“In Jesus Christ we see not only what God is truly like, we see also what a human being is supposed to be like.”

“We, like the disciples, are being deeply challenged here by the first of Jesus’ final words.”

“Using the occasion of the annual Passover meal, Jesus will show them – He will give them a visual demonstration – of what His death will mean.”

“Amid all the apocalyptic rhetoric, what Jesus is basically telling His disciples is that when they see these things begin to come to pass, they are to be unafraid, they are to be lifted up by hope, and that they are to be prepared by living a life of obedient faith in Christ beforehand.”

The scribes were highly respected, considered to be part of the religious elite – role models for common Israelite. And Jesus tells the crowd that what they really are – are religious frauds.