himself shall be exalted. (23:1–12)
Matthew 23 records Jesus’ last public sermon. It was
not a sermon on salvation, on the resurrection, or on principles for
living the kingdom life but rather a vital and sobering message of
condemnation against false teachers. In verses 1–7 He warns the
people about false religious leaders in Israel, and in verses 8–12
He admonishes the disciples and other true spiritual leaders not to
emulate them. He then turns His attention directly to the false
leaders themselves, epitomized by the scribes and Pharisees, and
gives them His final and most scathing denunciation (vv. 13–36). In
His closing comments (vv. 37–39) He expresses His intense
compassion for unbelieving Israel and gives the assurance that one
day, in fulfillment of God’s sovereign promise, His chosen people
will turn back to Him in faith.
Since the Fall, the world has always had false religious
leaders, pretending to represent God but representing only
themselves. False leaders were active in the rebellious scheme to
erect the tower of Babel. Moses came into serious conflict with the
religious sorcerers and magicians of Egypt when he demanded the
release of God’s people by pharaoh, who probably considered himself
to be a god (see Ex. 7:11–12, 22; 8:7). Ezekiel faced the false
prophets in Israel, whom God called “foolish prophets who are
following their own spirit and have seen nothing” (Ezek. 13:3).
Jesus referred to spurious religious leaders as “false
Christs and false prophets [who] will arise and will show great signs
and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect” (Matt.
24:24). Paul called them preachers of a perverted gospel (Gal. 1:8)
and purveyors of the doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1). Peter spoke of
them as those who “secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the Master who bought them” (2 Pet. 2:1). John called them
antichrists who deny that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ (1 John
2:18, 22). Jude called them dreamers who “defile the flesh, and
reject authority, and revile angelic majesties” (Jude 8). As Paul
declared to the Ephesian elders in his brief and touching reunion
with them on the beach near Miletus, false religious leaders are
“savage wolves” of the spirit world whose purpose is to corrupt
and destroy God’s people (Acts 20:29).
The religion pages of major newspapers in our day are
filled with advertisements for every kind of sect and false religion,
including deviant forms of Christianity as well as cults and the
occult. Many of those groups masquerade as forms of Christianity and
claim to teach a new and better gospel. But while purporting to offer
spiritual life and help, they instead teach the way of spiritual
death and damnation. While chiming to lead people to heaven, they
usher them directly into hell.
Scripture makes clear that as the second coming of
Christ comes near, counterfeiters of the gospel will proliferate and
amass to themselves great followings and immense influence (see,
e.g., 2 Thess. 2:3–4; 1 Tim. 4:1–3; 2 Tim. 3:1–9; 2 Pet.
2:1–3;). The only time in history equal to what that future
demon-inspired age will be like was the time of our Lord’s ministry
on earth. At that time all hell garnered its forces in a three-year
assault against the Son of God in a desperate effort to contradict
what He taught and to counteract what He did. It is against the human
instruments of that satanic attack that Jesus addresses this last
public and permanently instructive message, given near the end of a
long and grueling day of teaching and confrontation in the Temple.
Dialogue between Jesus and the Temple authorities had
ended, because “no one was able to answer [Jesus] a word, nor did
anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question” (Matt.
22:46). Although the Lord had frequently spoken against the
unbelieving religious leaders (see Matt. 5:20; 15:1–9; 16:6–12;
John 8:44), it was necessary to give a final word, a last
comprehensive warning, to them and to everyone else, about the
eternal danger of their perverse teachings. Jesus also no doubt
wanted to give those unbelieving leaders themselves opportunity to
turn from their falsehood and follow Him to forgiveness and
salvation.
It seems evident that many hearts were softened to the
gospel that day, including the hearts of some of the leaders. On the
day of Pentecost alone some three thousand souls came to the Lord
(Acts 2:41), and it may well have been that eight or ten times that
number believed within a few more months, as the apostles “filled
Jerusalem with [their] teaching” (Acts 5:28). We can be certain
that many, and perhaps most, of the converts in those early days had
seen and heard Jesus personally and been drawn by the Holy Spirit to
His truth and grace. Perhaps for some, this message was the point of
initial attraction to Jesus Christ.
The Description of False
Spiritual Leaders
Then
Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying, “The
scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of
Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not
do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them.
And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but
they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.
But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden
their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments. And
they love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the
synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being
called by men, Rabbi. (23:1–7)
At this time Jesus spoke directly to the
multitudes and to His disciples, but the religious leaders, most
particularly the scribes and the Pharisees, were within
earshot nearby (see v. 13).
