Luke 11:39-44 (King James Version):
39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
What is He talking about, and where is the sick burn?
Verse 39 is self-explanatory: The Pharisees are more concerned with how they appear than with how they really are. In verse 40 he is calling them fools for thinking that their outward appearance makes them in good standing with God.
The meaning of verses 41 – 43 becomes more clear using other biblical translations. The NLT version says:
“So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces.”
Verse 44 is the sick burn, but you first have to understand the cultural reference. The Jews considered all things death related to be unclean. Even standing on a grave will make you unclean. For this reason, they always clearly marked their graves so that people would not inadvertently walk over a grave and become unclean.
So the overall message is:
If a person is striving to appear respectful by earning lots of money and by appearing pious in church, but they are not truly helping the poor or to correct injustices, they are so unclean that everybody that comes in contact with them automatically becomes unclean themselves (without them even knowing it).
I know a lot of people that think a person is good or “trying their best” if they are active church attenders and pay their tithing. Jesus clearly states here that is not always the case – these same people may be inadvertently spreading uncleanliness to everybody that they meet.