“But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.”
My Notes
What Does Luke 11:41 Mean?
Luke 11:41 is Jesus' surprisingly simple prescription for Pharisaical impurity: "But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you." The Pharisees have been obsessing over ritual washing of dishes and cups (11:39). Jesus says: you're cleaning the outside while the inside is full of ravening and wickedness. His solution? Give.
The Greek ta enonta dote eleēmosynēn — "give alms of such things as ye have" — literally means give what is inside as charity. The Pharisees are focused on external contamination. Jesus redirects to internal transformation. If you want to be clean, open your hand. Release what you're hoarding. Generosity cleanses what ritual never could.
"All things are clean unto you" — panta kathara hymin estin. Not some things. All things. Jesus makes a radical claim: generosity from the heart produces a comprehensive cleanliness that obsessive external ritual cannot achieve. The Pharisees scrub the outside of the cup. Jesus says: pour out what's in the cup, and the whole thing becomes clean. The direction of cleansing isn't outside-in. It's inside-out.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Is your spiritual life more focused on external rituals or internal generosity? Where's the imbalance?
- 2.What are you hoarding — money, time, attention, control — that Jesus might be asking you to release?
- 3.Have you experienced the cleansing effect of genuine generosity? What shifted inside you when you gave sacrificially?
- 4.Jesus says giving from what you have makes 'all things clean.' Why does generosity transform the heart in a way that ritual compliance can't?
Devotional
The Pharisees are scrubbing dishes. Jesus says: give away what's inside them and everything becomes clean.
That's the most counterintuitive cleaning advice you'll ever receive. You don't purify yourself by polishing the exterior. You purify yourself by releasing the interior. Generosity — real generosity, from what you actually have — does something to your soul that no amount of ritual maintenance can accomplish.
Why does giving make you clean? Because hoarding is the evidence of a contaminated heart. When you clutch what you have — money, time, resources, attention — you're declaring that your security depends on what you hold. Giving breaks that grip. It opens the hand that was clenched around what the heart was trusting instead of God. And when the hand opens, the heart follows.
"Of such things as ye have" — not from your surplus. Not from what you won't miss. From what you have. The things that are actually in your possession, that you're actually relying on, that you'd actually feel the loss of. That's the generosity that cleanses. The kind that costs something. The kind that rearranges your relationship with stuff.
If your spiritual life has become a maintenance project — rituals you perform, boxes you check, surfaces you keep polished — Jesus offers a shortcut to the cleanliness you're working so hard to achieve: give. Open your hand. Release what's inside. And watch everything become clean.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Woe unto you Pharisees, for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues,.... And also the uppermost rooms at feasts,…
Alms - Charity. Benefactions to the poor. Such things as ye have - Your property; though it has been gained unjustly:…
Give alms of such things as ye have - Meaning either what was within the dishes spoken of before; or what was within…
Christ here says many of those things to a Pharisee and his guests, in a private conversation at table, which he…
give alms See Luk 12:33; Luk 16:14; Mat 6:3. Almsgiving is only mentioned as one typical form of Charity, which was in…
Cross References
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