, Jesus wraps up His denunciations with His final “woe” to the Scribes in v. 52. What did they do, or fail to do, in their calling as religious leaders?

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ Which of the “woes” most resonated with me? How did the Holy Spirit gently convict me of a particular sin in my life?

+ Jesus already took care of that sin. In what way has He put His arm around me and asked me to repent and turn from that sin?

+ We are all called to make disciples, which requires a certain degree of leadership. How does Jesus’ final “woe” in v. 52 encourage my posture in disciple-making?

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?

+ In this sin that has been exposed, from whom do I need to seek forgiveness?

+ Who in my life can I introduce to these “woes” and lovingly introduce them to the love of Jesus?