#96 Lu. 11:37-40  THE INSIDE OF THE CUP AND PLATTER

Introduction:

    In our previous text Jesus gave two parables.  He gave The
Parable of the Candle and The Parable of The Eye.  In our text
today He visits the home of a Pharisee and speaks to him about
cleansing the inside of the cup and the platter.

I.  An invitation to the home of a Pharisee

     V. 37, "And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to
dine with him: ..."  In think that you are aware that the Bible
was not written originally in the English language.  The Old
Testament was written in the Hebrew language and the New Testament
was written in Greek.  We are told by those who are scholars in
the Greek language that this particular verse does not mean that
Jesus was still speaking the parables of the Candle and the Eye
when he was approached by the Pharisee.  Rather it means that it
was on some occasion when He was speaking publicly to some great
crowd when the Pharisee extended this invitation.  Jesus was
speaking to the crowd of people and ministering to them when He
was approached by a certain Pharisee who asked Him to come to his
home and dine.
    The Pharisees were the largest Jewish religious denomination
of that day.  They were very strict concerning the Law of Moses.
Not only that, but they were very very strict concerning the
numerous Jewish interpretations of that law and the numerous
traditions that had developed over the years in regard to the Law
of Moses.  The truth of the matter is that they placed greater
importance on the keeping of the interpretations and traditions of
the Jewish fathers about the law than they did on the keeping of
the law itself.  That is, they placed greater importance on the
keeping of the traditions of men than they did on the keeping of
the Word of God.
    By this time in the ministry of Jesus the leaders of the
Pharisees had become bitterly opposed to Jesus.  Therefore, when I
read this text these questions came to my mind:  Why would a
Pharisee invite Jesus to his home to eat a meal?  Why would he
not, rather, denounce Him right then and there before the public?
    I must admit that I am not absolutely certain of the answer to
these questions.  It is possible that the answer is that since
Jesus was very popular with the masses of common people at that
time that he invited Jesus to his home because it was the popular
thing to do.  The Pharisees were very much concerned about their
popularity with the people.  They were a lot more concerned about
what people thought about them than they were with what God
thought about them.  It certainly would not enhance his own
popularity with the people if he should publicly denounce Jesus at
this time.  It would, however, make him look good in the eyes of
the people if he would show himself friendly toward Jesus.  So it
is very likely that this Pharisee wanted to make a good impression
on the people that prompted him to invite Jesus to his home.
    On the other hand, I must consider the possibility that he was
hoping that Jesus might say something or do something at his home
that he could use to denounce Jesus to the general public.  The
Pharisees were known on a number of occasions to seek to entrap
Jesus in some sneaky underhanded way.  This could have been his
entire motive in asking Jesus to his home.  His whole desire could
have been to entrap Jesus in some kind of way.  As I said earlier,
I am not certain of his motive.

II.  Jesus' acceptance of the invitation

    I do know, however, that he did invite Jesus and that Jesus
accepted his invitation.  (V. 37), "..and he went in, and sat down
to meat."
    This brings another question to my mind: Why would Jesus
accept an invitation to go to the home of a Pharisee and go to his
home for a meal?  Now I must say that this question is a lot
easier to answer.  Jesus would go there in an effort to do good.
He would go there to do that man good if he would only let Him.
That man may have been bitterly opposed to Jesus was not bitterly
opposed to him.  Jesus dearly loved him and wanted to save him.
The man was lost and headed for the fires of hell and Jesus had
come to seek and to save that which was lost.  Jesus was willing
to speak to him about salvation right there in the midst of the
crowd or Jesus was willing to go to his home in an effort to win
him to salvation.
    Jesus would also go to the man's home in an effort to do good
to the members of his family.  Even if the man himself would not
trust in Jesus, there was the possibility that some member of his
family would.  It was possible that some member of his family
would be saved.  It is not uncommon even today for some members of
a family to reject Jesus and yet other members of that same family
to be saved.
    Yet even if none of his family members would trust in Jesus,
it was possible that some of his household servants might be
saved.  Assuming that there may have been slaves in that home,
Jesus loved those slaves just as much as He did the Pharisee
himself.
    Still yet, even if none of the man's family members nor none
of his servants would be saved, there was the possibility that
some of his guests or some of his neighbors might be saved.  At
any rate, Jesus was willing to go there in order to do good for
whoever it might be.

