Jesus accuses the scribes

(Mk 12: 38-44) "And he said to them in his doctrine: Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and the first seats in the synagogues, and the first seats in the suppers, that devour the houses of the widows, and for pretense make long prayers, they will receive greater condemnation. "
"Beware of the scribes"

Source

After discussing different aspects of the teaching of the scribes, Jesus now considers some of his practices, because we must not forget that what we believe always conditions what we do.
So in these few verses Mark is going to present us with a summary of the long discourse that we find in Matthew 23. There Jesus analyzed and condemned in a very severe way the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, although it was not the only occasion in which Jesus He led the people to warn them of the serious danger they were facing if they followed his teachings. Another good example of this denunciation can be found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). From there we can select a verse that can help us understand the seriousness of the matter as the Lord saw it:
(Mt 5:20) "For I say to you that if your righteousness is not greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."
So dangerous was the teaching and practice of the scribes, that Jesus did not hesitate to warn the crowds publicly while teaching in the temple. What he came to say is that they should not seek spiritual guidance from them, since all the exegesis that these experts made of the Old Testament was invalid and perverse. In another moment Jesus expressed it in the following way:

(Luke 11:52) "Woe to you, interpreters of the law, because you have taken away the key of knowledge, you have not entered yourselves, and you have stopped them from entering."
Perhaps we are surprised by the openly hostile attitude that Jesus showed constantly against the scribes and Pharisees, especially in an era such as ours in which, in the name of tolerance, such direct accusations are not well seen, but the Lord suffered seeing how the people Simple was brought to condemnation for this cause. In those circumstances, the cruel thing would have been to remain silent. We must not forget that the Word has been given to us for our salvation, but that it is possible to twist it and pervert it for our destruction (2 Pet. 3: 15-16), and whenever we see this kind of thing, we must follow the example of Christ .

But how had the scribes come to this point? Well, we should not think that these people devoted to the study and observance of the laws of the Old Testament had deliberately proposed to be perverse and evil, rather their intention was just the opposite. However, at some point his eyes were darkened by vanity, greed, and the arrogance of his heart, so that all his teaching had been corrupted. In the Gospel of Luke we find that the Lord used an illustration to describe this process before making his harsh accusations against them:

(Lk 11:34) "The lamp of the body is the eye: when your eye is good, your whole body is full of light, but when your eye is evil, your body is also in darkness."
In any case, the worst part of the case was that when Jesus pointed out the problem to them, instead of repenting, they became their worst enemies and persecuted him relentlessly.
The sin of the scribes: they sought their own glory
In the passage that we are studying in Mark, the Lord summarizes the behavior of the scribes by means of a few brushstrokes so that we realize that the fundamental problem of these scholars was that they were lost in their desire to reap praises for themselves and in his ambition to have dominance over others. The evangelist John summarized his sin in this way: "they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God" (Jn 12:43).
On the one hand, they did not care about giving glory to God, but they wanted it for themselves. They worshiped their own ego and obsessed them with popularity and fame.

But on the other hand, they also did not seek God's approval, but only desired the admiration of men. For this they made great displays of holiness in a permanent attempt to achieve religious and social recognition.
The root of the problem of these religious is that their heart was very far from God and therefore, all its scale of values ​​was wrong. His attitude reverberated negatively in every aspect of their lives, and the same will happen to all those who follow their footsteps. Consider some of the consequences:

1. It becomes a sin of idolatry
   God is the only one who has the right to receive glory and praise. When man seeks to receive glory from his fellow men, he is usurping a place that belongs only to God and therefore, in practice, he is denying that God is the only God, committing a grave sin of idolatry.

2. Prevent conversion
   So concerned were they for their own glory that it prevented them from recognizing the glory of Jesus and believing in him.
   (Jn 5:44) "How can you believe, for you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that comes from the one God?"

3. Cancel the testimony
   The few of them who came to believe in Christ did not confess it openly because they could not tolerate the ridicule and the rejection that would come for them.
   (Jn 12: 42-43) "Nevertheless, even of the rulers, many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so as not to be expelled from the synagogue, because they loved more the glory of men than the glory of God."

4. Ruin the ministry
   Any preacher who is more concerned with pleasing his audience than with God will never have a ministry blessed by God. The apostle Paul expressed it in the following way:
   (Ga 1:10) "Well, do I now seek the favor of men, or of God, or do I try to please men? For if it still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

5. Convert the spiritual life into something superficial and ostentatious
   Their desire to attract the admiration of others about themselves led them to practice religion ostentatiously. Jesus described the ridiculous appallingness with which they gave alms, prayed or fasted:
   (Mt 6: 2) "When therefore give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, to be praised by men ..."
   (Mt 6: 5) "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, to be seen by men ..."
   (Mt 6:16) "When you fast, do not be austere, like hypocrites, for they demolish their faces to show men that they fast ..."
   Faced with the desire of the scribes and Pharisees to call attention to everything they did, Jesus taught that true Christian piety is first and foremost secret. When we pray we should look for a place where they do not see us, when we offer we should do it secretly, and when we fast we should avoid letting others know.

