The Book Of Mark #60

Most of these references were made by Jesus, Himself.

No doubt these people were awkward for Jesus to have to deal with. Jesus had a desire for all souls to be saved from their sins. Nevertheless, Jesus did find Himself having to rebuke the Scribes and Pharisees for the way they lived their lives.

Jesus was working hard to restore the people, to heal their bodies, to bring them peace and a better relationship with His heavenly Father. But many times He found Himself having to stop what He was doing, to deal with these Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus knew that the Scribes and Pharisees were divisive and disruptive.

We have to ask ourselves these two questions:

1. When the Scribes and Pharisees of the New Testament died out, did their way of thinking die out also? Unfortunately, no.

2. Is there still disruption and divisiveness trying to stifle what Jesus is trying to do for the people of our day? Unfortunately, yes.

These were some weird people, and we still have some weird people in the church today that we have to deal with.

Illus: Weird people make me think of a few years ago, when radio commentator Paul Harvey shared a true story of a woman and her frozen Thanksgiving turkey. The Butterball Turkey Company set up a telephone hotline to answer consumer questions about preparing holiday turkeys. One woman called to inquire about cooking a turkey that had been in the bottom of her freezer for 23 years. That’s right — 23 years.

The Butterball representative told her the turkey would probably be safe to eat if the freezer had been kept below zero for the entire 23 years. But the Butterball representative warned her that even if the turkey was safe to eat, the flavor would probably have deteriorated to such a degree that she would not recommend eating it.

The caller replied, "That’s what I thought. We’ll give the turkey to our church." (PreachingToday.com – Giving the Worst to Church; from Paul Harvey daily radio broadcast (11-22-95); from Charles Kimball, Allen, Texas)

There are some people in the church that we have to beware of because they are not what they appear to be. They work extra hard trying to give a FALSE IMPRESSION!

These Scribes and Pharisees were this kind of people. And the Lord said we have to BEWARE OF SUCH PEOPLE! They want to give the impression that they HAVE IT ALL AND KNOW IT ALL!

Illus: They remind me of a gentleman wandering around the campus of a college, looking for the library.

• He approaches a student and asked, "Excuse me young man. Would you be good enough and tell me where the library is at?"

• The student, in a very arrogant and belittling tone, replied, "I’m sorry, sir, but at this school, we are taught never to end a sentence with a preposition!"

• The gentleman smiled, and in a very apologetic tone replied, "I beg your pardon. Please allow me to rephrase my question. Would you be good enough to tell me where the library is at, you jerk?"

Look at what motivates these people. We have to BEWARE of some people that -

I. DRESS FOR THE WRONG REASONS

Look at verse 38, we read, “And he said unto them …Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing ….”

They say that the clothes make the man. These Scribes and Pharisees used clothes in the wrong way. Many people focus on clothing.

Illus: Did you hear about the elderly woman from Brooklyn who decided to prepare her will and make her final requests?

• She told her rabbi she had two final requests.

• First, she wanted to be cremated,

• Secondly, she wanted her ashes scattered over Bloomingdale's department store.

• The rabbi said, "Why Bloomingdale's?"

• She said, "Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me at least three or four times a week."

HOW DID THESE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES DRESS? They DRESSED TO IMPRESS!

There are two ways a person can dress to draw attention.

(1) A PERSON CAN DRESS EXTRAVAGANTLY

Illus: Every year, Hollywood actresses appear at the Oscar awards wearing clothing that cost thousands of dollars. Some gowns cost as much as $40,000.00.

WHY DO ACTRESSES WEAR THESE EXTRAVAGANT GOWNS? They want to be NOTICED!

The Scribes and Pharisees were much the same way. The long robe was the dress the nobility, the rich, the well-known, the person of style. It was a long robe reaching to the ground.

A man was not able to work in it; therefore, it was the sign of higher society. Jesus was not speaking against finer clothing. He was saying we need to BEWARE of people who will use clothing for the wrong reason. He condemned the person who was extravagant and whose mind was on attracting attention to themself.