III.  Jesus eating with unwashed hands

    V. 38, "And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had
not first washed before dinner."  By the way, just what time of
day is it when you eat dinner?  In our home as we grew up as
youngsters, we ate dinner at noon?  We still do at our house
today.  We eat dinner at noon and we eat supper in the evening.
But in a lot of homes what we call dinner is called "Lunch."  At
noon they eat lunch.  Then when evening comes instead of calling
that meal "supper" they call it "dinner."  But we are told by
language scholars that the Greek word that here is translated
"dinner" refers neither to noon meal nor to the evening meal.
Rather it refers to what we would call "breakfast."
    It was not eaten rstly in the morning, but eaten about mid-
morning.  It was the first meal of the day.  This was the meal
that the Pharisee invited Jesus to have with him at his house.
    Luke said that when the Pharisee saw Jesus sit down to the
table without first washing His hands that he marveled.  Literally
he was shocked.  All Jews customarily washed their hands before
each meal.  We do, too, at our house, but there is a difference.
We wash our hands to get them clean.  With us it has no religious
significance.  But they washed their hands as a matter of
religion.  It was against their religion to eat without first
washing their hands.  They washed from the tips of their fingers
all the way to the elbow.  They washed and they washed and they
washed and tahey washed.  They repeatedly washed their hands.
With them it was not a matter of physical cleanliness.  It was a
matter of spiritual cleanliness.  In their view the washing of
their hands with water helped to make them spiritually clean
before God.
    Therefore, the Pharisee was astounded when Jesus went directly
to the table without even offering to wash His hands.  In His view
Jesus could not be right with God if He did not wash His hands
before he ate.  In his view He could not be a prophet of God.  In
his view Jesus most certainly could not be the Messiah of God
without washing His hands before meals.
    This brings up another question:  Why did Jesus not wash His
hands?  Being brought up in a Jewish home, surely He had been
taught from His earliest childhood to wash His hands before each
meal.  Surely as a child and even in most of His adult life, Jesus
did wash His hands before He ate.  Ordinarily He would go through
the ceremonial washing of His hands before the eating of each
meal.  But this time Jesus did not wash and tahe reason was that
this time Jesus wanted to make a point.  He wanted to make the
point to this Pharisee that he was a sinner in the sight of God.
     This was a truth that the Pharisee at this time did not
realize.  All of his life he had been taught that as a Pharisee he
was superior to other men.  All who were not Pharisees were
sinners in God's sight, but, in his opinion, Pharisees were not
sinners.  He just could not see himself as a sinner because he was
a Pharisee.  So Jesus went to the table to eat this meal without
first going through the ceremonial washing of His hands in order
to bring about an opportunity to drive home the point to this
Pharisee that he was a sinner before God.

