cool hand luke 11
37When he finished that talk, a Pharisee asked him to dinner. He entered his house and sat right down at the table. 38The Pharisee was shocked and somewhat offended when he saw that Jesus didn't wash up before the meal. 39But the Master said to him, "I know you Pharisees (religious leaders of that day) polish the surface of your cups and plates so they sparkle in the sun, but I also know your insides are maggoty with greed and secret evilthe One who made the outside also make the inside?...Turn both your pockets and your hearts inside out and give generously to the poor; then your lives will be clean, not just your dishes and your hands...As soon as Jesus left the table, the religion scholars and Pharisees went into a rage. They went over and over everything he said, 54plotting how they could trap him in something from his own mouth.
It amazes me, this Jesus. He would heal a leper, speak a blessing to children, forgave and did not condemn a woman caught in adultry. He welcomed with open arms those who the religious establishment held at an arms length. Then when the opportunity was there he seized it to address some things that broke his heart, that broke his Father's heart. He wasn't about popularity, he was about passion, the Father's passion for His chidren. So he just let them have it. It is what they needed. It is what I needed this morning. It's easier to clean the outside than the inside. But clean outsides will never change the world.
It amazes me, this Jesus. He would heal a leper, speak a blessing to children, forgave and did not condemn a woman caught in adultry. He welcomed with open arms those who the religious establishment held at an arms length. Then when the opportunity was there he seized it to address some things that broke his heart, that broke his Father's heart. He wasn't about popularity, he was about passion, the Father's passion for His chidren. So he just let them have it. It is what they needed. It is what I needed this morning. It's easier to clean the outside than the inside. But clean outsides will never change the world.