Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Luke 20 and Psalm 36

⁴⁵ While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, ⁴⁶ ‘Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the market-places and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. ⁴⁷ They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.’

The teachers of the Law had been grilling Jesus with trick questions, trying their best to catch Him out and discredit Him in front of the crowds of people He was teaching in Jerusalem. They were not at all interested in the truth of His identity, the wisdom of His teaching, nor the well-being of the people. Their chief concern was to protect their position as the religious authorities of the day because, as Jesus pointed out, this was what they loved the most.

Their position as “teachers of the law” allowed them a life of leisure in an age of hard, physical labour. No worker could wear long, flowing robes while they worked, so their clothing set them apart and signaled that commoners and their hard lives were beneath them. They loved the way their positions stroked their egos by ensuring them respectful greetings, and places of importance and honour in synagogues and at feasts. These lifestyles of relative luxury and leisure were funded not by their own hard work, but by the sacrificial financial support of the poor. They did not perform their works of ministry (teaching, praying, etc.) to please God and help His people grow, but rather to show off their supposed importance and holiness.

They were self-important, prideful, greedy and driven by a desire for the admiration and applause of people. Love for God was far from them. Self-love ruled their lives.

Life application: Examine your own life for signs of self-importance, pride, greed and the egotistical desire for people’s applause and acclaim. Confess it. Turn away from it. Pursue selflessness, humility, generosity and the love of God and His people instead.