IV.  The washing of the hands like the washing of the outside of
     the cup and the platter

    V. 39.  "And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make
clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part
is full of ravening and wickedness."  The washing of the hands was
like the washing of the outside of the cup and the platter.  Jesus
used the cup and the platter to illustrate the life of the man.
The outside of the cup and the platter represented the outward
conduct that man can see.  The inside of the cup and the platter
represents the inward thoughts and motives that only God cans see.
Jesus said, "You Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and
the platter that man can see, but you do not clean up th einside
thoughts and motives that only God can see.  If the outside of the
cup and if the outside of the platter were all that is involved,
it would be clean.  The point is that if all this Pharisee
considers is the outward conduct of his life then he looks pretty
clean.  He has made a credible effort to keep the Law of Moses.
He had made a credible effort to follow the interpretations of the
Law of Moses which the Jewish forefathers had given.  He has made
an effort to follow the traditions of the Jewish forefathers.
    There is no need to wash the hands unless they are dirty.
There is no need to wash the outside of th ecup and the platter
unless they are dirty.  This Pharisee had kept the Law of Moses.
If he had kept the Law of Moses then he would be without sin.  We
know that he had not kept the Law of Moses because the Bible says
that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  But in
his own view he had kept the law and Jesus did not argue the point
and say that he hadn't.
    Rather Jesus directed the conversation to the inner man and
sought to show him that he was a sinner.  Even if he had been
clean in his outer conduct, yet in the inner spirit man he was
still a wicked sinner.  Jesus said that even if the outside of the
cup and the platter is clean that does not mean that they are
clean enough to eat out of.  Even if that Pharisee did view
himself as a man who kept the Law of Moses, that still did not
mean that he was without sin in the inner man.  The very thought
of evil is sin in the sight of God.  Any evil desire within the
heart of man is sin in the sight of God.  To covet is not an overt
act on the part of the individual, but it is a sin in the sight of
God.  The desire to commit adultery is a sin in the sight of God.
To hate one's fellow man is a sin in the sight of God.  Jesus was
saying to that Pharisee that outwardly he might be a pretty good
fellow, but inwardly he was full of ravening and wickedness.
Ravening is robbery.  Inwardly he was a robber and a thief.
Inwardly he was an adulterer.  Inwardly he was a murderer.
Inwardly he was not just a sinner, he was an extremely wicked
sinner.
    V. 40, "Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without
make that which is within also?"  Man is composed not only of the
actions which are seen by others, but also of that which is on the
inside that only God can see.  Make no mistake about it.  God does
see the inside.  God sees the anger.  God sees the desire strike
out and hurt.  God sees the desire to take that which belongs to
another person.  God sees the desire to twist the truth and tell a
lie.  God sees what an individual is on the inside.

V.  Some things Jesus taught about our own lives

    Now let me emphasize some things to you.  Even the outside of
the cup and platter is dirty in the lives of men.  Every man has
sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Every man has broken
the law of God.  No man, even on the outside, has lived perfect.
No man, even in his outward conduct, has lived without sin.  The
Bible says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God," Rom.  3:23.
    In addition to having the outside of the cup and platter
dirty, until he is born again the inside of every man is dirty
also.  We all have evil thoughts.  We all have evil desires.  We
all have evil attitudes.  Inwardly we were full of all manner of
corruption and sin.  This is true of every man, every woman and
every boy in the world.  The inside will stay corrupt until he is
born again.
    Therefore, if anybody is going to stay out of the fires of
hell and go to heaven he must be saved.  He must be born again.
He must be changed on the inside.  The inside is where the real
problem lies.  The sin on the inside is the real cause of the sin
that is on the outside.  If anybody is going to be saved, he or
she must be changed on the inside.  He must be born again.
    That is why it was necessary that God send a Savior.  That is
why Jesus has come into the world.  That is why we must call on
Jesus Christ and ask Him to save us.  Being a Pharisee back in
that day would not get that man into heaven and being a church
member will not keep a man out of hell.  One must turn to Jesus
Christ and trust in Him to save his soul.

Conclusion:

    Now, thank God,  some of you have already trusted in Jesus and
you are already saved.  You can testify to anyone that he,too,
ought to turn to Jesus and be saved before it is everlastingly too
late.  My friends, that is the testimony of all of us who are
saved.
    Some of you who are saved are in need of being baptized and
joining a New Testament church.  We invite you to come this
morning while the invitation hymn is being sung and present
yourself to this church as a candidate for baptism and for
membership in this church.
    All of us who are saved are now clean on the inside.  We did
not clean up our lives, we called on Jesus and God cleaned up the
inside.  Now with the help of God we need to clean up the outside.
We ought to try to live for Jesus.