6. Converts external rituals into a substitute for true spirituality
   The false holiness of these Pharisees had a very harmful effect on the people who watched them. Many simple people were impressed by the strict devotion to the external rituals with which they liked to exhibit themselves, in such a way that they had come to believe that this was the true holiness that God sought. But in reality, all that emphasis to take care of his external appearance, only served to hide his dirty heart.
   (Mt 23: 25-26) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of robbery and injustice, blind Pharisee! inside the cup and the plate, so that the outside also be clean. "
   Sadly, this way that they had to understand and practice religion had dragged many into an immorality covered with religiosity, which made them desensitized in front of the sin and the denunciations of Jesus.

7. Convert the worshiper into an actor
   There was nothing authentic in their religiosity. As Jesus had diagnosed, their hearts were far from God:
   (Mt 15: 7-8) "Hypocrites, well Isaiah prophesied of you when he said: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."
   Jesus accused them innumerable times for their hypocrisy. They had become actors who looked like piety in search of applause and recognition from the people. And as the Lord himself explained, this was going to be the only reward they were going to have of all their religiosity.

8. Lead others to hypocrisy
   As often happens with this type of religious hypocrite, they liked to be strict and demanding with others, perhaps because they thought that their own prestige grew, but in reality, they were also false in this, because they did not fulfill what they ordered. to others with such rigor:
   (Mt 23: 4) "For they bind heavy burdens, which are difficult to bear, and put them on the shoulders of men, but they do not want to move them with a finger."
   All this is very dangerous, because by demanding from people the fulfillment of these "heavy and difficult to carry" burdens, sooner or later they would discover that it was an impossible mission to fulfill, before which they would have two options; or recognize their failure at the risk of being belittled for it, or what was much more likely, become hypocrites like them and live constantly in a lie.

9. Makes the person feel superior
   Their pretended sanctity and the knowledge that they believed they had of the law, made them feel superior to the rest of the people, whom they looked with superior airs. For example, the publicans and those whom they considered notorious sinners, were accustomed to their contempt, which of course, did not hesitate to return them. And we could say the same about their relationship with the Samaritans and Gentiles. Although they also saw the simple people of the town as ignorant. Let's hear how they expressed themselves in their meetings: "These people who do not know the law are cursed" (Jn 7:49).

10. Bring others to condemnation
    Jesus said that this emphasis they had on the external observation of the ceremonial cleansing, together with their grave neglect of inner holiness, turned them into unmarked graves, so that anyone who came into contact with them would be automatically contaminated (Lk 11). : 44) (Nm 19: 11-22).
    Therefore, his blindness and lack of spiritual life were both suicidal and murderous. Not only did they go to hell, but they fought to take others with them.

(Mt 23:13) "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in."
(Mt 23:15) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel through the land and sea to become a proselyte, and once done, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you."
Jesus was different
Faced with this ridiculous obsession of the Pharisees to seek glory for themselves, stands the opposite example of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Jn 5:41) "Glory of men I do not receive."
(Jn 8:50) "I do not seek my glory"
The manifest desire of Jesus was to seek the glory of his Father and his approval.
(Jn 12:28) "Father, glorify your name"
(Jn 17: 4) "I have glorified you on earth, I have finished the work that you gave me to do"
And he taught us that this must also be the priority of our life. Let's see how they taught their disciples to pray:
(Mt 6: 9-10) "Then you shall pray like this: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, as it is in heaven, so also on earth ... "

The behavior of the scribes.

With a few strokes, the Lord described the behavior of the scribes.

1. "They like to walk in long clothes"
   The dress they wore was that of dignitaries of kings or priests, prepared to perform official functions. What Jesus says is that even in their way of dressing they wanted to make a difference and look great.
   Unfortunately, the use of religious clothes of different kinds is still a widespread practice in many religions, and serves to manifest their separation from what they consider the "common people" and also to establish classes or levels within the religious.
   But the true Christian, following his Master, does not use clothing to distinguish himself, but the sanctity of his life.

