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Home Luke 11:47-54 NRSVue

Luke 11:47-54 NRSVue

47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49For this reason the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. 52Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

53When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees became hostile to him and began to interrogate him about many things, 54lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

“Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.”

Reflection on Luke 11:47-54

Inspiration from 2025-10-16 Daily Prayer

The Scribes are those who have studied the Law and the prophets and they should have passed on this knowledge to the people. Jesus warns them that they are shutting themselves out from God’s kingdom. Do I look for opportunities to grow in my understanding of my faith?

How well do I try to pass this on to my children? How well do I support my parish in its efforts to spread the Good News of the Gospel? May I never hinder others from entering the kingdom of God by my bad example.

Further reflection

Here Jesus is confronting people who, for reasons of vested interest, are resisting the challenge of the truth that Jesus brings.

How does a righteous and angry Jesus make me feel? Do I want to run away? Do I start getting righteous myself?

Can I get in touch with the parts of myself that resist the call and action of Jesus? I might humbly ask for help to change.

If any group should read these words with uneasy stomachs, it is religious officials. It was that group of Jews, the scribes and Pharisees, that lay in wait for Jesus, trying to catch him. They felt threatened by his demand that we go beyond the letter of the law to the weightier issues of justice and love.

Lord, show me the points in my life where I feel endangered by the truth. I like things to be predictable and stable. But sometimes your voice sounds in the interruptions, the issues that threaten my self-satisfaction. Give me the grace to listen even to those voices that disturb me.