Charles Spurgeon Commentary Mark 12:37-40

"David himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he his son? And the common people heard him gladly. And in his teaching he said, Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and [to have] salutations in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts: they that devour widows` houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; these shall receive greater condemnation." — Mark 12:37-40 (ASV)

And the common people heard him gladly. And he said to them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

We often hear foolish people say, "You must always preach in love and not say anything against anybody; Jesus did not denounce anybody." Oh, dear! Then what about this denunciation of the scribes?

If Jesus were here today, He would not be the spineless creature that some people want us to be. He had a backbone, a conscience, and a very heavy right hand, and He brought that hand down like a sledgehammer upon cant and hypocrisy and error. If we would be like Christ, we must be manly, and bold, and outspoken.

They tell us this so that we may easily glide through the world and that all men may speak well of us. But their fathers did the same to the false prophets. And do you suppose that we who preach God’s Word are going to hold back any part of our testimony because it will bring us into ill repute with the ungodly?

God forbid! We live for something higher and nobler than being sustained by the breath of evil men. If there is error in high places, if there is vice anywhere, it is the duty of the minister of Christ, in His Master’s name, to attack it with all his might. Here we find our Lord and Master plainly declaring that the scribes, the great masters of the law, were a set of pretentious hypocrites who robbed even the widow and the fatherless, and who would, in due time, receive greater damnation. Thus, the truth must still be spoken, whoever may be offended by it.