"Beware of the scribes... Which devour widow's houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation."
Matthew 12:38-20
Part 2
Yesterday: Beware of the Religious “Show-Offs!”
“Beware of the scribes….”
1. The scribes were glitzy “show-offs!”
Outwardly, to people, these men looked great! But God saw through all their showiness to see their hearts.
Today: God will Reward these Pretenders with His Judgment!
“Which devour widows’ houses.”
Not only are the scribes “show-offs,” but note this –
2. The scribes were greedy thieves!
These men, while appearing to be “spiritual” men, were greedy. They were experts at preying upon those who were without strength and helpless. It was against Jewish law for these leaders to be paid by individuals for their services. But nowhere did the law say they could not “accept gifts” for their teaching. By using smooth-talk, many of these men could get large “gifts” from weak people and often from those who could not afford them, the widows.
“The Jews of Jesus’ day taught that teachers were to be respected almost as much as God; they said that they deserved more honor and respect than any other people in life. They taught that the greatest act someone could do is give money to a teacher. Of course, it was the teachers themselves who taught this!” [1] (Guzik).
“People often left their whole fortune to the temple, and a good deal of the temple-money went, in the end, to the Scribes and Pharisees. The Scribes were universally employed in making wills and conveyances of property. They may have abused their influence with widows”[2] (Vincent).
“Widows were among the most vulnerable people. To defraud them was despicable (Isaiah 1:17, 23; 10:2; Jeremiah 7:6; Ezekiel 22:7; Zechariah 7:10), whether by embezzlement or other fraudulent means, Jesus identified these greedy scribes as thieves”[3] (CSB).
“And for a pretense, make long prayers.”
Their prayers were for men to see, but not for God!
3. The scribes were phony pretenders!
“For a Pretense”
The prayers these men prayed were only a pretext. They just pretended to pray. The causes for which they prayed were also “pretended.” Their prayers were just another “show” for the people to watch[4] (see Thayer). They were experts at “pretending great devotion”[5] (Barnes).
At the same time, these men were “devouring widow’s houses,” they were also making beautiful, showy public prayers that were meant to showcase their “remarkable goodness.” How our Lord hated their hypocrisy! This is why –
“These shall receive greater damnation.”
“Greater Damnation”
“More abundant condemnation”[6] (Robertson).
“…heavier judgment”[7] (Bullinger).
“These shall receive the greater damnation — Their complicated wickedness, particularly making their pretended piety a cloak to their covetousness and luxury, shall cost them dear; and they shall be more dreadfully punished than if they had never prayed at all, nor made any pretenses to religion”[8] (Benson).
We who love God want Him to hear and answer our prayer. Come back tomorrow when we look at some wrong ways people pray.
Quote: “The grand obstacle to the salvation of the scribes and Pharisees was their pride, vanity, and self-love. They lived on each other’s praise. If they had acknowledged Christ as the only good teacher, they must have given up the good opinion of the multitude; and they chose rather to lose their souls than to forfeit their reputation among men!”[9] (Adam Clarke).
[1] Guzik’s quote is from the Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword. Mark 12:38-40.
[2] M.R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword. Mark 12:40.
[3] McLaren, R. H. (2017). Mark. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (pp. 1583–1584). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. The emphasis is mine.
[4] J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[5] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Mark 12:40.
[6] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword. Mark 12:40.
[7] E.W. Bullinger, The Companion Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Mark 12:40.
[8] Joseph Benson, Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, the electronic version in eSword. Mark 12:38-40.
[9] Clarke’s quote Downloaded: Monday, June 7, 2021. From: https://www.quotemaster.org/scribes.