The questioning is over; now Jesus responds to the assault. Three years as a missionary to the natives of Galilee and Judea have given Jesus plenty of issues to be concerned about. He has proclaimed: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” Some people have responded positively, some have rejected him outright. The people who have drawn near to Jesus have been those in need of healing, outcasts from mainstream society, and even a few needy Gentiles (the Centurion and the Syro-Phonecian woman). One leader of a synagogue begged Jesus to heal his daughter; while leaders in other synagogues resisted Jesus’ preaching.
While in prison, John sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was the One. Jesus sent this message back:
“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
Increasingly, there were those who did take offense at his mission and his fame. In doing so, they have resisted God’s grace (see Luke 7: 29-30)..
23: 1-7. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, (hard to bear), and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes (tassels) long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi.
The word ‘Then’ links right back to the previous chapter with its verbal assaults by the various leading factions. What follows is a critical review of that leadership. This kind of prophecy is unusual for Jesus, but here it is. (The phrase ‘hard to bear’ is not in most of the early manuscripts.)
First, though, a cautionary note: If you have read all of Matthew and the other gospels, you know that not all Pharisees nor all of the other Jewish leaders are guilty of these infractions. As with any category, some fit and some don’t. What Jesus offers here is a way to critically examine leaders to see if they are god-fearing or self-aggrandizing.
What is the setting? Matthew does not tell us that Jesus has left the temple, so he is still there. Who is in the audience? Jesus begins speaking to the crowds and his disciples; and you can imagine that his voice is as loud as a tour guide trying to keep 50 tourists in line. Then there is a change in who Jesus is addressing. Jesus turns to the scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees. However, the crowds and disciples get to overhear what Jesus says.
Jesus’ complaints were likely familiar to the crowds since many of them also felt that some of the religious leaders were too insistent on obeying obscure laws that strictly limited people’s behavior while, at the same time, they created loopholes for themselves. Remember that we talked about a case where the law for priests was expanded to apply to all the people, which is not what God said.
Compare, for example, Deuteronomy 16: 16 which is God’s command for all males to appear three times a year to offer sacrifices, with Leviticus 21: 16-24 which restricts only Aaron’s descendants, that is, the priests, from serving at the altar if they are blind, lame, or eunuchs. The Pharisees applied that restriction to all the people.
Jesus says that he has no problem with the primary teachings of the scribes and Pharisees since they are successors to Moses. What he has a problem with is nit-picking rules that bind people up, and the hypocrisy (from the Greek word for ‘play-acting’) of their own behavior.
After the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD, the Pharisee movement continued in the Diaspora, and thus at the time Matthew’s Gospel was being circulated there was often conflict between the Jesus movement and the Pharisee movement which to outsiders looked like two different Jewish sects (Witherington, 2006, page 423).
There was nothing wrong with tassels or phylacteries. The latter were leather boxes with verses of scripture in them that were attached to the head and the forearms. This followed God’s instructions literally:
“You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and fix them as an emblem on your forehead” (Deuteronomy 11: 18).
The tassels or fringes were also a mnemonic device instituted by God.
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes’” (Numbers 15: 37-41).
Jesus himself wore tassels; see Matthew 9: 20 where the same Greek word is used. So, what’s the problem? The problem, as always, is with the heart, the intention of an action. Any action taken in order to be seen by others (broad phylacteries and long tassels) is the wrong way to go.
If your good deed is tithing or giving alms, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Matthew 6: 3). If it is fasting, wash your face and make it appear that nothing special is happening (Matthew 6: 16). If it is praying, don’t be flashy; go off by yourself (Matthew 6: 5-7) and keep it simple (Matthew 6: 8-10). If it is attending a banquet, then take a lower ranking seat; if honor is due you, then it may come, but don’t grasp at it (Luke 14: 7-11).
23: 8-12. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father, the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
Jesus now speaks more specifically to his disciples. Again, the context seems to be self-exaltation more than titles. There is always a temptation when one is called ‘rabbi’, ‘father’, or ‘teacher’ to think they deserve that title and to forget that there is only one person for whom these titles are ultimately appropriate.
There are to be no such “personality cults” in Christianity, not cult worship of a mega-church pastor, nor a TV preacher, nor a politician. The pattern for Christianity is for leaders to think less of themselves, not more. Should they try to exalt themselves, then they should expect a downfall and the vindication of those they have tried to oppress. Jesus follows a prophetic theme about the reversal of roles that occurs when God is present (Isaiah 2: 11-12; Isaiah 5: 14-16; Ezekiel 21: 25-26). Reverberations of this theme shake the world in Mary’s Magnificat.
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. … He has shown his strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1: 46-48, 51-53).
Many places in scripture give examples of the rich and powerful being deposed while the poor and humble are elevated. Revelation is full of such examples, but look also at Daniel Chapter 7. In Daniel’s vision he saw powerful beasts that represented various kingdoms. The last one, presumably representing the Roman Empire and its successors had ten horns (representing emperors), and then “another horn appeared, a little one coming up among them…. There were eyes like a human in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly. This little horn grew and became powerful, at least in earthly terms.
Then Daniel concludes his vision: “As I watched, … an Ancient One (God) took his throne” and also “I saw one like a human being (Jesus) coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.”
What happened to the little horn with the big mouth that spoke arrogantly? He seemed to be winning “until the Ancient One came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom.”
Do not despair, we know how this story ends. Jesus returns and the Kingdom of God displaces all earthly kingdoms and governments.