Reading: Luke 11:33-54

Our passage begins by alluding to the possibility that the very ‘light’ we choose to live by can actually be ‘darkness’. It is a disturbing image pointing to the blindness that religion can inspire. This saying of Jesus precedes an encounter with a Pharisee over a meal. Here Jesus is judged to have fallen short of the religious requirements surrounding food consumption. Jesus fails to wash his hands prior to eating. Jesus is aware of this unspoken criticism and sparks a wave of anti-beatitudes against the gathered religious leaders. Jesus repeatedly uses the phrase ‘What sorrow awaits you…’ Central to all this is the cutting phrase ‘you ignore justice and the love of God.’ Strangely, part of Jesus criticism is that they align themselves with a religious history that executes the very messengers of God. Strangely, they prove to be so blind - read lit by darkness - that they leave with plans to murder again.