Text: Mark 12:38-40 ESV
38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces
39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,
40 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
- Mark 12:38-40 ESV
BEWARE OF THE SCRIBES
Previously, Jesus has commended a scribe of the Pharisees for his understanding that loving God and others is more important than following the regimented Mosaic law. He even says the scribe is close to finding the kingdom of God (Mark 12:28-34). Shortly after, Jesus uses Scripture and logic to prove that although the Messiah is the Son of David, His authority to rule comes directly from God (Mark 12:35-37).
Here, Jesus goes on the offensive to warn the people to beware of the scribes. The scribes are very knowledgeable about the law. But, their vanity and pride of their expertise in the Law leads them to miss the truth about the Messiah. Jesus exposes their lifestyle by saying, they “walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers.”
They dress to attract the adoration of people. They loved ‘greetings.’ Matthew explains that the scribes like to be called "rabbi" (Mat 23:7). Jesus says that to seek out the title of rabbi, father, or instructor is dangerous and opposite to servant leadership. [Mark 9:33-37,10:35-45] They pray long pretentious prayers. "Pretense" is from the Greek root word prophasis, which means "for show, with a false motive." One of the problems with praying for worldly reasons is that you only get worldly rewards (Mat 6:5).
Here is only a quick synopsis of Jesus' condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees. Matthew has more details in Mat 23. Jesus calls the religious leaders vipers sentenced to hell. He compares them to Cain, who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy for his relationship to God (Mat 23:33, 35). Yet, Jesus shows compassion. He then mourns for Jerusalem and its people who kill the prophets God sends to draw them to Him (Mat 23:37-39).
Jesus pronounces judgment to hard hearted people only after He showed compassion to them.
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