When the Jews returned to Palestine after the seventy
years of captivity in Babylon, the Scriptures for a while regained
their central place in Israel’s life and worship, humanly speaking
due largely to revival under the godly leaders Nehemiah and Ezra (see
Neh. 8:1–8). Ezra was one of the first Jewish scribes in the sense
in which the title was used in Jesus’ day.
An ancient Jewish saying held that God gave the law to
angels, angels gave it to Moses, Moses gave it to Joshua, Joshua gave
it to the elders, the elders gave it to the prophets, and the
prophets gave it to the men of the synagogue who were later called
scribes. Over the course of the years, those synagogue scribes
became responsible not only for copying and preserving but also for
teaching and interpreting God’s law. There were no more prophets
after the Exile, and the scribes inherited the primary role of
spiritual leadership in Israel. In Jesus’ day scribes were
found among both the Pharisees and Sadducees but were more commonly
associated with the Pharisees.
Although the precise origin of the Pharisees is
unknown, they appeared sometime before the middle of the second
century b.c. Numbering perhaps as many as six thousand, many of them
were also scribes, authorities in Jewish law, both scriptural and
traditional. As has been noted many times in this study of Matthew,
the Pharisees were by far the dominant religious group in
Israel in Jesus’ day and the most popular with the masses. The
other major party, the Sadducees, were largely in charge of the
Temple, but their driving concern was not for religion but for money
and power. As their name suggests, the Herodians were a political
party loyal to the Herod family. The Essenes, which are not mentioned
in Scripture, were a reclusive sect who devoted much of their efforts
to copying the Scriptures, and the Zealots were radical nationalists
who sought to overthrow Rome militarily. Like the Sadducees, the
Herodians’ and Zealots’ interest in religion was motivated
primarily by desire for personal and political gain. Consequently, it
was to the scribes and the Pharisees that the people looked
for religious guidance and authority, a role those leaders greatly
cherished.
William Barclay, who devoted many years to biblical
research in Palestine, reports that the Talmud (Sotah, 22b)
speaks of seven kinds of Pharisees.
The first group Barclay calls “shoulder Pharisees,”
so named because of their custom of displaying accounts of their good
deeds on their shoulders for other people to see and admire. When
they prayed, they put ashes on their heads as an act of humility and
wore sad expressions on their faces to suggest piousness.
The second group he calls “wait a little,” due to
their cleaver ability to come up with a fabricated spiritual reason
for putting off doing something good. Pious excuses were their stock
in trade.
The third group were the “bruised and bleeding.” In
order not to commit the sin of looking at a woman lustfully, those
Pharisees closed their eyes whenever women were around.
Understandably, they received many bruises and abrasions from bumping
into walls, posts, and other objects. They measured their piousness
by the number and severity of their injuries.
The fourth group were the “humpback tumbling.” In
order to show off their supposed humility, they slouched over with
bent hacks and shuffled their feet instead of taking normal steps,
leading to frequent stumbles and tumbles.
The fifth group were the “ever-seeking,” named
because of the meticulous record keeping of their good deeds in order
to determine how much reward God owed them.
The sixth group were the “fearing” Pharisees, whose
terror over the prospect of hell motivated everything they did.
The seventh and last group were the “God-fearing,”
those whose lives were motivated out of genuine love for God and a
desire to please Him. The Pharisee Nicodemus (see John 3:1; 19:39)
would doubtlessly have been classed in this group.
But Nicodemus and the few other Pharisees who believed
in Jesus were very much the exceptions. For the most part, the
Pharisees were the Lord’s most strident critics and implacable
enemies. In Matthew 23:2–7, Jesus presents five characteristics of
the unbelieving scribes and the Pharisees, characteristics
that typify all false spiritual leaders.
False Leaders Lack Authority
[they]
have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; (23:2b)
The initial characteristic describing false religious
leaders is lack of divine authority. The key to our Lord’s point is
the fact that the scribes and Pharisees had seated themselves.
They were not appointed by God to sit in the chair of Moses
and had not even been elected by the people. They had simply
arrogated to themselves that position of authority, which was
therefore spurious.
Chair is from kathedra, the Greek term
from which we get cathedral, which originally referred to a
place, or seat, of ecclesiastical authority. The same idea is found
today in such expressions as “chair of philosophy” or “chair of
history,” which refer to the most esteemed professorships in a
college or university. When the pope of the Roman Catholic church
speaks in his full ecclesiastical authority, he is said to be
speaking ex cathedra.
