Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 11:52

"Woe unto you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered." — Luke 11:52 (ASV)

Jesus directed his final woe against the experts in the law for their sin of taking away not just physical but eternal life, a dereliction of their most important duty. Those who should have opened the meaning of the OT with their “key” not only declined to use it themselves but prevented others from “entering.” The implied subject of “knowledge” is probably the kingdom of God, which people were seeking to enter (cf. Matthew 16:19).

Jesus’ series of woes here made the violent hostility against him described in vv.53–54 inevitable. His opponents followed him out of the house and fired at him a barrage of difficult questions (v.53). Because he had challenged those who professed to be the expert biblical teachers, they were out to defend their reputation by discrediting his.