Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Matthew 23:14
(Note: This verse does not appear in the best Greek manuscripts here in Matthew. These words from Jesus do appear in Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47, so we’ll include them. This will actually give us eight woes when we’re done.)
How did they do this?
Predation.
Taking advantage of kind hearts.
Taking advantage of their position.
Taking advantage of the Law.
Pretense.
Their prayers were public.
Their prayers were attention-getting.
Their prayers were empty.
Posturing.
They didn’t care about the widows, or orphans, or strangers.
They didn’t care about communicating with God
They cared about optics.
Jesus offers
Compassion
Care
Intercession
Do we use the kingdom or its people to advance ourselves?
Do we substitute gossip or commentary for prayers?
Do we participate in church because it makes us look good?
Or do we offer what Jesus offers?
Are we devouring the widows’ houses or coming alongside them?