Luke 20:46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

A coma only occurs in translations into other languages. It is placed there to give us pause.

Luke 20:47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

It separates appearances from behavior. Wanting to look good is not the same as doing good. Along with the bad deed comes one more warning, the pretense of prayer. Saying what sounds good does not make it the Word of God.

Pretense in appearance or speech is self serving. One is intended to present oneself as something it is not, the other is to influence the thinking of others.

Mark 6:56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

John the Baptist wore camel skins, a beast of burden, carrying the message of repentance. There is no description of what Jesus wore, only what it meant to those who by faith touched it. Whatever He wore were robes of righteousness, no matter the cost or material.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Jesus is that bridegroom.

John 3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.

Those were the words of John the Baptist. What message do we bring?