Regalia and Robes

I have a regalia with three stripes, meaning I have a doctorate. I pridefully wear it once a year if I am participating in a graduation ceremony. It gives me a shield of honor as the invisibility cloak of Harry Potter.

We have various “cloaks” that distinguish us from others, whether ID tags that give us access to sealed locations, “priority” lanes that give us privileged access, or titles (like the “reverent”) that exonerate us above ordinary people. We justify such privileges by saying, “We’ve worked hard for this.” (That’s what I say every time I wear that regalia, although I envy the colorful ones!).

In Jesus’s time, one could easily spot the scribes. They had long robes, called stolas, like the Roman aristocrats (or modern-day priests in high churches) (Mark 12:38a). In an agricultural world where people girded up their loins to give easy movement (Prov 31:17), long robes implied luxury and leisure – they didn’t have to work as hard as the field workers. (For an example of girding up the loins, see https://www.fruitfullyliving.com/gird-up-your-loins/). In addition, these scribes stood at marketplaces and greeted everyone like politicians kissing children! (Mark 12:38b). At synagogue or feasts (e.g., a wedding, bar-mitzvah, or bat mitzvah), they took the preferential seats, the seats of honor, the protos (first-class) seat, and ate before everyone (i.e., before the food ran out)! (12:39). As if these weren’t hypocritical enough, they prayed long prayers thinking the longer the prayer, the more holy they were, or at least others thought they were very religious (12:40b).

(Growing up, my family had a meat item, usually chicken curry, just on Sundays! Guess who showed up and ate first, leaving us only the gravy? Our pastor!)

While the scribes looked holy and acted pious, they were evil. Their insides were hollow. They devoured the widows’ homes (12:40a). In those days, temples were the banks where the rich kept their wealth, and the scribes (and priests) were the loan officers. The scribes offered loans to widows to keep their houses and properties when their husbands died. But when the widows defaulted on their loan payments, the scribes took their homes and properties, leaving them homeless and poor. In their greediness, the scribes took advantage of the socially oppressed.

They were like cheese puffs – big and appealing but crunched into nothing, leaving people empty. They pretended to be spiritual but were bankrupt, greedy, and pathetic. People hated them (12:40b).

In contrast to these wicked religious leaders, a widow came and placed in the temple treasury two small coins – the last of the money – she had for food (12:41–44). Perhaps she was a victim of the scribes’ devouring. Jesus saw her heart and commended her because, whereas others gave offerings from their wealth, she gave what she needed to live on. This was a generous gift by percentage (100% instead of 10%) and a gift of faith – she would live if only God provided for her. If not, she would die of starvation but resurrect in God’s presence.

The old maxim that if we point our index finger at others, three other fingers are pointing toward us is accurate. People judge us by the standard we use to judge others. Our spirituality should be simple and genuine – love God and love people; everything else is just a show.