For Jews, Moses was the supreme law giver, the
supreme spokesman for God. Therefore to sit in the chair of Moses
was tantamount to being God’s authoritative spokesman, and it was
that very claim that many of the scribes and Pharisees made for
themselves.
It was for that reason they were envious of Jesus and so
determined to undermine Him. They were infuriated because the people
discerned that Jesus taught with an authority that seemed genuine
(Matt. 7:29). Even to the uneducated masses, something about the
teaching of the scribes and Pharisees did not ring true, whereas
Jesus’ teaching did. Jesus was therefore a threat to those leaders
and to their heretofore unchallenged religious authority.
Jeremiah was confronted by false prophets in his day,
prophets the Lord repeatedly said were not sent by Him and were not
preaching His word. “I have neither sent them nor commanded them
nor spoken to them,” God declared to the prophet; “they are
prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the
deception of their own minds” (Jer. 14:14). “I did not send these
prophets, but they ran,” the Lord later said to Jeremiah. “I did
not speak to them, but they prophesied. … ‘Behold, I am against
those who have prophesied false dreams,’ declares the Lord, ‘and
related them, and led My people astray by their falsehoods and
reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do
they furnish this people the slightest benefit,’ declares the Lord”
(23:21, 32; cf. 27:15; 28:15; 29:9).
God told Isaiah that many of the people would not listen
to his words. “For this is a rebellious people,” He said, “false
sons, sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord; who
say to the seers, ‘You must not see visions’; and to the
prophets, ‘You must not prophesy to us what is right, speak to us
pleasant words, prophesy illusions’ ” (Isa. 30:9–10). Sinful
people resist God’s truth because it is a rebuke to them, and they
just as naturally turn to false religions and philosophies because
those systems in one way or another approve and indulge their wicked
inclinations and desires. They are therefore easy prey for false
teachers who appeal to their base natures.
Jesus warned that such teachers and leaders are lying
shepherds who do not enter the sheepfold by the door but climb in
surreptitiously over the fence to wreak havoc among the flock. They
are thieves who come “only to steal, and kill, and destroy” (John
10:1, 10). They do not represent God or speak in His name or in His
authority but are deceivers, usurpers, and destroyers of God’s
Word, God’s work, and God’s people.
They are in marked contrast to those who are genuinely
sent by the Lord as ministers of His gospel, which He has committed
to them (Gal. 1:15). Like Timothy, they have been called and set
apart by God by the laying on of hands as confirmation of their
divine commission and authority (1 Tim. 4:14). They are like the
apostles, on whom the Lord breathed, saying, “Receive the Holy
Spirit” (John 20:22) and to whom He later said, “All authority
has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:18–19).
False leaders, on the other hand, lack divine authority
in what they say and do. They are self-appointed ministers of human
ideas and traditions, and as they promote their false notions they
obscure God’s truth and pervert God’s righteousness for their own
selfish purposes.
As in the prophets’ times and in Jesus’ time, the
world still abounds with teachers who claim to speak in God’s name
and power but do not. They usurp the place of the Lord’s true
shepherds with lies, false promises, delusions, dreams, visions, and
usually are guilty of immoral living.
False Leaders Lack Intergity
therefore
all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to
their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them. (23:3)
Second, false religious leaders are characterized by
lack of integrity, hypo-critically demanding of others many things
they never do themselves.
In exhorting His followers, “All that they tell
you, do and observe,” Jesus obviously was not speaking
comprehensively of the lies and errors they taught but only of their
instructions that conformed to Scripture. He had made clear that the
righteousness acceptable to God must exceed the hypocritical,
works-oriented self-righteousness the scribes and Pharisees advocated
and practiced (Matt. 5:20). In His following comments He also made
clear that their countless man-made traditions, many of which
actually contradicted God’s law, were absolutely worthless and led
people away from God rather than to Him. They were wrong about
murder, fornication, divorce, adultery, swearing, praying, worship,
and virtually every other area of living (see 5:21–48). They
“invalidated the word of God for the sake of [their] tradition”
(15:6).
Jesus was not giving blanket approval for following the
teachings of the scribes and Pharisees but was rather warning against
throwing the baby out with the dirty bath water. In other words, if
they speak God’s truth, you should do and observe it, Jesus
was saying. The Word of God is still the Word of God, even in the
mouth of a false teacher. Insofar as the scribes and Pharisees
accurately taught the law and the prophets, their teaching was to be
heeded.
The verb poieō (do) is an aorist
imperative and demands an immediate response. Tēreō
(observe) is a present imperative and carries the idea of
continuing action. Jesus was therefore saying, “Immediately obey
and keep on obeying whatever the scribes and Pharisees teach if it
follows God’s Word.”
