PUTTING ON A SHOW

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.”

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and He is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Matthew 23:1-12

As He taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

Mark 12:38-40

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

Luke 20:45-47

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever seen someone in a Christian setting seem to go out of their way to draw attention to themselves?

I know I have and it’s always amazed me how easily people can seem like they want to glorify the Lord when they really want to have others glorify them.

Well, as we see in our scripture passage today and the words of Jesus, it’s not acceptable to act like you are in the Lord when all you are really doing is putting on a show. Look again at what He had to say in Matthew’s account:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.”

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and He is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Here we find Jesus once again taking aim at the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, the Jewish religious authorities of the day. Notice that Jesus didn’t tell the people not to listen to the teachings of the Jewish leaders. That wasn’t the problem. For the real issue was that the Pharisees and teachers of the law preached one thing, driving home the importance of being fully obedient to God, but weren’t willing to practice what they preached. Jesus essentially called them out for being hypocritical, a chief beef He had with the synagogue leaders many times over.

The Pharisees and teachers of the law spent a lot of energy telling others how God wanted them to live but weren’t committed to live that way in their own lives. They tried to communicate externally that they were important in the community and synagogue through the wideness of their phylacteries (a leather box containing Hebrew scripture that was worn on the head) and the length of their garment tassels (tassels meant to remind the Jewish people of the commandments of God). They reveled in being given special seats of honor and greeted honorably in the marketplaces. The Pharisees and teachers of the law bathed in the waters of self-indulgence and haughtiness. They were good at putting on a show so everyone would believe they were more holy and righteous than they truly were.  

It was this infatuation with prestige and receiving the fandom of others that Jesus despised. These Jewish religious leaders had placed themselves first ahead of the God they were supposed to serve. They elevated themselves above others who they viewed as just being ordinary Jews, Jews who fell well below their lofty positions. They were more self serving than they were sacrificial in the way they approached the believers God brought to them. As shepherds, they cared for their own status more than the sheep they were supposed to shepherd.

And so, Jesus tried to place things back in the proper perspective, using the following key points:

1. There was no real need for any man to carry the special title of “Rabbi” or “Instructor” because there was only one true Teacher and that teacher was Jesus Himself, the Messiah.

2. There was no need to refer to any man as “father” because there was one Father and He was God who resided in heaven.

God and Jesus. They were the ones who were to be honored. Anyone doing work in the name of the Lord was doing work in their names and that work was to be done to bring God and Jesus the glory. All ministry accomplishments were supposed to bring honor to them, not the person doing the ministry works.

You see, we’re not to do anything in the name of the Lord with the intention of gaining the praise of others. Rather, we are to do everything so that God and Jesus might be exalted. The humble servant will be the one seen as the greatest by the Lord while those who look to exalt themselves will end up being humbled by the Lord. And believe me, it’s a lot easier to choose humility than to have the Lord drive you there.

In the end translation, we are to shine the spotlight of our work for the Lord’s sake fully on Him and Him alone. If we’re trying to steal the spotlight from Him, it’s time to check ourselves because no one is esteemed enough to take away any glory from God Himself. If anything, we need to be humbly grateful that the Lord would choose us to do any good thing in His name, particularly because of our sinfulness. And yet, He so chooses to use the imperfect to do His perfect works.

My prayer today is that you will give thanks for what the Lord is doing in and through you, and make sure that He receives the fullest credit for the fruits of your labor.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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