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. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. Luke 11:39-41

A Pharisee (religious leader) invited Jesus to eat with him one day, well so much for proper dinner manners, Jesus revealed what he thought of the religious leaders of this time period and their religion. The Pharisee was initially offended because Jesus didn’t wash his hands before eating, Christ purposely did this to explain a deeper understanding of cleanliness

You see, the religious leaders thought they were clean and pure because they washed their hands and avoided outside contaminations. But as Jesus said to them “Inward you are full of wickedness” You see being clean before God is not about washing your hands or other rituals, it’s about becoming Born Again and having a clean heart and mind

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. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. 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. Luke 11:42-44

Now we see Jesus starting to give the religious leaders some “Woes’ ‘, it’s important to note that Woe in the Bible is a term of judgement, it’s one of the strongest words that can be used against you. Jesus was bringing judgement upon the religious leaders and their corrupt religious system. 

Jesus is condemning the religious leaders hypocritical practices, as wanting money, power , and status, and not really caring about following the true Law of God. The religious leaders believed they appeared to be high and mighty, however their appearance to God is “white washed tombs” (Matthew 23:27)