In Exodus 6:4 Moses gave Israel a prayer known as the Shema, which is Hebrew for the word “hear”. This expression of complete devotion to God is still the centerpiece of Jewish morning and evening prayers.

“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

The interesting thing about a memorized prayer is that people can say these words very piously with their mouths while thinking about something completely different with their minds.  But the Shema isn’t just a prayer; it’s an opportunity for people to think about whether their hearts, souls and strength really do belong to God.

Kindred Spirit

One of the teachers of the law overheard the Sadducees debating with Jesus about resurrection and admired the answer Jesus gave. He had a question of his own for Jesus: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Mark 12:28

Jesus answered him by quoting the Shema, and he added another important commandment as well. “’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’” Mark 12:31

The teacher of the law commended Jesus for his answer.

He agreed that there is only one God and people are to love him with all their heart, mind and strength, and it’s right to love one’s neighbor as oneself. But then he added one more insight: Keeping these commandments was more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices a person could bring to God. He wanted loving relationships with people, not just rigid obedience.

This was not a typical response from a teacher of the law.

“When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’” Mark 12:34

Jesus kept all of the commandments wholeheartedly by loving God and people. This teacher of the law was a kindred spirit who was very close to understanding how to do what Jesus did. Perhaps he eventually gave up his identity as a teacher of the law and followed Jesus. We don’t know how many people like this man may have become part of the early Church.

A Question for the Pharisees

“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ‘What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?’” Matthew 22:41

The Pharisees prided themselves on their knowledge of the Scriptures and they answered Jesus without missing a beat: “The son of David,” Matthew 22:41

Then Jesus gave them a riddle.

“He said to them, ‘How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’

If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” Matthew 22:41-44

The Pharisees didn’t know what to say. They had always thought of the Messiah as a man descended from King David. Now they saw that the Holy Spirit had prompted David to call his descendant ‘Lord’ which meant the Messiah was divine.

The Pharisees probably didn’t understand what Jesus said to them at this time, but later, those who came to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah also rememberd that he was God.

Warning About Hypocritical Teachers

John 1:10-11 says: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

If anyone in the world should have recognized Jesus was the Messiah, it should have been Israel’s chief priests, teachers of the law and the Pharisees.  They knew the Scriptures and thought they knew God, but they failed to recognize God’s Son.

Jesus knew them, however, and he knew they were frauds. They taught the Law of Moses, but they didn’t keep it. They looked impressive on the outside, but inside they were full of sin. Jesus warned his followers about them.

“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.” Matthew 23:1-3

“Moses’ seat” was an actual place in a synagogue. A teacher stood in the middle of the congregation and read a passage of Scripture from a scroll then handed it to an attendant to put it away. Then the teacher sat down on a stone seat against the wall of the synagogue and taught from the Word of God.

Jesus was in favor of his followers learning the Scriptures, but not in favor of them becoming like some of the hypocrites who taught them.

Don’t Exalt Your Teachers

Jesus revered the Word, but he warned his disciples against revering teachers of the Word. In fact, self-important Pharisees and teachers were to be avoided.

“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.” Matthew 23:5-7

But Jesus had observed that while these leaders were displaying their pious glory they were taking advantage of widows, leaving them penniless.

Rules of Conduct

It was very important for Jesus’ disciples to know how to conduct themselves when he passed his mission on to them so Jesus gave them some rules to follow:

• They were not to take on a title like “Rabbi” that elevated them above their brothers and sisters. “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.” Matthew 23:8-9
• They shouldn’t claim to be “Instructors.” They would always be learners as Jesus’ disciples, “You have one Instructor, the Messiah.” Matthew 23:10
• Jesus told them to be servants to others because “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 23:11-12

Jesus lived by these rules himself. He always learned from his Father in heaven. He only spoke the words the Father gave him and did the things the Father instructed him to do. Jesus lived among his disciples as a servant and put the needs of others before his own needs.

The only praise Jesus accepted was from his Father:

“I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts . . . How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” John 5:41-44

Jesus was the only reliable instructor the disciples could learn from because he was the only teacher who was sinless and completely one with God the Father. Earthly teachers were useful, but only as long as they stuck to Scripture and faithfully followed the Master.

Jesus Rebukes the Pharisees

In Matthew 23:13-36 Jesus did something he never did anywhere else; he publicly criticized and condemned the behavior of a group of people. Jesus said in John 3:17 that he had not come to condemn the world but to save it, but in order to save these leaders, he had to rebuke them. He must have cared very deeply about them to have used such powerful language.

Jesus named what he had observed about the Pharisees.

• The Pharisees had not entered the kingdom of God and they kept others out, too. They actively sought converts, but then led them into sin instead of teaching them how to humbly obey God.
• They placed more value on the wealth of the temple than on its purpose as the house of God. They encouraged people to swear by the temple’s sacred objects, ignoring the fact that God’s presence was what made the temple, the altar and heaven holy. They were wrong to place these things above God who sanctified them with his holiness.
• The Pharisees were scrupulous about acts of tithing, but they neglected acts of justice, mercy and faithfulness. They polished the exterior of their lives and kept the rottenness inside out of sight, but God’s Son saw what was in them.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Matthew 23:27-28

Jesus Grieves Over Jerusalem

The leaders of Jerusalem had killed many prophets over the centuries, and they were going to kill even more despite Jesus’ rebuke. Jesus wept when he thought about it. He wanted to gather the sin-broken city to himself and care for it the way a hen cares for her chicks, but the people were not willing. Soon Jesus was going away and Jerusalem would not see him again until they heralded him as Lord at the end of the world.

Jesus sat down and watched people bringing their Passover offerings. Among the rich people who threw in large amounts of money was a poor widow with only two small coins. The Pharisees snatched away the houses and wealth of women like her after their husbands died, leaving them to fend for themselves. Jesus saw great value in the widow’s small coins.

“Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’” Mark 12:43-44

Here was a woman who lived according to the two greatest commandments. She loved God with everything she had, and she loved her neighbor as herself. She accepted her humble position and trusted in God. In the eyes of Jesus she was one of the greatest people in the kingdom, surpassing even the wealthiest and most powerful Pharisees.