Jesus has made quite a lot of people mad, by saying certain things and doing certain things. A lot of these question that he is asked are designed to trap him so that they can accuse him of a crime and kill him. If you read closely you will realize that Jesus realize what they are trying to do and often turns it around on them. When you read this passage you may have noticed the three questions Jesus was asked. His answers are phenomenal, perfectly answering the questions so that in the end no one is even willing to ask him any more questions. Which is when Jesus does two things: 1. He asserts his authority and 2. He humbles the scribes and the pharisees.
1. He asserts his authority by simply quoting the Old Testament, and claiming that he is greater than David. King David was Israel's greatest king. King David called the messiah Lord, and Jesus had claimed to be the messiah multiple times. He is asserting his authority before he moves on to humble the scribes.
2. He begins to humble the scribes in two ways. In verses 38-40 he claims that they are all show with no substance. This is a glaring condemnation. They do their religious actions so they are seen by others and that is all they seem to care about. The second way that he humbles them is points out an old widow lady, and says that her small offering has more significance because she gave all she had whereas the Pharisees may have given a lot but they still had a lot more, and they only gave so that they would look good in front of others.
Jesus had a lot of negative things to say about the purely religious people who were acting in this manner only so they could be seen in front of people. Is your belief, and the good things you do, done for this reason? Jesus had harsh words for these people as we have seen in this passage, he also called them a “brood of vipers” in another passage. Pray and ask God to reveal to you the truth of your religious practice and if you are like the pharisees repent and turn to him.
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