But do not do according to their deeds. When the
scribes and Pharisees did occasionally teach God’s truth, they did
not obey it themselves. “They say things, and do not do them,”
Jesus declared. They were religious phonies, consummate hypocrites
who did not practice what they preached.
The unbelieving religious leaders did not have the
ability to keep God’s law even had they genuinely wanted to,
because they possessed no spiritual resources to make such obedience
possible. Being unredeemed, they lived only in the flesh and by the
flesh’s power, and the flesh is not capable of fulfilling God’s
law (Rom. 3:20). It has no power either to restrain evil or to do
good. It can develop impressive and sophisticated systems of external
morality and ethical codes of conduct, but it cannot empower men to
live up to them. It may talk much about God’s love and about His
will for man to live in love, but it cannot produce love in a sinful
heart. It may talk much about serving the poor and living in peace,
but it cannot produce genuine love for the poor or genuine peace in
the heart, much less in the world. Many religions, sects, and cults
have high moral standards, promote close family ties, and advocate
generosity, neighborliness, and good citizenship. But because all
such systems are man-made, they work entirely in the power of the
flesh, which can only produce the works of the flesh. Only the new
person in Christ can “joyfully concur with the law of God in the
inner man” (Rom. 7:22), and only the redeemed life, the life
“created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10) is able to
do good works.
Later in this diatribe against the scribes and Pharisees
the Lord speaks of their carefully tithing “mint and dill and
cummin” but neglecting “the weightier provisions of the law:
justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matt. 23:23). Mint, dill, and
cummin were not farm crops grown for profit but were garden spices
used in cooking, and a tithe of those herbs was therefore worth very
little. But whereas those leaders were meticulous in giving every
tenth herb seed to the synagogue or Temple, they were totally
unconcerned about fulfilling the moral demands of God’s law,
represented by justice, mercy, and faithfulness. They were adroit at
making good appearances of right living, of cleaning the outside of
the cup. But inside, Jesus declared, they were nothing but
self-indulgent thieves, the decaying carcasses of spiritually dead
men. You “outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are
full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (vv. 25–28).
The false religious leader tries, often unsuccessfully,
to put a cap on his wicked behavior to keep it out of view, but in so
doing he merely traps it underneath the surface, where it festers,
putrefies, and becomes still more corrupt. Paul speaks of such
hypocrites as being “seared in their own conscience as with a
branding iron” (1 Tim. 4:2). They have sinned so long and so
willfully that their consciences have lost all sensitivity to truth
and holiness, just as scar tissue loses sensitivity to pain.
Peter vividly portrays the nature of false prophets and
teachers, about whom he solemnly warns believers. They “secretly
introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought
them,” he said, “bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”
They “follow their sensuality and because of them the way of the
truth [is] maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with
false words” (2 Pet. 2:1–3). He further describes them as,
those who indulge the flesh in
its corrupt desires and despise authority Daring, self-willed, …
unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and
killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, … stains and
blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, … having eyes full of
adultery and that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls,
having a heart trained in greed, accursed children, … springs
without water, and mists driven by a storm, … speaking out arrogant
words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those
who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them
freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption. (vv. 10,
12–14, 17–19)
As noted earlier, Jude refers to them in similar terms,
calling them dreamers of wicked dreams, defilers of the flesh,
rejecters of authority, and revilers of angelic majesties,
unreasoning animals, hidden reefs, clouds without water, “trees
without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting
up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black
darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 8, 10, 12–13).
In the unregenerate heart, vice cannot be restrained and
virtue cannot be produced. That is why even the best man-made system,
even one that espouses many standards that Scripture itself espouses,
cannot keep its followers from doing wrong or empower them to do what
is truly right-for the simple reason that it cannot change their
hearts. That is also why every system that gives man the duty to make
himself right before God is doomed to hypocrisy and sham, because the
best it can produce is outward righteousness, outward good works,
outward love, outward peace, while the depraved inner person remains
unchanged.
False Leaders Lack Sympathy
And
they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they
themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.
(23:4)
Third, false religious leaders are characterized by lack
of sympathy They not only are usurpers and hypocrites but are
loveless and uncaring.
The picture Jesus gives here reflects the common custom
of that day, and of people in many underdeveloped countries today, of
loading up a donkey, camel, or other beast of burden to the point
where it can hardy move. As they traveled down the road, the owner
would walk alongside, carrying nothing himself, berating and bearing
the animal if it happened to stumble or balk, with no concern for the
animal’s feeldings or welfare.
