Luke 11:46

burdens grievous, &c.--referring not so much to the irksomeness of the legal rites (though they were irksome, Act 15:10), as to the heartless rigor with which they were enforced, and by men of shameless inconsistency.

In this chapter, I. Christ teaches his disciples to pray, and quickens and encourages them to be frequent, instant, and importunate in prayer (Luk 11:1-13). II. He fully answers the blasphemous imputation of the Pharisees, who charged him with casting out devils by virtue of a compact and confederacy with Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, and shows the absurdity and wickedness of it (Luk 11:14-26). III. He shows the honour of obedient disciples to be greater than that of his own mother (Luk 11:27, Luk 11:28). IV. He upbraids the men of that generation for their infidelity and obstinacy, notwithstanding all the means of conviction offered to them (Luk 11:29-36). V. He severely reproves the Pharisees and consciences of those that submitted to them, and their hating and persecuting those that witnessed against their wickedness (v. 37-54).

11:46 unbearable religious demands: This refers to the oral tradition with all its intricate details on living according to torah (God’s instruction in the books of Moses). The oral tradition placed a great burden upon the Jewish people.