38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
Introduction
Religion—I mean the wrong kind of religion—is at the root of many of the problems in our world today. Consider for example the conflicts in Ireland, Lebanon, and in Iran. It has always been true that the wrong kind of religion does more harm than good. Even Jesus warned us about this. If you have been with us for the past several weeks, then you know that in this chapter Jesus had faced first one confrontation and then another from the religious leaders of Israel. There came to him first of all a group saying, “Is it right that we should pay taxes to Caesar?” And Jesus responded, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are God’s.” These were not friendly questions, they were hostile questions intended to back him into a corner, to embarrass him, and to put him in a position where he would have to say something wrong. So it put a great deal of tension on Jesus.
No sooner had the Pharisees and the Herodians left when one of the Sadducees came and asked Jesus a question about the resurrection, hoping to embarrass him on that subject. Jesus answered so wisely that the man left dumbfounded. Then there came to him a scribe asking, “Lord, which is the greatest of all the commandments?” Jesus said, “The first and great commandment is Hear, O, Israel the Lord our God is one God and there is none other but he. And we are to love him with all of our heart and mind and soul and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is the first and the great commandment.” And after that, no one asked Jesus any more questions because he had sufficiently withstood all of their attempts to embarrass him and to back him into a corner.
But Jesus was not through with them. And so, with all of this background of the religious establishment of his day trying to embarrass him and discredit him before the people, Jesus leveled a broadside at their religion. He said to the multitudes who heard him gladly and who were delighted by his ability to stump the experts, “Beware of these kinds of people. Beware of the kind of religion that has just displayed itself before all of us.” If you read the passage carefully, there are three marks of the wrong kind of religion. If you are taking notes, these are the things that you will want to write down.
First, the wrong kind of religion seeks self-exaltation. It is concerned about building a name and an image for oneself. The people were using religion to promote themselves. Whenever we have a religion of self-exaltation to build oneself up, or to promote oneself, it is the wrong kind of religion.
Second, the wrong kind of religion is a religion of exploitation. It takes advantage of the weaknesses of other people. It preys on their weakness. Self-exaltation. Exploitation.
Third, it is a religion of ostentation, which means to make a show. It is a religion of pretense. It is a religion of hypocrisy. As Jesus summarized the beliefs and the practices of those with whom he had been in confrontation, he communicated, “All of this that you have seen is the very opposite of what the people of God really ought to be. We are not seeking to promote ourselves. We are not out to take advantage of other people. We are not just making a show. We are here to serve and to honor God and to meet the needs of other people, and we are to do it out of sincerity and genuine commitment to him.” Jesus and the Bible condemned self-exaltation, religious exploitation, and spiritual ostentation. We need to know about the wrong kind of religion so that we can clearly identify that which is right. The right kind of religion is the kind that accepts and follows Jesus Christ with sincerity and humility.
1. It is a religion of self-exaltation.
The first mark of the wrong kind of religion is that it is a religion of self-exaltation. I want you to notice that as Jesus talked about these scribes, he warned the people of four practices that were very prevalent in their lives. He said, “First of all, they like to go around in long clothing.” The Greek word for that long clothing is the word “stole.” We are more familiar with that in our day. They liked to go around in stoles, which were long flowing robes that were a sign of wealth and affluence. They were the mark of a man of distinction. So they loved to put on fancy dress that would call attention to the fact that they really were somebody. They loved those long flowing robes.
Jesus continued, “They love the salutation in the marketplace.” They loved for people to call them “rabbi,” which meant great one.
Who wouldn’t like that? When you walk down the street, everyone would say, “Hello there, Great One.” Not many folks say that to me, but they do to some people. Some preachers like to be called “Doctor.” They resent it if you do not use that. Some people are hung up on titles. They like the salutations in the marketplace.
Then Jesus said, “They love the chief seats in the synagogue.” In front of the synagogues there were benches that faced the congregation. Those benches were reserved for the officials of the congregation and for any visiting dignitary that might come through the community. The scribes wanted to be up front where everyone could see them, in places of distinction and display. They wanted people to notice them. And when they went to a feast, they loved the chief rooms, the upper rooms of feast at social gatherings. They always wanted to sit at the head table. They wanted a place of distinction—a place of honor.
Now put all of that together, and Jesus is simply saying, “These men and these religious leaders were using their religious position as a means to always be out in front and on center stage.” They were always thinking, “Look at me, look how I’m dressed. Look at my title. Look at the position I have.” They did what they did in order to call attention to themselves. They used their religion as a means to become somebody. And Jesus warned us, “Be careful of that kind of religion that leads to self-exaltation.” He was speaking of a kind of religion where we are always concerned about drawing attention to ourselves, about being somebody big, somebody important, and somebody whom everyone else looks up to.
