Luke 11:45-54: a reflection

45One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.” 46He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens. 47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.” 53As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him, 54lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.

Among the woes Jesus pronounces is one against those who load others with heavy burdens while not lifting a finger to help carry them. Woe to you lawyers, Jesus says; for you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won't even lift one finger to help carry those burdens. The fault is not that they asked much of others, but that they imposed heavy burdens on people while doing nothing themselves to help bear them; they laid the load on others' backs and would not so much as lift a finger. This is a real fault: imposing burdens on others that we will not help carry. This shows the fault of loading others with burdens we will not help carry. Do not load others with burdens you will not help carry. It is a fault to impose on others what you will not help bear. Help carry the burdens you would lay on others. Jesus condemns burdening others while doing nothing to help.

Notice the particular fault Jesus condemns here. The lawyers laid heavy burdens on people, imposing demands and requirements that were difficult to carry; and yet they themselves would not lift a finger to help carry them. It was the combination that Jesus condemned: burdening others heavily, while doing nothing themselves to help bear the load. This is a fault we can fall into. We can be quick to lay burdens, demands, and expectations on others, to require much of them, while doing nothing to help them carry what we impose. We can tell others what they ought to do, load them with requirements and expectations, and then stand back and offer no help, no hand, no lifting of a finger to share the load. This is what Jesus condemns. The better way is not to lay burdens on others that we will not help carry, but to be willing to help bear the loads we would place on them, to come alongside and share the burden rather than merely imposing it. If we would ask much of others, we should be willing to help them carry it; and better still, to help carry others' burdens rather than adding to them. We do well not to burden others while doing nothing to help, but to lift a hand to share the load. Do not impose burdens on others while offering no help to carry them. Be willing to help bear the loads you would lay on others. Come alongside to share burdens, not merely impose them. Lift a hand to help, rather than only burdening others.

That is worth taking to heart, for it is a fault to load others with burdens we will not help carry, and we do well to help bear the loads rather than merely impose them, as Jesus condemned those who burdened others while not lifting a finger. We can lay demands and expectations on others, requiring much of them, while doing nothing to help them carry what we impose; but Jesus pronounced woe on just this, burdening others while doing nothing to help bear the load. Do not impose burdens on others while offering no help; be willing to help carry what you would ask of them, and to share others' burdens rather than only adding to them. Do not load others with heavy burdens while doing nothing to help carry them, but be willing to help bear the loads you would lay on others, as Jesus pronounced woe on the lawyers who loaded people with burdens difficult to carry while not lifting a finger to help; for the fault he condemned was not asking much of others but the combination of imposing heavy burdens on people while doing nothing themselves to help bear them, laying the load on others' backs and not so much as lifting a finger, which is a fault we can fall into, being quick to lay burdens, demands, and expectations on others and require much of them while offering no help, no hand, no lifting of a finger to share the load, so that the better way is not to lay burdens on others that we will not help carry but to come alongside and help bear the loads we would place on them, and better still to help carry others' burdens rather than adding to them, so that if we would ask much of others we should be willing to help them carry it, and we do well to lift a hand to share the load rather than only burdening others.

Lord Jesus, among the woes you pronounce is one against those who load others with heavy burdens while not lifting a finger to help carry them. Woe to you lawyers, you say; for you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won't even lift one finger to help carry those burdens. The fault is not that they asked much of others, but that they imposed heavy burdens on people while doing nothing themselves to help bear them; they laid the load on others' backs and would not so much as lift a finger. This is a real fault: imposing burdens on others that we will not help carry. Show me the particular fault you condemn here. The lawyers laid heavy burdens on people, imposing demands that were difficult to carry; and yet they themselves would not lift a finger to help carry them. It was the combination you condemned: burdening others heavily, while doing nothing to help bear the load. This is a fault I can fall into. I can be quick to lay burdens, demands, and expectations on others, to require much of them, while doing nothing to help them carry what I impose. I can tell others what they ought to do, load them with requirements, and then stand back and offer no help. This is what you condemn. The better way is not to lay burdens on others that I will not help carry, but to be willing to help bear the loads I would place on them, to come alongside and share the burden rather than merely imposing it. Take that to my heart, for it is a fault to load others with burdens I will not help carry. Keep me from imposing burdens on others while offering no help to carry them; help me be willing to help bear the loads I would lay on others, Lord, coming alongside to share their burdens rather than only adding to them, and lifting a hand to help rather than only burdening others.