Jesus had validated the resurrection of the dead at the end of the age to religious bigots, the Sadducees. When he shamed them with the Word of God, their religious opponents, the teachers of the Law, were delighted and praised Jesus (39). However, other than different beliefs, they were the same as the Successors. They were also religious bigots. Both groups picked Bible passages that played into their personal agenda, while ignoring or dismissing the rest.
The teachers of the law liked to receive praise from others. Honor from others was their high (46). Position and status were their motivators. Not even the Messiah, the Son of David, was as prominent as they were in their mind’s eye (41).
Admiration from others was the source of self-justification for their sins. They loved themselves more than others. They devoured widows’ houses by misusing God’s Law for self-profit (47). To compensate for a guilty conscience for this sin and others, they sought justification through others’ praise and honor.
Jesus taught the teachers of the Law that the Messiah was so much more than the Son of David, the descendant of a king. He quoted one of David’s Psalms, 110:1 where David himself wrote that his descendant was actually his Lord, the Ancient of Days, the Creator God himself (Daniel 7:9, 13, 22). “David calls him Lord,” Jesus declared. “How then can he be his son?” (44) Jesus was due honor not for humiliating the Sadducees, but for who he was. The religious leaders’ craving for honor blinded them from giving Jesus the true honor due him.
Will I let my ego get in the way of understanding the truth and honoring Jesus? Or will I be like the Sadducees and teachers of the Law? Is my honor blinding me from the Messiah?