It is no new thing for that spirit to dwell in the hearts of people. I’m not naive enough to think that it does not dwell in your heart, and surely you are not naive enough to think that some of that is not in me. It has always been. Going back to the book of Genesis 11, the people of who built the tower of Babel said, “Let’s build a city with walls and with the tower that reaches up to heaven so that we can have a name for ourselves.” The very sin behind the building of the tower of Babel was self?exaltation. We want a name for ourselves.
You can move from the tower of Babel story in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, all the way to the book of 3 John, almost the last book of the Bible, and you will find the same. In 3 John, John talks about a man named Diotrephes whom he said loved to have preeminence among the brethren. Translated into plain English, that simply means that Diotrephes was fond of being first. Diotrephes wanted to be the big man in the sanctuary. One of the ways he got his way and ran the show was by using malicious words. Words are oftentimes a vehicle of strife. We use them to cut other people down and to build ourselves up.
From the first book of the Bible to the very end of the Bible, the spirit that leads a person to self-exaltation is again and again condemned by our Lord as he reminds us, “He that exalts himself shall be humbled and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.” You see, self-exaltation is the very opposite of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus.
Paul tells us in Philippians 2:5-11 about humility in the context of strife in the church—of people bickering to have their own way, and of people trying to promote themselves over others. He said, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
He presents Jesus as the very opposite of one who is self-seeking. Jesus was in heaven, and in heaven he had all the rights and privileges of God. But Jesus was willing to step down from heaven to earth, from being God to becoming a man. Not just a man, but a servant. Not just a servant, but to identify with the criminal element of society and die upon the cross. And he did all of that for us! Here is a key phrase in that statement: “And he made himself of no reputation.” While these men that he is talking about here were busy using religion to make a reputation for themselves, Jesus gave up his reputation. He made himself of no reputation. Those of us who follow them dare not seek to build a name and a reputation for ourselves. We are here to exalt him. We are here to honor him. We are here to serve him. It is not ruling and controlling and being front and center that matters in the kingdom of God. It is service in the name and the spirit of the living God that really counts.
You would do well to remember this—especially you young men. Worldly ambition is always marked by three desires: the wielding of power to get control of others, the accumulation of wealth to gain things for yourself, and the making or the building of a reputation.
The spirit of self-exaltation was in the hearts and the lives of those early apostles. They came to Jesus on the way to the cross and James and John said to Jesus, “Lord, when you come to your kingdom, will you grant that we may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left?” What were they asking for? They were asking for chief places so that they could say to the world, “Look at us.” Jesus said, “You don’t know what you are asking.”
There is a price to be paid for greatness in the kingdom of God and the price is sacrifice. In the unbelieving Gentile world, the great people are those who have power and authority over others. And the more people you rule over, the greater you are. The more people who are under you, the more people you can control, the greater your importance in the unbelieving world. But in the kingdom of God, it shall not be so. That’s not the mark of greatness in God’s eyes.
The one who would be greatest among you, let him become the servant of all. Folks, we need to take some of what we learn in church back out in the world and become servants. Let us not always be trying to become rulers and controllers rising above other people, but let us serve other people.
Jesus said, “For even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If you want Exhibit A—if you want the prime example of what I’m talking about, look at the Lord Jesus. Jesus went about doing good and serving other people. He never sought to build himself up; he just sought to honor and to glorify God. And in the final analysis, he is the one person in all of time, in all of eternity, who has been exalted and has been given a name that is above every name. If you want to make a name for yourself, make it in service and in humility and in sacrifice. That’s the way Jesus took. The wrong kind of religion is the kind that seeks to exalt self, to promote self, to build a name for self. The right kind is the kind that humbles oneself in the service of God, leaving all name-building and reputation-building to him.
2. It is a religion of exploitation.
The second mark of the wrong kind of religion is exploitation. He said concerning these scribes, “Not only do you like the long flowing robes, and the salutations in the marketplace, and the front seat in the synagogue, and the seat of honor when you go out on social occasions but you devour widows’ houses.”
What that means is that somehow or another they took advantage of widows and devoured (which means “to eat or “to consume”) the houses and the possessions of these poor widows who didn’t know any better. They exploited them in the name of religion. In the name of God they took advantage of other people—their goodness, their generosity, and their ignorance. And they took it all for themselves.
