<p>20:47 <i>Who devour widows' houses- </i>The language used here about the behaviour of the Scribes and Pharisees is elsewhere used about the righteous behaviour of the Lord and His followers; the Jewish leaders were living a religious life, but it was but a parody of true spirituality. The same words for &ldquo;devour&rdquo; and &ldquo;house&rdquo; are used of how the Lord Jesus was &lsquo;eaten up&rsquo; or &lsquo;devoured&rsquo; with zeal for His Father&rsquo;s &ldquo;house&rdquo;. But by contrast the Scribes thought only of how they could devour the houses of widows, scheming how to get the house of a vulnerable single old woman left to them, and how they could devour that wealth upon themselves. We note that Mark and Luke conclude this section with the account of the widow who gave her entire wealth to the temple coffers (Mk. 12:42; Lk. 21:1). This was surely to add assurance that although her donation was misused, it was carefully noted by God to her eternal credit.</p><p><i>And for a pretence make long prayers- </i>They were hypocrites. The word was used about an actor&rsquo;s cloak, and thus connects with the theatrical term &lsquo;hypocrites&rsquo;, play-actors. The Lord uses the same word in Jn. 15:22: &ldquo;If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no&nbsp;<i>cloak</i>&nbsp;for their sin&rdquo;. When did He come and speak unto the Jews about their hypocrisy? Surely here in Mark 12. Although they did have a cloak for their sin before men, the Lord is saying in John 15 that they have no such cloak before Him.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><i>These shall receive greater condemnation</i>- There will be degrees of punishment, although it will be self-inflicted.</p>