Mathew 23:1-12

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Introduction

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

As we start into chapter 23 of Matthew’s Gospel we reach Jesus’ sharpest indictments against the scribes and Pharisees that we’ve seen thus far, in fact, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s the climax of his judgement against the scribes and Pharisees. His statements here are the most frightening statements he’ll make against them. In this chapter he calls them hypocrites, sons of hell, blind guides, fools, robbers, self-indulgent, whitewashed tombs, snakes, vipers, persecutors, and even murderers.
He begins by addressing the crowds and his disciples in the first 12 verses, warning them about the scribes and Pharisees, then in verses 13-36 he addresses the scribes and Pharisees directly. Matthew seems to indicate that while the scribes and Pharisees weren’t the only Jewish leaders that rejected Jesus, that they do seem to embody, or represent, the fundamental issues with Jerusalem’s leadership. While most historians believe that it was the Sadducees that dominated Israel’s internal politics, the degeneration of Israel’s religious condition appears to be attributed, in large part, to the influence and teaching of the Pharisees. There influence on all matters of religious law and practice was significant enough that Jesus indicates here that they’re to blame for the nation losing its way.
The central accusation that Jesus makes is focused upon their pride and hypocrisy, so throughout chapter 23 we’ll see a multitude of examples of this hypocrisy, and examples of the how their pride manifested itself in hypocrisy. And it’s important for us to realize, and remember, that while it may seem apparent to us today as we read this with 2,000 years of hindsight and faith in Christ, that the Pharisees did not see themselves as Jesus portrays them here, and nor did the Jewish people. In fact, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus speaks well of the Pharisees in his own writings. The scribes and Pharisees were largely admired for their strict religious adherence to the law. NT scholar, R.T. France, writes that “they enjoyed popular respect and authority as the recognized experts in understanding and applying the OT law and its subsequent elaborations.” (Matthew, R.T. France, p. 858)
And what this tells us is that the Pharisees were as deceived as the people were concerning their hypocrisy. So keep in mind just how shocking and provocative Jesus’ statements would have been against the scribes and Pharisees, and that in many respects the crowds were likely equally shocked at Jesus’ statements, because as far as they were concerned they figured the Pharisees should have been the Messiah’s natural ally.
And this immediately tells us, and highlights, the dangerous and insidious nature of hypocrisy, the dangerous and insidious nature of pride. That the trouble with pride is that, by nature, it’s hard to detect, and therefore the reason its the most insidious of sins, the most difficult to root out, and the fountainhead of so many other sins, like hypocrisy. And it’s the reason that as we make our way through chapter 23 we should be careful to not assume we’re not like scribes and Pharisees. That would be a catastrophic mistake.
So as we work through these texts we should expect our hearts to be exposed. That while Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees that we would feel our hearts being operated on. So keep this in mind, that we too don’t fall into the same trap as the scribes and Pharisees.

Moses’ seat

Let’s read there again in verse 1,

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

In the ancient world teachers usually sat down when they taught. When Jesus gave his sermon on the mount he wasn’t standing up lecturing those around him like we might imagine a modern classroom, we’re told in Matthew chapter 5 that,

he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them

In the ancient world this was a position of authority, and whether the teacher sat on the ground or in a chair it didn’t matter, but the students literally sat at the feet of their teacher. “The teacher’s chair was known as the seat of teaching.” (Matthew, R.C. Sproul, p. 658) And interestingly enough we still have this idea in our modern vernacular. Most of us are familiar with the title Chairman, or certain titles like “the chair of philosophy” or the “chair of theology”. These titles indicate the authority and teaching seat of these particular areas, whether it’s the chairman of a board, or the chair of a particular department at a university.
And this is what Jesus means when he says that “the scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat.” That it was the task of the scribes and Pharisees to teach and explain the law that had been delivered through Moses in the OT, so they figuratively sat in the seat of Moses; they spoke with the authority of Moses.

They don’t practice what they preach

Therefore, Jesus tells the crowds and his disciples that they should obey their religious leaders because of the authority entrusted to them through Moses’ seat, at least insofar as they rightly teach God’s law. A modern example of this are the elder’s within a local church, God has given the elders of the local church the authority and responsibility to teach the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 4 that,

4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

In essence, this was also the responsibility of those who were entrusted to sit in Moses’ seat.
However, Jesus is making the point that while they preach from this position of authority, don’t make a habit of following their example! For they preach, but they do not practice. And this of course is the essence of hypocrisy, to not practice what you preach.
In the Greco-Roman world the word ‘hypocrite’ was used to refer to an actor or stage player. It referred to anyone who wore a mask and pretended to be someone or something they were not. This was how Jesus was describing the Pharisees. In public they seemed righteous and pious, but behind closed doors they were someone else altogether, that they were hypocrites!

