Jesus is in Jerusalem. It is the final week running up to his crucifixion. He will criticize spiritual showiness while encouraging us to practice complete love and commitment to God.
Mark 12 Verse by Verse
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Tag Archives: scribes
Spiritual VIPs – Mark 12:38-40
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.”
Have you ever been in the presence of someone really, really important? I remember one time attending a campaign event in New Hampshire in the run up to a presidential primary. Several political big shots had crammed into a school cafeteria with all the requisite staff, press and random observers like me. It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the moment. So much power being wielded in the midst of a crowd interacting in tighter-than-usual personal space! The spectators and the stars were almost literally rubbing elbows.
We might assume all the candidates at that event had no aspirations outside the boundaries of selfless public service, but it probably wasn’t true. Some people do crave the attention, the respect, the deference to their inherent importance, the awe from others which they see as their just due.
Jesus wasn’t like that, but rather lowered himself intentionally to our level. When he saw the types that liked to be spiritual VIPs, he had nothing but harsh words. And he pointed out their hypocrisy.
They got attention merely by the way they dressed. Some clothing automatically looks more spiritual and they wanted people to see them in it. People saw them dressed in those long robes and reflexively gave them special greetings in the marketplaces. It was a wholehearted, full-eye-contact “Oh hello, sir!” not just a halfhearted “Hi.”
When they took their place of religious duty, it was a place of honor. If there was a feast, the host would be sure to seat them somewhere special, because of course he wanted everyone to see what kind of people came to his banquets – spiritual VIPs.
People like this can use their power to take advantage of others. The grieving widow might someday want to sign over some of her estate. Be sure to get into her good graces. Why even wait that long? Perhaps they would pull on her heartstrings now to lead her to give to their “charitable” cause.
Long prayers are often necessary, but there is no sense in the mind of this VIP to offer them only in private. Prayers are best offered in pretense, for all to see and hear, sufficiently clogged with spiritual vocabulary and run-on sentences. Who would ever believe that someone so pious could ever devour the house of a widow?
Many people will be condemned in the judgment, but these will receive greater condemnation. If there is such a thing as a hotter place in hell, it is reserved for the phony, self-focused, hypocritically spiritual VIP.
Mark 7 Verse by Verse
Jesus will address issues of tradition and ceremonial uncleanness, which were very important to Jewish life. He will also go out to Gentile areas and begin a ministry to people there.
Misunderstanding and Lies – Mark 3:20-35
Jesus’ family thought he was losing it. The scribes were convinced he was evil. Neither was right. Jesus understood them far better than they understood him.
20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” … 28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
If we are going to faithfully follow Jesus there are two accusations that we have to expect. They were leveled at Christ and we will make easy targets for them too. They are simply:
- You are crazy. If, as Paul says, “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing” (1 Cor 1:18), then we can expect those who believe it to be looked upon as fools.
- You are evil. This is almost the oldest lie in the book, since it echoes the serpent’s slander of God, calling his motives into question in dealing with Adam and Eve. It is an easy switch to move from slander against God to slander against Christ to slander against God’s people. Again, we can expect it.
The beauty of all of this misunderstanding and outright falsehood is that Christ endured it first. In our case some of the misunderstanding is justified, some of the criticism is true and, let’s face it, our motives are rarely altogether pure. Yet even when we really are completely in the right, if we expect to be treated like Jesus, there will be those people who fail to grasp that. Some of them will be important, like the scribes, so their criticism will feel very demeaning. Some of them will be close, like our family, so their misunderstanding will hurt. We can only imagine how Christ felt.
Central Reflections 