2. "Love salutations in the squares"
   They liked to attract attention and that people publicly recognized their dignity. This is why the Gospel of Matthew adds: "And let men call them: Rabbi, Rabbi" (Mt 23: 7).
   This taste for titles should not have entered the church of Christ, but the fact is that it has not been like that. The Lord did not want there to be differences among Christians, and that is why he said: "But you do not want them to call you Rabbi, because one is your Master, the Christ, and all of you are brothers" (Mt 23: 8).
   Obviously the churches that make differences between the clergy and the laity, or that assign different titles according to the "category" that they occupy within a hierarchy, have not followed the guidelines of Christ in this sense, but rather are in the line of the scribes and Pharisees. And let's not forget that Jesus expressly forbade Christians to call "father" anyone on earth (Mt 23: 9).
   And also the Protestant churches must be careful with this tendency. It is sad to see how some have adopted the name of certain leaders of the past and call themselves "Lutherans" or "Calvinists" ... Perhaps it would be convenient to remember that this only serves to divide the people of Christ. The apostle Paul had to face a similar problem in the Corinthian church where some said, "I am Paul's, I'm Apollos's, and I'm Cephas's, and I'm Christ's" (1 Cor 1:12). It is important to read the context to see the reproof that Paul gave them for having this attitude.
   On the other hand, among modern evangelicals, some of the words that the Bible uses to describe different gifts and services that must be developed within the church with all humility, seem to be losing their original value and have begun to be considered on many occasions as titles that bring prestige and recognition to the person. This seems to be the case of words like "pastor" and "apostle."

3. "They love the first chairs in the synagogues"

These were the front seats next to the one who was leading the prayer or the one who read the scriptures. It was considered an honor to be invited to occupy that place, and of course, the scribes "loved" to be seated there.
Now, when a person attends a religious act for the purpose of enlarging himself, it is impossible that at the same time he is seeking the glory of God.
James condemned the sin of assigning the best seats to the rich while saying to the poor man that he was standing or sitting on someone's platform (James 2: 2-3). Again we must remember the principle of equality among brothers within the church of Christ.

1. "They love the first seats at dinners"

The Lord has already mentioned "the squares", "the synagogues" and now "the dinners". What he is trying to show is that the desire to excel and be praised by men was present in all the public conduct of the scribes.
In this regard, we Christians should remember the admonition that Jesus made about looking for the most honorable places at a banquet or dinner (Lk 14: 8).

1. "Devour widows' houses and make long prayers as a pretext"
   Then Jesus describes them getting fat in the homes of these lonely and unprotected women. We do not know exactly what they were looking for, but the Lord condemns the abuse they committed and once again shows their hypocrisy and greed. Such people were not trustworthy.
   In addition, the case serves Jesus to put another example of how the scribes used religion as a "cover" to dispel all suspicion and quietly carry out their thefts. Unfortunately, this is a species that has not yet become extinct.

** A trend of all times **

No doubt it was very serious that to satisfy their desires of vanity, these religious had no qualms about using the holy things of God, and have remained as a historical example of how religion can be used to promote personal pride and greed. But this same Pharisaic spirit continues to haunt every man today. If we are honest, we have to recognize that those same anxieties that they felt for human praise and applause, are deeply rooted in our fallen nature. And we need to stop and reflect on the extent to which this subtle temptation may have been introduced in our own lives or in our way of practicing Christianity. For this we put some examples in which we can meditate.
When we practice things like offerings, prayer or fasting, do we have the need to tell others, or does God only know these details of our spiritual life?
Do we give testimony of the Lord Jesus, or do we shut up because we think that others will ridicule us and have a poorer opinion of us?
When we perform a service for the Lord in the church, do we seek to serve the brothers and glorify God or do we want to be seen and admired by others?
When a pastor attends a church, what worries him most, the souls or the offerings?
When we organize an evangelistic meeting, does our publicity praise the preacher or the Lord Jesus Christ?

"These will receive greater condemnation"

The Lord finished his summary with these strong words. As we have seen, the responsibility of the scribes was very great; their teachings and attitudes were leading others to condemnation, and this made them doubly responsible.
They had all the means at their disposal to know God and to guide the people, but their lack of humility, sincerity and love were distancing people from God. Therefore, the retribution they would receive would be much more severe.
Conclusions
The passage forces us to honestly examine ourselves asking ourselves what are the reasons that move us to do things. Finally we will find that there are only two ambitions that control all the others: one is our own glory and the other is the glory of God. Both are irreconcilable, so we will necessarily have to choose only one of them.
With his example, the Lord Jesus Christ has exhorted us to give our glory and praise only to God and to strive to seek his approval, hoping that it is he and not men who say: "Good, good and faithful servant" (Mt 25:21). ). On the contrary, if we receive glory from men, or take the liberty to give glory to men, we will be usurping a divine prerogative and placing men in the place of God.
On the other hand, the Lord has also warned us against the sinful longing to be "someone", to seek to become prominent and to seek to receive honor over all others. The true follower of Christ is not pretentious, but is willing to be the least and serve all. At this time we must return to remember the words of Christ:
(Mk 10: 44-45) "Whoever wants to be first among you will be a servant of all, for the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
And finally, whatever our spiritual life may be, we do not cover ourselves with any cloak. Let's be honest, honest and honest in our practice of Christianity. Understanding that all necessary change must originate within our heart and not simply be an external religious appearance.