In the New Testament, the term "lawyer" refers to experts in the Mosaic Law, often synonymous with scribes or teachers of the law. These individuals held significant influence in Jewish society, interpreting and teaching the Law of Moses. Jesus' interactions with lawyers are marked by His critical remarks, which highlight their hypocrisy, legalism, and failure to understand the spirit of the law.

One of the most notable instances of Jesus' remarks against lawyers is found in the Gospel of Luke. In Luke 11:45-52, Jesus delivers a series of woes to the Pharisees and lawyers. A lawyer, feeling the sting of Jesus' words, responds, "Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well" (Luke 11:45). Jesus replies with further condemnation, saying, "Woe to you as well, experts in the law! You weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load" (Luke 11:46). Here, Jesus criticizes the lawyers for imposing strict legalistic demands on the people without offering assistance or understanding.

Jesus continues His rebuke by accusing the lawyers of building tombs for the prophets whom their ancestors killed, thus consenting to their ancestors' actions (Luke 11:47-48). This accusation underscores the lawyers' complicity in rejecting God's messengers and their failure to heed the prophetic call to justice and mercy.

In Luke 11:52, Jesus delivers a poignant critique: "Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering" . This statement highlights the lawyers' role in obstructing true understanding and access to God's kingdom. By focusing on the letter of the law rather than its spirit, they prevent both themselves and others from experiencing the fullness of God's truth.

Another significant encounter occurs in Matthew 22:35-40, where a lawyer tests Jesus by asking, "Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36). Jesus responds by summarizing the law with two commandments: to love God with all one's heart, soul, and mind, and to love one's neighbor as oneself. This exchange reveals the lawyers' preoccupation with legal minutiae, contrasting with Jesus' emphasis on love as the fulfillment of the law.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus' remarks against lawyers serve as a critique of their legalism and hypocrisy. By focusing on external adherence to the law, they neglect the weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Matthew 23:23). Jesus' interactions with lawyers underscore the importance of understanding the law's true purpose: to guide individuals into a loving relationship with God and others.Luke 11:45-52
Then answered one of the lawyers, and said to him, Master, thus saying you reproach us also.
Nave's Topical Index

Discourse Pronounced at a Feast against the Hypocrisy of the ...
The Life of Jesus Christ in Its Historical Connexion. ... At this point a lawyer [442]
who was present asked ... it is easy to conceive, as De Wette remarks, how the ...
/.../section 166 discourse pronounced at.htm

Proofs of Jesus Christ
... to secure friends who would have made such remarks to their ... An artisan who speaks
of wealth, a lawyer who speaks ... that they paint it so perfectly in Jesus Christ ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pascal/pensees/section xii proofs of jesus.htm

The Second Series of Parables - the Two Parables of Him who is ...
... so easily settled as the answer of Jesus seemed to ... anti-Rabbinic bearing were so
evident, the lawyer' was obliged ... See previous remarks on this Law in Book III. ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xv the second series.htm

Knowing that a Man is not Justified by the Work of the Law, but by ...
... of law shall no flesh be justified, he uses justification as a lawyer, in a ... delivered,
as soon as by one act of faith, you receive Jesus Christ as he ... REMARKS. ...
/.../finney/lectures to professing christians/knowing that a man is.htm

The Candour of the Writers of the New Testament.
... artifice, or cunning, or design." "No remarks," as Dr ... "Jesus said unto him, If thou
canst believe, all ... The lawyer's subtilty in running a distinction upon the ...
/.../paley/evidences of christianity/chapter iii the candour of.htm

Church Abuses.
... of Mahomet, or of Christ.' The famous lawyer does not ... the truth as it is in Jesus
and as ... charge at Rochester, made some severe remarks against Sunday schools. ...
/.../the english church in the eighteenth century/chapter viii church abuses.htm

External Foes.
... I am married to a lawyer, and he has a large ... say they were going to make a few remarks,
and then ... told: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/the overcoming life/part iii external foes.htm

Blind Bartimeus
... same account as Jesus said unto the lawyer, "do this ... wonders!" Marvelous are thy
works, O Jesus, and that ... upon which we have already been making some remarks. ...
/.../whitefield/selected sermons of george whitefield/blind bartimeus.htm

How to Preach the Gospel.
... Another minister who was present made some remarks to him afterwards. ... It was remarked
by a lawyer, that the cause of Jesus Christ had the fewest able ...
/.../finney/lectures on revivals of religion/lecture xii how to preach.htm

How Tiberius was Affected when Informed by Pilate Concerning ...
... through all Palestine concerning the resurrection of our Saviour Jesus from the ... books
lead us to think that as a lawyer he must ... [278] Havercamp remarks (in his ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter ii how tiberius was affected.htm

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