Personal examples of hypocrisy

I’m often reminded of this reality in parenting, that it’s easier to instruct our children in the way they should go, but much harder to go that way ourselves. In fact, our children are probably the most likely to pick up on our hypocrisy, they live with us and it’s almost impossible to hide any hypocrisy that we may have from them. They observe the conversations we have with guests at our home and compare that to our behaviors while we’re alone.
But living in close proximity to others can be a very healthy way of living in the light, to expose and expel our hypocrisy, whether its our spouse, our children, our family, or our church, God uses these things to protect us from and root out hypocrisy in our own lives, so learn not to despise these things.
In many ways preaching a sermon can be more helpful to me than those who listen, and not just because I’ve spent so much time behind the scenes studying and preparing, but because I feel the burden to practice what I preach. There have been times I’ve found it difficult to preach through certain texts that hit uncomfortably close to home. Thankfully, I find it very difficult to call others to obedience where I find in myself rebellion or negligence, so sometimes in order to preach a text faithfully, I find that I have to do everything in my power to rid my heart of my own hypocrisy first. This is also one of the key benefits (and reasons) of systematic expository preaching through books of the Bible, because it’s harder to avoid subjects and texts that cut us.

Heavy burdens, no compassion

Now, let’s continue there in verse 4,

4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

Here Jesus uses imagery from within his own context to describe how the Pharisees had demanded that the people obey laws and regulations that God had not required of them. Traditions of men that they had added to the law of God, that hey had elevated to the authority of Scripture, binding men’s consciences where God had left them free.
In Jesus’ context they obviously didn’t have cars, airplanes or barges to transport their luggage, so when they traveled they relied upon beasts of burden, or animals (like donkeys) to carry their belongings. However, when they saddled their donkey and loaded up their things they had to be particularly careful not to overload their animal, otherwise they might bring harm to it. So Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees to someone who doesn’t care that they’ve overburdened their animal, and that they’re not even willing to lift a finger to help. That the man who is careful to not overburden his animal is more compassionate than they are.
And when you read this it’s hard not to remember Jesus’ words back in Matthew 11:28-30 when he said,

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The scribes and Pharisees are indifferent and heartless toward the people, but Jesus is compassionate. In Matthew 9:36 it also says that,

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus is angry with the these religious leaders because they have no compassion for his people.

To be seen by others

Then in verse 5 he says,

5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

Jesus says that their deeds are all for show, in order to be seen by others, that they might receive praise from men. He says they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, in other words, they broaden the straps of the small leather boxes that hold them on their foreheads in order to be seen by others, and they lengthen the fringes on their garments to appear especially pious and holy.
Now, in and of themselves, most of these things were not evil, or even unbiblical. For instance, Deuteronomy 22:12 instructed the Jews to make for themselves tassels on the four corners of their outer garments, and we’re told that even Jesus wore a garment like this. You probably remember the woman in Luke 8:44 that came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe (or the tassel) of his garment, and was immediately healed of her bleeding, or the crowd of sick people who begged Jesus that they might only touch the fringe of his garment, and that as many as touched it were made well.
It wasn’t wrong that the scribes and Pharisees wore phylacteries, had tassels on their garments, where honored at feasts, or were called rabbi by others, it was that they had exploited these things for their own vainglory. They loved the praise of men, which meant they were not content with God’s approval, they wanted the approval of men. They craved to be seen as superior and important by others, so they did these things to garner praise.
This is why, in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he warned his disciples in Matthew 6, verse 6 to,

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

and

when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

So it’s an important question we must constantly ask ourselves. Are we content with God’s approval? Or do we need the the approval of men also? Because it’s vital for us to realize that whoever we’re trying to please is who we will serve, and we know that no man can serve two masters, either he will hate the one and love the other, or devoted to the one and despise the other. Therefore, if we seek man’s approval we will neglect to seeks God’s.
And it’s deadly to desire the applause of men. Our flesh immediately enjoys it and delights in it, we even typically feel a biological response to it, and as a result we become less and less content with God’s approval. Jesus warned in Luke 6:26,

26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Do not pursue titles

Then Jesus continues there in verse 8,

8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

I think verses 8-10 tend to trip us up because it seems like Jesus is then prohibiting the use of all kinds of titles, but in context I don’t think he’s doing that at all. First, we know this because the NT prescribes elders to lead local churches and for those elders to teach. The Apostle Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:17 to “let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” In Acts 14:23 the disciples appointed elders in Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. In 1 Corinthians 4:15-17 Paul even calls himself Timothy’s father, and Timothy as his faithful child in the Lord. In fact, later in Matthew 23, in verse 34, he tells the Pharisees that he will send them prophets and wise men, and scribes, some of whom they will kill and crucify and flog in their synagogues.
So if we use the principle of interpreting Scripture with Scripture we see an entire host of clear texts that bear witness that Jesus must have something else in mind here. The question is what? Well, the immediate context is Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes and Pharisee’s hypocrisy, and specifically, their love for the praise of men. And one of the avenue of that praise are titles. They love being called things like rabbi (which means teach or master), and the feeling of superiority that come with it. So what Jesus is doing is arguing that these titles were not intended to become vehicles for boasting or vainglory, or to communicate superiority, or to be used to claim authority and honor which belong only to God. Which is why Jesus says there in verse 10,