That, Jesus said, is exactly the way the scribes and
Pharisees treated their fellow Jews. They piled up heavy loads
of religious regulations, rules, and rituals on men’s
shoulders until they were unbearable and impossible to carry. And
when the people failed to keep all of the requirements, as they were
doomed to do, they were chided and rebuked by the leaders, who
thereby added the burden of guilt to those of weariness and
frustration.
The people were taught that it was only by their own
good works they could please God. If at the end of life the good
works outweighed the bad, then God would grant entrance into heaven.
But the scribes and Pharisees offered the people no help in achieving
even those fleshly goals, much less any spiritual ones. They
themselves were unwilling to help move those
unbearable burdens with so much as a finger. Consequently,
Judaism had become insufferably depressing and debilitating.
The good news that Jesus brought, on the other hand, was
that He would take away the load of sin that always outweighed their
good works. That is why Paul was infuriated with the Judaizers, who
tried to draw the Galatian believers back into legalism. He did not
care who they were or claimed to be. “Even though we, or an angel
from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we
have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so
I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to
that which you received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8–9). “It
was for freedom that Christ set us free,” he said later in the same
letter; “therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again
to a yoke of slavery” (5:1).
The scribes and Pharisees had no interest in God’s
grace, forgiveness, and mercy, because those divine provisions make
no allowance for human merit or good works. They could not comprehend
and were utterly offended by a gospel that did not credit their own
goodness. And they were scandalized by a gospel that declared,
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God” (1
Pet. 5:6).
They did not feel they needed God’s grace for
themselves and did not want it preached to others, because that
liberating truth undercut the entire system of works-righteousness by
which they kept the people in subjection to their own human
authority.
Certain false leaders in the early church forbad
marriage and the eating of particular foods, which Paul declared “God
has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know
the truth” (1 Tim. 4:3). Under the name of Christ Roman Catholicism
still forbids marriage of their clergy and teaches abstinence from
certain foods on certain days and other legalistic and unscriptural
doctrines.
Peter declared of false teachers that “in their greed
they will exploit you with false words” (2 Pet. 2:3). Those under
the care of such a fieshly, ungodly leader are no more than
merchandise to be exploited to feed his ego and his wallet.
For centuries Israel had been stumbling and falling
under the burden of unscrupulous, hardened religious leaders who,
although they claimed to minister in God’s name, had love neither
for God nor for His people. Long before the time of Christ, the Lord
spoke to Ezekiel about such men, saying,
Son of Man, prophesy against the
shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, “Thus
says the Lord God, ‘Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding
themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat
and cloth yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep
without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not
strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have
not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you
sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have
dominated them. And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and
they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.’
” (Ezek. 34:2–5)
False religious leaders today are still building empires
and amassing fortunes by fleecing those they pretend to serve. It
would be impossible to determine the millions of believers and
unbelievers alike who are misled spiritually, abused emotionally, and
bilked financially in the name of Christ Like the false shepherds of
ancient Israel, they feed on their own sheep.
Earlier in His ministry, as He looked out over the
multitudes who had so long been exploited by the corrupt religious
leaders of Israel, Jesus “felt compassion for them, because they
were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt.
9:36). It must have been gloriously refreshing for those people to
hear Jesus say, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and
I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I
am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your
souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light” (Matt. 11:28–30).
Following the spirit and example of his Master, the
apostle Paul always ministered to those under his care like the
gentlest of shepherds, even like the most caring of mothers. “We
proved to be gentle among you?” he reminded the Thessalonians, “as
a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus a
fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not
only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become
very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship,
how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we
proclaimed to the gospel of God” (1 Thess. 2:7–9).
False Leaders Lack Spirituality
But
they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their
phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments. (23:5)
Fourth, false religious leaders are chacterized by lack
of spirituality, by the absence of a genuine desire to please God.
Like the scribes and Pharisees, the motivation for all their
pretentious religious activities and deeds is to be noticed
by men. Everything is done for outward show rather than from the
heart, for fleshly gratification of ego rather than selfless service
to God and to others in His name. The issue for them is not godly
character but fleshy appearance, the making of “a good showing in
the flesh” (Gal. 6:12). Their purpose is to glorify themselves, not
God.
The Jewish religious leaders paraded their piosity
everywhere they went. The center of their living was “practicing
[their] righteousness before Men to be noticed by them” (Matt.
6:1). When they prayed in the synagogue or on the street corner, they
did so with great ostentation (v. 5), and when they fasted, they went
out of their way to call attention to the sacrifice they were making
(v. 16).
