Luke 11:39 “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.”
Every branch of the Jewish leadership was utterly corrupt, their systematic hypocrisy had infected every part of their government. Their hypocrisy was systematic; it was the motive of government, it was the method of government, and it was the very heart of government. The hypocrites put on a good show of being kind and benevolent and godly; but, their “inward part” was “full of ravening and wickedness”. Their “inward part” was “full of ravening”; that is, they ravaged the people, taking away their peace and liberty and ability to provide for themselves; all the while, these fraudulent leaders lived sumptuously on what they had taken from the people. Their “inward part” was “full of … wickedness”; that is, they cared nothing for the people, their sole objective was to gratify themselves, having no sincere concern for the welfare of the people (the Children of God); they seemed to have no limit to the wicked deeds and devices they employed to feed their vile lusts. But, the Children of God had an Advocate that stood up for them; the Lord pronounced a “woe” (Luke 11:42,44,46) against these wicked hypocrites; they didn’t believe it, but the Lord was going to and He did destroy their systematic hypocrisy; relieving His Beloved Children from the oppressive burden imposed upon the them by the wicked rulers. The same “Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (I Timothy 6:15) reigns today; and, He has declared, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19)!