23:1 As we have seen, there were three groups of people present in the temple courtyard. These were the disciples of Jesus, His critics, namely the various groups of Israel's leaders, and the crowds of ordinary Israelites. Jesus now turned from addressing the Pharisees (22:41) and proceeded to speak to the multitudes and His disciples primarily.
Jesus had begun to criticize the Pharisees and scribes to their faces about one year earlier (15:7). Later He warned His disciples to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees (16:5-12). Now He denounced these enemies publicly. He did so because the decision the masses and His disciples now faced was whether to follow Jesus or Israel's established religious leaders. They could not do both.
23:2 The scribes were the official teachers of the Old Testament. The Pharisees were a theological party within Judaism. Jesus was addressing two different though somewhat overlapping groups when He made this distinction. Some scribes were Pharisees, but not all Pharisees were scribes. The first title addressed the role of some of the leaders and the second the theological beliefs of some of them. A modern illustration might be "preachers"and "evangelicals."Not all preachers are evangelicals though some are. Likewise not all evangelicals are preachers though some are.
According to Old Testament figurative usage a person who sat on a predecessor's seat was that person's successor (Exod. 11:5; 12:29; 1 Kings 1:35, 46; 2:12; 16:11; 2 Kings 15:12; Ps. 132:12). When Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees had seated themselves on Moses' seat He meant they viewed themselves as Moses' legal successors, possessing his authority. This is indeed how they viewed themselves.831Jewish synagogues typically had a stone seat at the front where the authoritative teacher sat.832The NASB translation "have seated themselves"hints at the irony that follows in the first part of verse 3. They presumed to be Moses' successors.
23:3 Jesus' statement in the first part of this verse contradicts what He said earlier about how the other Jews should respond to the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees (15:7; 16:5-12). Assuming the consistency of Jesus' teaching we should understand His words here as ironical.833This interpretation allows the Greek aorist verb ekathisan("to sit,"v. 2) to have its natural force. This view also explains the chiasm in verses 2-4 in which the first two statements constitute irony and the second two give non-ironical advice.
AThe leaders presumed to take on Moses' teaching authority. v. 2
BDo what they say. v. 3a
B'Do not do what they do v. 3b
A'Their teaching merely binds people v. 4
Jesus continued to use irony in this address (vv. 23-28).
23:5-7 Jesus proceeded to identify some of these leaders' practices that the crowds and His disciples should not copy (cf. 6:1-18). "Phylacteries"were small boxes of leather or parchment in which the Jews placed copies of four Old Testament texts written on vellum (fine parchment, Exod. 13:2-10, 11-16; Deut. 6:4-9; 11:13-21). They then tied these onto their foreheads or forearms with straps to fulfill Exodus 13:9 and 16, and Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18. God probably intended the Jews to interpret these commands figuratively, but the superficial religious leaders took them literally. The Greek word translated "phylacteries"(totapot, lit. "frontlets") occurs here only in the New Testament. It had pagan associations, and Jesus' use of it here implied that the Jews were using these little boxes as good luck charms.834Furthermore they made them big so other Jews would be sure to notice their "piety."
Likewise the hypocritical leaders lengthened the tassels they wore on the corners of their garments (v. 5). God had commanded the wearing of these tassels to remind His people of their holy and royal calling (Num. 15:37-41; Deut. 22:12). All the Jews wore these tassels including Jesus (9:20; 14:36). However the religious leaders characteristically wore long ones to imply great piety and to attract the admiration of the common people.
The leaders wanted to sit as close to the law scrolls as possible in the synagogues. These were the chief seats (v. 6). The title "rabbi"meant "my teacher"or "my master."It was originally just a title of respect. However eventually the term became a title expressing great veneration. The leaders in Jesus' day wanted it because it set them off as distinctive and superior to others. Modern people who take this view of an advanced academic degree or a title fall into the same error.
23:8-10 These verses applied to all the Jews but particularly the disciples (cf. v. 1). By placing "you"in the emphatic first position when He spoke to the disciples Jesus was implying that they would take the position of leadership over God's people that the critics then occupied (cf. 13:52). They were not to love it when people called them "rabbi"because they had but one teacher (Gr. didaskalos), namely Jesus. They were to regard themselves as on the same brotherly level as learners rather than as masters over the unlearned.
The term "fathers"(v. 9) probably referred to their fathers in the faith, the spiritual predecessors of the present generation (cf. 2 Kings 2:12). Apparently the fathers in view were dead. The change in tense of the Greek verbs between verses 8, 9, and 10 seems to suggest this. If this is true, the person who now addresses a Roman Catholic priest, for example, as "father"is probably using this term in a slightly different sense than the Jews used it in Jesus' day (cf. 1 Cor. 4:15; 1 John 2:13-14). If a modern Christian uses the term with the idea that the "father"is his or her spiritual superior, however, he or she would be guilty of doing what Jesus forbade here.
The only person worthy of the title of teacher in the ultimate sense is Messiah. He is the only one who can sit in Moses' seat and continue to interpret and reveal the will of God correctly and authoritatively (cf. 1:1; 16:16; 22:41-46). Jesus used a third Greek word for teacher here, namely kathegetes. He probably did so to connect it with other key words in this section having to do with authoritative teaching: ekathisan("they sat down,"v. 2) and kathedra("seat,"v. 2). Thus He employed the literary device of homophony.
"Jesus' enemies, the certified teachers of Israel, could not answer basic biblical questions about the Messiah. Now he, Jesus the Messiah, declares in the wake of that travesty that he himself is the only one qualified to sit in Moses' seat--to succeed him as authoritative Teacher of God's will and mind."835
It would be incorrect to conclude from this teaching that Jesus discouraged all recognition of distinctions between leaders and their roles among His servants. The apostles, for example, had authority in the church that surpassed that of ordinary Christians. Elders and deacons continue to exercise divinely recognized authority in the church, and God has commanded us to respect these individuals (1 Cor. 16:15-16; Heb. 13:7, 17). What Jesus was condemning was seeking and giving honor that transcends what is appropriate since believers are all brethren, since God is our true spiritual Father, and since Jesus is our real teacher and leader. As the teachers and leaders of God's people, we must remember that we are always fellow learners with the saints. We are still children of the heavenly Father, and we are ever subject to Jesus Christ.
". . . the risen Christ is as displeased with those in his church who demand unquestioning submission to themselves and their opinions and confuse a reputation for showy piety with godly surrender to his teaching as he ever was with any Pharisee."836
23:11-12 In concluding these warnings Jesus returned to the subject of humility that He had stressed with His disciples earlier (cf. 18:4; 20:20-28). Jesus taught His disciples to be servants of others, not lords over them.
"Leadership positions should never be a goal in and of themselves, but should always be viewed as opportunities to serve others."837
What Jesus predicted here will happen when the kingdom begins. Jesus Himself was the greatest example of what He taught here (cf. 20:26-28; Phil. 2:5-11).