Such people, Jude says, are “worldly-minded, devoid of
the Spirit” (Jude 19). They follow their natural appetites and
ambitions without restraint or shame, considering themselves to be
the spiritually elite with a favored status before God as well as
before men.
Hundreds of such fleshly frauds without the Holy Spirit
still proclaim themselves as representatives of God and are followed
by millions of gullible people who support them with hundreds of
millions of dollars every year. In order to feed their egos and to
amass wealth and power, thee false leaders sometimes pastor huge
churches, head colleges and seminaries, direct radio and television
empires, and promote many other personally-oriented activities in the
name of the gospel.
In Jesus’ day, the means for being noticed by men
were much more limited and less sophisticated, but false leaders then
reflected the same fleshly desire to elevate self. Everything they
did was to advance themselves and to foster the admiration of men.
To flaunt their religiosity, the scribes and Pharisees
would broaden their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of
their garments.
Four times in the Pentateuch (Ex. 13:9, 16; Deut. 6:8;
11:18) the Lord commanded that His law was to be upon the hands and
foreheads of His people as a reminder of Him. The ancient Jews
understood that command as it was given, not to be token literally
but as symbolic of God’s law being the controlling factor in their
lives, not only in what they did, represented by the hand, but in
what they thought, represented by the forehead. Both their thoughts
and their actions were to be directed by God’s Word. Far from
having the purpose of promoting external human pretense and pride,
that instruction was meant to elevate the Lord and to draw His people
closer to Himself.
As the centuries passed, many Jews came to look on the
injunction not as a means of making God’s Word dominant in their
lives but of making themselves dominant in the eyes of their fellow
Jews. They literalized and externalized the command and turned it
into a means of feeding their own egos.
Phylacteries were sometimes called tephillin,
a name derived from the Hebrew word translated “frontals” in
Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18 (cf. Ex. 13:16). Phylacteries were small
square boxes made of leather from a ceremonially clean animal. After
being dyed black, the leather was sewn into a box using twelve
stitches, each stitch representing one of the twelve tribes of
Israel. Placed into each phylactery were copies of Exodus 13:1–10
and 13:11–16 and of Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21. The
phylactery worn on the head had four compartment, each containing one
of the texts on a small piece of parchment. The phylactery worn on
the hand contained a single piece of parchment on which all four
texts were written. The Hebrew letter shin (y) was inscribed on both
sides of the box worn on the head, and the head strap was tied to
form the letter daleth (d) and the hand strap to form the letter yodh
(j). The three letters together formed Shaddai, one of the
ancient names of God usually translated “Almighty.” Long leather
strops were used to bind one box to the forehead and the other to the
arm and left hand, because the left side was considered to be closer
to the heart.
In Orthodox Judaism still today every boy is given a set
of phylacteries when he comes of age on his thirteenth birthday Like
the other Jewish men, he then wears his phylacteries at morning
prayer, as was the general custom in Jesus’ day.
There is no record of the use of phylacteries
until about 400 b.c. during the intertestamental period. Relics of
them were found in the Essene community at Qumran near the Dead Sea.
Phylacteries is a transliteration of the Greek phulaktēria,
which referred to a means of protection or a safeguard. In pagan
societies it was sometimes used as a synonym for amulet or charm.
Although trust in such magical protection was dearly condemned in the
Old Testament, as apostate Jews drifted away from God’s Word-the
very Word of which the phylactery was meant to remind them-they
invariably picked up pagan beliefs. Consequently, some Jews came to
look on their phylacteries as magical charms for warding off evil
spirits and other dangers.
The story is told in rabbinical literature of a rabbi
who had an audience with a king. Ancient custom dictated that a
person who left the king’s presence always walked away backwards
while bowing, since it was considered a mark of great dishonor to
turn one’s back on a monarch. That particular rabbi, however,
simply turned around and walked away, apparently to demonstrate his
conviction that, because of their high standing before God, rabbis
were superior to royalty. When the irate king ordered his soldiers to
kill the man for his effrontery, the straps of his phylacteries were
said to blaze with fire, putting fear into the hearts of the soldiers
and the king and thus saving the rabbi from death.
Some scribes and Pharisees held the phylacteries to be
even more sacred than the golden head plate worn by the high priest,
because God’s name was written twenty-three times in the
phylacteries but only once on the golden head plate. God had been so
made over into their own image that many Pharisees believed the Lord
Himself wore phylacteries. Some Jewish writings from intertestamental
and New Testament times give the impression that God was often
thought of as little more than a glorified rabbi who studied the law
three hours a day.
