Day 287, Year 1

The Lord Inside and Outside

“You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?” (Luke 11:40 NASB)

Several verses in Luke 11 are very similar to Matthew 23. Among them, Jesus pointed out that the core problem of the Pharisees, etc., was a lack of knowledge and faith in God’s work. The Pharisees, etc., were incapable of dealing with the problems in people’s lives; thus, they strived to make the outside look good. From another perspective, even if some of them did not deliberately debauch or rob others, they might have felt compelled to do so because they were powerless. They tried to behave well on the outside, but ignored the inside. Jesus has pointed out their problem: they did not rely on the Lord of creation, and therefore were incapable of dealing with the issues within.

Jesus pointed out: Does God not make the outside and also the inside? Why do they not rely on Him so that both the inside and outside can be made good? The words from the Lord might awaken them. Perhaps, He did not nullify their efforts, such as giving a tenth of their possessions to God and doing well on the outside. These actions, per se, are not wrong, but they are certainly insufficient in His eyes. Believers need to always work hard, but we must cooperate with God’s work in us. It would be a grave mistake to ignore God’s work in us while relying solely on human effort. “Foolish one” in today’s verse, aphron in Greek, also means “without reason, senseless, stupid, unwise, without reflection or intelligence, or acting rashly.” Jesus pointed out that they were teachers of the Old Testament, but they have become fools whom the wisdom of the Old Testament despises. The main reason for this is that they lacked divine rationality and were ignorant of and did not rely on God’s works. They only relied on their limited knowledge and ability, and the whole group went in the wrong direction, missing the main points of the law.

The word “make” in today’s verse, poieo in Greek, also means “to shape, or to work.” Jesus mentioned that the various problems within people can actually be resolved by God. Internal sins can be solved by Him; the blind in the eyes of the hearts can be healed by God; misinterpretation of the law’s focus can also be corrected. Every problem of the Pharisees, etc., could be resolved by the work of God. Similarly, the reflection and meditation on this theme is not intended to condemn anyone, but to convey a substantial message that any problems today, similar to that of the Pharisees, etc., can actually be resolved by relying on the Lord of creation, since He has the absolute power to create any solution to any problem, even a new life for His people.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you think that you are a sensible, reasonable person who follows God’s Word? If not, how would you pray to God?

2) Do you have the faith to rely on the Lord to resolve the various problems within you? Why?