Luke 11:46
And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
Christ's woe falls on the lawyers because they loaded men with religious demands grievous to be borne while refusing to touch those burdens with even a finger to help carry them. It was spoken when He was upon this earth to the Pharisees and lawyers as part of His rebuke of their false religion. That religion perverted Scripture and what God had entrusted to them as sacred, elevated human traditions above God's requirements, and failed to keep God's law. Its leaders set themselves up as judges and censors over persons moved by the Holy Spirit to declare God's Word.
The woe condemns all transgression of God's law, which He came from heaven to make known precept by precept. The lawyers of His day incurred it by using their power to afflict those who looked to them for justice and judgment. The same woe rests on nominal church members who treat setting aside Jehovah's law as a light matter and make no distinction between good and evil, bringing all the terrible consequences of sin upon themselves.
The warning spoken then is spoken now to men who think to carry their own way through deceptive movements with the help of lawyers. Lawyers who encourage a person in an unrighteous purpose and help hold him in blindness and exalted infatuation share the guilt of the one they aid. By lading men with burdens grievous to be borne while touching none of the burdens themselves, they become guilty with those they assist.
Imposing such unshared burdens is oppression, and putting heavy loads on men without bearing any part is condemned. The verse therefore requires the Lord's people not to follow worldly custom in taking advantage of circumstances for themselves or for the work they represent, and not to follow any unfair course of action. This applies to pursuing one's own plans after receiving clear guidance while disregarding others and burdening people by one's influence without acting rightly oneself. It applies also to presenting papers for people to sign to secure funds when signers may not understand what they agree to while those controlling the papers can exploit them, producing confusion, disappointment, and loss of confidence.