Rather than wearing their phylacteries only at prayer
time, as the custom was for most Jewish men, the Pharisees wore them
continually as a sign of superior spirituality. They also would
broaden their phylacteries, making them larger than normal to
signify supposed greater devotion to God. In a similar way and for
the same purpose, they would lengthen the tassels of their
garments.
As with phylacteries, the use of tassels had its
origin in Scripture. The Lord instructed Moses to tell the sons of
Israel “that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners
of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall
put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. And it shall be a
tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the
Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your
own eyes, after which you played the harlot, in order that you may
remember to do all My commandments, and be holy to your God” (Num.
15:38–40).
Jesus Himself wore tassels, and it was these
tassels, or fringes, on His cloak that the woman win the hemorrhage
touched (Matt. 9:20). In later Judaism the tassels were worn on the
man’s inner garments, and today the remnant of the tassel tradition
is seen in the prayer shawls, called tallithim, worn by Orthodox
Jewish men.
The purpose of both the phylacteries and the
tassels was ostensibly to remind the people of God and His Word
and to set them apart as His people (cf. Zech. 8:23). Both of those
outward symbols were intended to be toward reminders and motivators.
They were given a means of calling attention to God, but the scribes
and Pharisees turned them into a means of calling attention to
themselves. Because of their misuse, the broadened phylacteries and
lengthened tassels became marks of carnality rather than
spirituality.
False Leaders Lack Humility
And
they love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the
synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being
called by men, Rabbi. (23:6–7)
Fifth, false religious leaders are characterized by lack
of humility. As with their modern counterparts, the scribes and
Pharisees loved the place of honor at banquets. They vied with
each other for a place at the host’s table in order to be in the
center of attention. They gloried in being given places of prestige
and eminence. It was that ego-centered spirit that led James and John
to ask their mother to request of Jesus that they be appointed to sit
at His right and left hands in the kingdom (Matt. 20:20–21).
Out of the same motivation the scribes and Pharisees
prized the chief seats in the synagogues. As in most churches
today, synagogues typically had a raised platform in front where the
worship leaders would sit. Visiting rabbis and other religious
dignitaries were often asked to participate by reading Scripture and
giving a homily It was on the basis of that custom that Jesus was
asked to read and expound the text from Isaiah 61:1–2 in His home
synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16–21). Far from having Jesus’
humble spirit, however, the religious leaders often used such
opportunities to ostentatiously display themselves before the
congregation.
Christian pastors are tempted at times to use their
positions and the Christian activities in which they are involved for
their own gratification and glory. Unfortunately, many congregations
encourage ostentation and show by providing elaborate and ornate
pulpits and other platform furnishings and by treating their pastors
with unjustified distinction.
In addition to having seats of honor, the scribes and
Pharisees also loved to have respectful greetings in the market
places, and being called by men, Rabbi. As they traveled through
town they doted on being treated with special honor. Rabbinical
writings report that a certain pagan governor in Caesarea
flatteringly spoke of the rabbis’ faces as faces of angels.
They especially loved the formal and respectful title
Rabbi, which was used in that day much as “doctor” is
today. In fact, the Latin equivalent of rabbi comes from docēre,
which means to teach and is the term from which the English word
doctor is derived. In Jesus’ day, the title Rabbi
carried the exalted ideas of “supreme one, excellency, most
knowledgeable one, great one,” and such. One rabbi insisted that he
be buried in white garments when he died, because he wanted the world
to know how worthy he was to appear before the presence of God.
Rabbinical writings included detailed systems of
protocol for such things as addressing, consulting with, and
entertaining rabbis and scribes. They were held in such high regard
that, according to one passage in the Talmud (Sanhedrin, 88b),
it was considered more punishable to act against the words of the
scribes than against the words of the Scripture.
The Declaration to True
Spiritual Leadeers
But
do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all
brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is
your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for
One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall
be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and
whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (23:8–12)
Contrary to the proud and ostentatious practices of the
scribes and Pharisees, Jesus declared, true spiritual leaders are to
avoid elevated titles and be willing to accept lowly service.
True Leaders Avoid Elevated Titles
But
do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all
brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is
your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for
One is your Leader, that is, Christ. (23:8–10)
Godly spiritual leaders are to shun pretentious titles
such as Rabbi, which carried the basic idea of teacher but had
come to signify much more than that. Jesus Himself is the believer’s
only true Teacher in the elevated sense in which rabbis and
scribes were commonly addressed and treated in Jesus’ day. He is
the supreme and only source of divine truth, for which human teachers
are but channel of communication.