That kind of thing was so easily done in Jesus’ day. You see, every great rabbi had a group of women who supported him, who financially contributed to his ministry, and who helped him. Now you would have men too, but women even more so. You know there are two references in the Bible that talk about the women who followed Jesus and helped him in his ministry. They helped him financially. And if a man were unscrupulous, he could easily take advantage of these women because women are by nature more generous than men. If I had to have a church full of people trying to raise money, I would rather have a church full of widows than a church full of rich men. Those rich men have learned how to hang onto it, how to grasp it, how to keep it for themselves. Widowed women know how to give—sometimes give more than they ought to. It is interesting, by the way, that Jesus next went to the Temple and watched the people as they gave their money. There came a widow who gave the widow’s mite; she gave the last thing that she had.
You know we have women like that in this church. They will give beyond their means. If we men were to give like those women give, we would have to throw away these cornbread plates and bring in some bushel baskets to collect the money on Sunday morning. Women have always been noted for their generosity. But their judgment was not always the best because they were not as involved in the business world in that day. And so they could be exploited; you could take advantage of them. Jesus warned about using religion to exploit people, to take advantage of people.
Listen, dear friend, that same thing is going on today. You had better watch and examine carefully before you contribute to any movement, to any cause, or to any person. For exploitation in the name of God and in the name of religion has been going on ever since man came into being.
Several years ago I read a striking statement by Ron Hubbard in the Los Angeles Times. He was at that time a fiction writer. He wrote these cheap novels—just pulp paper. Many sources quote him as having said, “Writing a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way to do it is to start his own religion.” So Ron Hubbard started his own religion called Scientology. And last year it is estimated that they grossed a hundred million dollars. People are gullible. Because if you attach the name of God to it and religion to it, they automatically think there can’t be anything wrong with it. It has to be good. Jesus is warning us about using religion to exploit other people, to take advantage of them.
We ought ever and always to be honest and upfront in our dealings with others and in every area of business. But we need to be especially honest if we attach the name of God and the name of church and the name of religion to it. We need to be men of our word. We need to pay our debts. We need to be honest and fair with all of our dealings. There is absolutely no excuse for any kind of underhandedness and exploitation in the name of the living God.
3. It is a religion of ostentation.
So he warns us about self-exaltation. He warns us about exploitation. We are not here to get. We are here to give, to share, and to minister in the name of the Lord Jesus. But then he warns us against a religion of ostentation. The word means “a pretentious display for show.” The word pretense means “a cloak,” or “to cover up.” The religious people of Jesus’ day exploited widows, and then to cover it up or to put a cloak over it, they prayed long prayers. What Jesus is saying is that their religious activity was nothing but a show. It was nothing but a cover-up. He is going straight to the heart of hypocrisy in religion.
You know the word hypocrite originally comes from the field of drama. Ages ago, it was a very good word. It described an actor playing a part. A traveling performing group used to use the same person to play several different roles. The only difference would be that in one part he would wear a mask, and in the other part he would wear another mask. And so, when he was playing the part of the villain, he would put on the villain’s mask. And when he was playing the part of the hero, he would put on the hero’s mask. The word hypocrite simply described a person who was playing a part, or a person who was wearing a mask. It was just a common word, but it took on the connotation of a person who was playing a part in life. A person who was masquerading. A person who was pretending to be someone that he wasn’t.
Jesus is warning us about that kind of pretense, that kind of cover-up, and that kind of praying and doing religious things to portray that we are one thing when in reality we are something else. You can see how these men would go around with long flowing robes being called “rabbi.” They would sit in front of the church and at the seat of honor at banquets and pray these long, flowing, fancy prayers. All the while they were taking advantage of poor innocent widows. Their religion was nothing but show.
Folks, whatever else we are we need to be sincere. We need to be genuine. We ought to take off all the masks in life, and we ought to be the people of God in the truest sense of the word. And any religion that seeks to build itself up and exalt people rather than the Lord Jesus is wrong. Any religion that takes advantage of the ignorance, or the weakness, or even the generosity of good people is wrong. Any religion that is not genuine, sincere, and transparent is the wrong kind of religion. It really comes down to this: What we need today is not religion at all. What we need is to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know he had said just prior to this passage, “You scribes and Pharisees say that the Messiah is David’s son. How do you say that?” Because if you read what David had to say, David said the Messiah would be his Lord. Jesus declared openly before the whole congregation of Israel that he was the Lord, the Messiah, and the divine Son of God, and they should hear him, honor him, and follow him. The great need of our lives is not more religion, but we need more of Jesus Christ in our hearts and lives. And when he is there, our desire should be to build and lift him up, to be honest and fair in our dealings with others, and to be open and transparent in all of life. When you take Christ in and you let him have his way in your life, then he makes life richer and fuller and better. My appeal to you today is that you come to him in faith and trust and follow him completely. Then you will know life at its very best.