Luke 11:41 Add

Dear, William,

Thank you for the satisfactory addition of,

“Lk 11:41 must have taken the Pharisee aback!”

The Jerome is a good asset and, of course, Knox (The Gospel Story) a great standbye.

Probing the Word with joy.

Donald

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: William J . . .
To: Fr Donald . . .
Sent: Mon, 11 October, 2010 22:40:46
Subject: Re: [Blog] Lk 11:41 must have taken the Pharisee aback!

Dear Father Donald,

I am likewise intrigued by this verse!

"The Biblos translation by ‘charity’, embraces a more helpful understanding"

I like the Navarre commentary - all commentaries that I turn up to take me deeper start with the words "a very obscure verse" (eg. Jerome). So I am delighted with the directness of an earlier commentary you recommended, "The Gospel Story", commentary (p.231) which also uses 'charity' over 'alms' (as in the Knox translation), and then expands upon Our Lord's frustration with the Pharisees which drove him to this invective:

"..Pharisees, an organised body that is the great obstacle to the establishment of God's kingdom; right from their first appearance, they are shown to be enemies. When they took offense at Jesus' omission of the ablutions, he pointed out the cause of their blindness: their concern with keeping exactly every minute rule and regulation blinded them to the fundamental spiritual principle, charity".

After the word 'charity', there is a reference to the commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (p.85). This concludes with a 'no holes barred' comment which, I think, well expresses the meaning of Jesus' remark on this occasion:

"The scribes and Pharisees were the guardians of the Torah; they taught it to the children in the schools and explained it to the people in the synagogues. But the trouble was that they had lost the true meaning of God's law; they were so much concerned with observing every minute detail of the letter, that they missed its true spirit. Instead of leading the people to love God, they imposed heavy and more complicated regulations, which were like a yoke upon their necks. Our Lord's purpose in the Sermon was to emphasize the one fundamental, which external observance had obliterated: the love of God and the neighbour. Holiness is in man's will, not in his actions".

Everything that Jesus encountered in their behaviour must have been running around in his mind at that time, and his frustration at the Pharisee here taking issue was expressed in this one 'global' remark - how it will have taken his host aback! 

That has been a very satisfying study!

. . . in Our Lord,

William