http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2023&version=ESV
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2020-21&version=ESV
These passages show the scribes and teachers trying to trap the Messiah with their questions and how Jesus sees their hearts.
Matthew 23 brings us the words of Christ as He confronts the deeds of the Pharisees. Notice how in Matthew 23:1-4, Jesus instructs the people to practice what the Pharisees and scribes preach but not to imitate their actions. These leaders of Israel knew God's truth and were actually preaching it, but were not following God's commands. Later in this passage, we see that Christ condemns them for neglecting the spirit of the Law (mercy and justice and faithfulness) while seemingly adhering to the letter by tithing the smallest of herbs. They were willing to weigh out ounces of dill and mint, but they weren't willing to weigh their own hearts.
The Pharisees spent many hours reading and discussing the Old Testament Scriptures and interpretations by rabbis. They immersed themselves in God's Word but their actions were not bearing the fruit of all of this study. They appeared on the outside to be righteous but they were decaying on the inside. They were not a fragrant aroma but a stench to the nostrils of God Almighty.
It is easy to point fingers at the Pharisees, but how often do we want to boil down God's message into a list of rules. Honestly, it would be much easier to just have to memorize rules and live in the safety of the commandments if things were black and white. God's Love, though, is not so stale. He is a God of Power and Might and He paints the horizon and the rainbow. God's Love is messy - He breathed life into clay to create man, He poured out the waters on the earth but saved Noah, He sent His Son into the world via a virgin birth with all of the normal human processes, and Jesus went to the cross willingly but still struggled to the point of shedding tears. He rose from the dead and rolled away the stone and then appeared to the disciples and many others. Jesus showed us how to live each and every moment of our lives, and He requires that we also adhere to the spirit of His commandments, not just for outward appearances but with the inner being.
Luke 20 and 21 also echo the passage in Matthew as well as providing another example of true faith with the widow giving out of her poverty. Are we willing to go outside of ourselves and learn what it means to love sacrificially? Are we willing to listen to God or are we more likely to remain complacent in our comfortable homes while pursuing treasures that won't last?
Are we white washed tombs or are we salt and light?
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