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Luke 20:45 - Scribes of Today

Luke 20:45-47

 [45] And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, [46] “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, [47] who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (ESV)

This marks the end of Jesus' reprimand of the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees and other law-keepers. Here he puts them as the deceptive ones, who act like holy people but have judgement reserved for them in heaven.

Friends, we are the scribes today. We are not the "people", or the "disciples". The warnings of the Bible are there as a warning to us - if we see ourselves as the disciples, we truly have become the scribes. Look at this.

Who like to walk around in long robes
Parallel to us walking around in our Christian attire, superior to the world. I'm not talking about the "Jesus Loves You" shirt, or the one with the long Bible passage printed on the back that we haven't read since the first day we got the shirt. I'm talking about attitude. Do we look down on other non-Christians as less spiritual? Do we look down on non-Christians as moral-less?

 Love greetings in the marketplaces
Do we say hello to everyone for the sake of a discount? Is our socializing meant to feed our own love for self, our own selfish gains, or meant to build the kingdom of God?

 And the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts
Do we seek to exalt ourselves in everything we do? Do we take up positions of leadership and authority so as to gain attention?

 Who devour widows' houses
Have we no love for those in plight? Do we care for the widows, the homeless, the sick and the defenseless? Or do we exploit them to our own gains? If our aim is to be rich - do we realize that because rich is relative, our rich-ness comes at the cost of someone else's poverty?

For a pretense make long prayers
Are our prayers truly an expression of the things we want to say to God? Or are they a display of our Biblical knowledge, memorization skills, and "holiness"?

The warning is clear. There is a greater condemnation for those who do not truly follow Jesus but make a pretense of it.
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