for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

In other words, the Pharisees thought too highly of themselves. While they sat in Moses’ seat, they were not the Christ, they were not the supreme authority, or superior to anyone. Though they had biblical positions of authority they were not permitted to use such authority for their own advantage, for their own vainglory, or to usurp the authority of God. Their positions of authority did not make them superior to others. Which is why Jesus says there in verse 8, “and you are all brother.” In other words, you’re all equal, no matter what position of authority you may have been given.

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men

Which also meant they were not permitted to add their own laws or regulations to God’s commands, nor should any of their traditions be used to invalidate the law of God, as they often did. Turn with my briefly to Mark 7:6-8.
In Mark 7:6-7 Jesus quote from the prophet Isaiah and said to the Pharisees,

“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“ ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

7  in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

He goes on there in verse 9 to give them an example of how their pious looking traditions were even used to invalidate the commands of God.

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

To say it simply, the Pharisees had unlawfully asserted their authority and exalted themselves beyond their office, to appear superior to others, and all for their own vainglory.

Careful of our own traditions

Therefore, I think it’s important that we’re careful with our own traditions. And, as wiser men than me have said, if you don’t think you have any traditions, you’re probably the one with the most. So we must first acknowledge that we have them. Then the question is, first, are they biblical traditions, second, do we elevate them to the authority of Scripture, and third, do we hold others accountable to our traditions as if they were?
And we must be careful not to hold up our traditions in such a way as to appear superior to others. God has given us his law, but he has also given us much freedom, and we must be careful not to trample upon one another’s freedom with our own traditions. Our traditions are not synonymous with God’s law, no matter how good they are, and our traditions must never become an occasion to assert our own sense of superiority, which is what the scribes and Pharisees had done. They sought to make themselves appear superior to those around them.

Greatest among you shall be your servant

Which in fact is altogether contrary to the Kingdom of Heaven, which is why Jesus tells the crowd and his disciples there in verse 11-12 that,

11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

And you’ve been with me since we were back in chapter 18 you hopefully remember Jesus’ words to his disciples after had gotten in an argument over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, and he says,

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

You see, Jesus confronts the Pharisee’s sinful concept of leadership by teaching the crowd and disciples humility. Jesus portrays for us what many have called in our modern day servant leadership. That no matter what role, office or authority that you have, that it does not confer to you any greater degree of superiority, or value. While someone may posses authority, whether an elder, a husband, a parent or a CEO, no one is superior to another. A parent is not superior, or more important, than their child by virtue of their position as their parent. Their position of authority confers to them a greater level of responsibility, but not a position of superiority. Jesus teaches us that any authority we posses is given to serve others. That the greatest among us will be our servant. That the greatest in the kingdom of heaven will not necessarily be those possessing the greatest amount of authority, but those who serve others well with the authority they have been given.

Jesus the supreme example

And we know that Jesus himself sets the supreme example of this for us, as the one who posses all authority under heaven and earth, and yet he humbled himself to become a man, not to be served but to serve.
You might recall when John and James’s mother approached Jesus back in chapter 20 and asked that her sons sit at his right and his left in the kingdom, and Jesus responds to her worldly concept of greatness like this,

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Hallmark of humility

The single greatest hallmark of humility is whether we’re servants or not. When we’re leading others, whether our children, our wife, employees at work, the question should to be, “Am I seeking to serve them?” and “Do I see my role as a responsibility to serve those under my charge, or do I see my authority as an opportunity to dominate them, to assert my superiority, or to take advantage of others?” The latter is how the world views authority, and it’s how the Pharisees, and even Jesus’ disciples viewed authority, as an opportunity rather than a responsibility. So I pray that we would see our spheres of authority as our responsibility to love and serve one another, that we would emulate our Lord, to serve rather to be served.

Prayer

Lord, I ask that you would give us eyes to see the pride and hypocrisy in our lives, and a desire to actively root it out. I pray for the help of your Spirit to remove any blindness to it.
Lord, I ask that you compel us to serve one another, to not use our positions of authority for selfish gain, but for humble service, and to please you.
Lord, give us hearts that adore you, that seek your approval alone, to no chase after the praise of them that is fleeting and vain.
Lord, help us to see our own traditions, to ensure that they’re biblical, to ensure that they’re in submission to your law, and that we don’t bind the consciences of our brother with them where you haven’t.
Lord, we give you thanks that, despite our boastful and sinful hearts, you emptied yourself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, becoming obedient even to the point of death on a cross, for your glory and for our salvation.
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