Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders (Mk. 12:38-40; Lk. 11:37-52; 20:45-47)

23 ¹Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his followers. Jesus said, ²"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees* have the authority (power) to tell you what the law of Moses says. ³So you should obey the things they say. You should do all the things they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don't do those things themselves. ⁴They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force other people to obey all those rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules. ⁵"The only reason they do good things is for other people to see them. They wear special boxes* full of Scriptures.* They make these boxes bigger and bigger. And they make their special prayer clothes very long [so that people will see them]. ⁶Those Pharisees* and teachers of the law love to get the most important seats at the feasts. And they love to get the most important seats in the synagogues.* ⁷They love for people to show respect to them in the market places. And they love to have people call them 'Teacher.'

⁸"But you must not be called 'Teacher.' You are all brothers [and sisters] together. You have only one Teacher. ⁹And don't call any person on earth 'Father.' You have one Father. He is in heaven. ¹⁰And you should not be called 'Master.' You have only one Master, the Christ.* ¹¹The person that serves you like a servant is the greatest person among you. ¹²Every person that makes himself better than other people will be made humble. Every person that makes himself humble will be made great.

¹³"It will be bad for you teachers of the law and Pharisees.* You are hypocrites.* You close the way for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don't enter, and you stop the people that are trying to enter. ¹⁴* ¹⁵"It will be bad for you teachers of the law and Pharisees.* You are hypocrites.* You travel across the seas and across different countries to find one person that will follow your ways. When you find that person, you make him worse than you are. And you are so bad that you belong in hell! ¹⁶"It will be bad for you teachers of the law and Pharisees.* You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, 'If any person uses the name of the temple* to make a promise, that means nothing. But if any person uses the gold that is in the temple to make a promise, then he must keep that promise.' ¹⁷You are blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple? The temple makes that gold holy. [So the temple is greater]. ¹⁸And you say, 'If any person uses the altar* to make a promise, that means nothing. But if any person uses the gift on the altar to make a promise, then he must keep his promise.' ¹⁹You are blind. [You understand nothing!] Which is greater: the gift, or the altar? The altar makes the gift holy. [So the altar is greater.] ²⁰The person that uses the altar to make a promise is really using the altar and also everything on the altar. ²¹And the person that uses the temple to make a promise is really using the temple and also the One that lives in the temple. ²²The person that uses heaven to make a promise is also using God's throne and the One that sits on that throne.

Pharisees The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs. special boxes Small leather boxes containing four important Scriptures. Some Jews tied these to the forehead and left arm to show they were very religious. Scriptures Holy Writings--the Old Testament. synagogue(s) Synagogues were places where Jews gathered for prayer, study of the Scriptures, and other public meetings. Christ The "anointed one" (Messiah) or chosen one of God. hypocrites Bad people that act like they are good. Verse 14 Some Greek copies add verse 14: "It will be bad for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You take away widows' houses, and you make long prayers so that people can see you. So you will have a worse punishment." See Mk. 12:40; Lk. 20:47. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. altar An altar is a place where sacrifices or gifts are offered to God. There was an altar in front of the temple in Jerusalem.