Human teachers who faithfully proclaim and interpret
God’s Word are to be appreciated, loved, and highly esteemed by
those they serve (1 Thess. 5:12–13). But they are not to seek
honor, much less demand it or glory in it. They need to remember that
they are neither the source of truth, which is God’s Word, nor the
illumination of truth, which is God’s Spirit. Human teachers,
including the apostles whom Jesus addressed on this occasion, are
all brothers with every other believer. No maps calling, however
unique, justifies his being given a title intended to portray him as
being spiritually superior.
Consequently, the Lord went on to command, “Do not
call anyone on earth your father.” Jesus was of course using
the sense of spiritual father, indicating a superior spiritual
position and even suggesting one’s being a source of spiritual
life. Members of the Sanhedrin, the high Jewish council, loved to be
called by the title father, especially when acting in official
capacities.
In direct contradiction of Jesus’ prohibition, the
Roman Catholic Church and even some formal Protestant churches use
the term father as an official form of address for their clergy. Even
the titles abbot and pope are forms of father.
“For One is your Father, He who is in heaven,”
Jesus said. The title of Father in a spiritual sense is to be
reserved for God, who alone is the source of all spiritual life and
blessing. To call any human being by that name is a dear violation of
Scripture.
And do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader,
that is, Christ. As with the other titles, this one is forbidden
when used in the formal, exalted sense that was common in ancient
Judaism and is still common today in many religious circles. When
wrongly used, such titles can place barriers between those in
leadership positions and others in the church but, even worse, they
arrogate for God’s human instruments the honor and glory that
belong only to Him.
True Leaders Accept Lowly Service
But
the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts
himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be
exalted. (23:11–12)
Godly leaders not only avoid elevated titles but also
willingly accept lowly service in their Lord’s name, following
their Lord’s example.
As Jesus Himself beautifully exemplified, the
greatest person is the one who is a willing servant.
Jesus’ human greatness not only was manifested in His perfect
sinlessness and love but in His being the perfect servant. In
His humanity He was the Servant of servants just as in His divinity
He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. His mission on earth
was not to be served but to serve, He said, “and to give His life a
ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).
During His last time alone with the disciples in the
Upper Room, Jesus reiterated the lesson of servanthood He had taught
and demonstrated so often. In the midst of the supper He arose,
and laid aside His garment; and
taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into
the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them
with the towel with which He was girded. … And so when He had
washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined at the table
again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You
call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then,
the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash
one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should
do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not
greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the
one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do
them.” (John 13:4–5, 12–17)
The greatest person in God’s sight is not the one with
the most degrees or rifles or awards but the one who serves in
genuine humility as a selfless servant.
Jesus sums up the reaching about true and false teachers
by declaring, “And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and
whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” That is the opposite
of the world’s standard for exaltation. The world teaches that it
is the one who exalts himself who gets ahead and the one who
humbles himself who loses out and gets pushed aside. Looking
out for number one is the accepted principle for success.
But in His sovereign wisdom God has decreed otherwise,
and self-exaltation has no place in those who represent Christ. The
paradox Jesus teaches here represents God’s absolute truth, and a
life that does not conform to that truth is doomed to failure and
insignificance, no matter what human accomplishments, titles, and
recognition may be achieved. The proud, ostentatious, arrogant,
self-serving person ultimately shall be humbled. And just as
assuredly, the humble, unpretentious, self-giving, serving person
ultimately shall be exalted.
Peter exhorted elders in the church: “Shepherd the
flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion,
but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid
gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted
to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock” (1 Pet.
5:2–3). To all leaders in the church, both young and old, he then
gave the admonition: “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one
another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the
humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you at the proper time” (vv. 5–6).
The nineteenth-century Scottish preacher and author
Andrew Bonar said he knew a Christian was growing when he talked more
of Christ than of himself.The maturing Christian, Bonar said, sees
himself growing smaller and smaller until, like the morning star, he
gives way to the rising sun. Thomas Shepherd, founder and first
president of Harvard University wrote in his dairy for November 10,
1642, “Today I kept a private fast to see the full glory of the
gospel and to seek the conquest of the remaining pride in my heart.”
Unlike the proud and arrogant scribes and Pharisees, the
true spiritual leader works in God’s authority, and he lives in
integrity, sympathy, spirituality, humility, and lowly service. He is
filled with grace, mercy, love, and willing self-giving. Like his
Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, he manifests the heart of a servant
who humbles himself and exalts God.1
