In Luke 11:45-52, the Lord rebukes the scribes of His day. One of His accusations against them is a little difficult to understand. He tells them that they, “load men with burdens hard to bear,” but they themselves “do not touch the burdens with one of [their] fingers.” 

The burden they placed on men seems straightforward. The scribes were responsible for oral traditions that they believed applied the Law of Moses to every area of life. Such traditions told people how to clean, cook, tithe, pray, interact with others, what to wear, whom they could touch, and so on. The average person who had a job or children to raise could not possibly do what the scribes told them to do. Their man-made commandments were certainly “hard to bear.” 

But what does it mean that the scribes did not lift a finger to help the people with these burdens? Some say it means that the scribes did not keep the traditions they demanded of others. They found loopholes for themselves, but did not allow others to take advantage of them. I am sure they did such things. Hypocrites are always like that: “Rules for thee, but not for me.”

Others think that the scribes did not help people because they refused to point them to Christ and His teachings. He spoke of grace and the love of God and said that His burden was light (Matt 11:30). How great would it have been if the scribes had been self-aware and told the people: “We cannot do what we tell you to do. You should listen to Jesus of Nazareth. He makes a lot of sense!” 

Probably the most straightforward way to understand what the Lord meant is that the scribes did not care about the people. They imposed difficult religious requirements on them without thinking twice about how they would affect them. They had no love or mercy towards the people they were supposed to lead. That is how Matt 23:3 understands what was going on. That view gets my vote.  

We can be like the scribes. We can set our own standards for what it means to please the Lord, and tell others they need to keep those standards. If we are parents with the means and opportunity, we might decide to homeschool our children. Then we can guilt the single mom, who does not have the means, into trying to do the same. We can judge her if she doesn’t. 

We might have no addiction to nicotine, but judge those who are addicted and smoke. We might remind them that they are “a bad witness” to others. 

The worst kind of modern-day scribe, in light of Luke 11:46, is the Calvinist or Lordship Salvation adherent who proclaims that people must follow their example if they want to make it into the kingdom. They tell people that if they do not continue to meet those standards, they are not of the elect and were not really spiritually saved in the first place. What a burden for people to carry around. Like the scribes in the first century, those who peddle such false teaching do not understand the love of God and His mercy.

Or, we could put it the way the Lord did. They place a burden on people and don’t lift a finger to help. Their theology offers no help at all.