Matthew 23:1-12 (Introduction)

Today starts a series of posts based on a sermon I gave on Sunday February 15th. Special thanks to Cecelia for transcribing my ramblings and for the initial edit. I hope you find these edifying – Jeff

Matthew 23:1-12 1Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3“Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4“For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5“But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6“They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7“greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ 8“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10“And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

In these twelve verses Jesus describes for us what we are to watch for in those that lead us in the church. We must be discerning when it comes to those that we put our trust in. Before we begin looking at these qualifications however, I thought it would be helpful for us to take a look at the religious leaders of Jesus’ day – the Scribes and Pharisees.

The Scribes were the ones who would copy the law from generation to generation. They took their position of preserving the law very seriously and were extremely meticulous about insuring the accuracy of the text from one copy to the next. It goes to follow that if your life was devoted to copying and preserving the law from generation to generation you would also become adept at its interpretation.

The scribes can trace their beginnings back to the time when Israel came out of captivity from Babylon. I believe the title of scribe first appears in Nehemiah 8 where we are introduced to “Ezra the scribe”. If you remember from the book of Nehemiah they called Ezra the scribe to read the book of the law to the assembly of Israel. He read to the people for four to six hours while teachers milled about the crowd explaining the law (and my congregation thinks I’ve kept them a long time after 40 minutes). The Scribes continued in that tradition of copying, preserving and interpreting the law.

There is an old Jewish saying that says “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 scribes”. When you believe that the things that you are writing come directly from God’s mouth to your pen it is easy to become self-righteous..

Then you had the Pharisees. They were the dominant sect of the Jews and the most popular with the people for a couple of reasons. They were not as untouchable as the Sadducees (if you remember Paul was a Pharisee and also held a job as a tentmaker) and the people looked to them as models of righteousness because they were conservative in their view of God’s law and held a high view of it.

But along with that came some silliness. William Barclay did a study on the different types of Pharisees, let me share with you a few. There was the ”shoulder Pharisee” who would walk around with accounts of their good deeds written upon their shoulders for all to see.

There was the “bruised and bleeding Pharisee” who, to keep from committing the sin of lust when looking at a woman, would walk around with his eyes closed. Their piety was measured by how beat up they were as a result of walking into things.

There was the “humpback tumbling Pharisee” who would in a display of false humility walk around all bent over which would result in them getting caught up in their robes and tumbling to the ground.

And of course, there were the “God-fearing” Pharisees who’s hearts really were seeking God, men like Nicodemus.

These are the men that Jesus is going to challenge in our verses for the next couple of days. He is going to challenge them in their piety and in their self righteousness. We are also going to see what we should be watching for, both positive and negative, in the leaders of our church.

Before we begin our study in earnest however this would probably be a good place to stop and reflect on our service to God. Go back and read our passage again taking it purely for its face value. Is our service to God based solely upon how we are perceived by those around us? Do we do the things that we do simply to be seen by men? Do we do the things that we do because we feel that it somehow improves our relationship with God?

It is so easy for us to hop on the legalism train and start thinking that God owes us something for our service to Him. Let us never forget that it is His grace and mercy alone that saves us and it is the continued pouring out of His grace and mercy that keeps us.

Grace and peace to you all...