Matthew 23:1-39
Matthew 23:1-12:
23:1Then Jesus uttered-forth to the crowds and his learning-disciples .2saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat-down on the seat of Moses, .3therefore all as-many-things-as if-ever they may say to you, ‘You must do and keep’ – but according to their works you must not do, for they say and do not, .4but they bind weighty and hard-to-lift-up specific-loads and put (them) on the shoulders of men but they do not intend to move them with their finger. .5But they do all their works towards (the purpose of) to be gazed-upon by men, for they widen their phylacteries and make-great the borders, .6and they love the first-position in the meals and the first-seats in the synagogues .7and the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi.’ .8Let you not be called ‘Rabbi’ for one is your teacher and you all are brothers; .9and let you not call (someone) your ‘Father’ on the earth for One is your Father, the heavenly (Father); .10neither let you be called ‘Leaders’ because your leader is one – the Christ; .11but the greater of you will be a minister of you, .12and he-who will heighten himself will be humbled and he-who humbles himself will be heightened.
At that time Jesus spoke to the throngs of people and his learning-disciples (students) saying:
- “The scribes and the Pharisees actively sat-down on the seat of Moses (Moses’ position of authority and judgment regarding God’s laws relative-to the people of Israel),
- following-on logically from this, all things, i.e. as many/much things as if it should ever happen that they would say to you (as though it were part of the God’s law which He gave to Moses to teach God’s people), ‘You must do (perform what we say) and you must keep (keep-an-eye-on, have in safekeeping, and therefore not neglecting or violating but able to watch-over, take-care-of, maintain, and be observant of these things)’….”
The scribes and Pharisees were telling God’s people what they should be doing during the everyday living of their lives. We should note that Jesus did not tell the crowds and his learning-disciples to do and keep [the words “and keep” are not in some Greek texts] everything that the scribes and Pharisees told them, even though they were the ones who had taken the position of sitting on the seat of Moses and so they should have been teaching the law of Moses to God’s people accurately.
“The scribes and the Pharisees sat-down on the seat of Moses, therefore all as-many-things-as if-ever they may say to you, ‘You must do and keep’ – but according to their works you must not do (you must not perform things in accordance, conformity and proportion with their works, deeds, the effects produced by their actions).” What works? Jesus continues to explain.
“In truth, they say and do not (they lay-out things to/for people and they do not perform what they say – their works should be saying and doing the law of Moses)…
…but (instead of saying and doing the law of Moses)…
- they bind weighty and hard-to-lift-up specific-loads (they bind small amounts of cargo, as the lading of a ship that must be borne for a specific journey or length of time until that issue is resolved; they bind them as tying them together into bundles; these specific loads in this context are heavy with fullness and abundance of pressure and burdensome severity, and they are difficult to carry, hard to support) and
- put/place these bundles (containing the weighty and hard-to-lift-up specific loads) on the shoulders of men (for men to bear these burdens pushing down on upon their strength causing exhaustion)
- but they themselves do not intend to move them with their finger (emphatically they do not will, they don’t have active volition and desire, to set them in motion with/by their finger; ‘finger’ figuratively referring to their own direction and power in effect).
- But they do all their works towards the purpose of to be gazed-upon by men (for the purpose of them being seen or looked-at purposefully by men, in the sense of making a public show to/for men to admire them),
- in truth, they widen their phylacteries (they broaden, extend the strips of parchment on which were written excerpts from the law of Moses bound about their forehead or their wrists in small containers while praying, thus they were exhibiting to those who saw them their eagerness to keep God’s commandments in the head and in the heart. The word ‘phylactery’ given to these containers actually means a guarded place, safeguard, protection; refer to Exodus 13:9 and 16, Deuteronomy 6:4-8 and 11:18-25.) and
- make-great the borders (they enlarge, magnify the borders of their outer garments expressing the greatness of what they say and do. The ‘border’ refers to the edge or fringe of clothing, which was sometimes decorative and may indicate the person's status or profession. It could also refer to a little fringe, the appendages or tassels hanging from the edge of a cloak or mantle worn to remind people of the law that God gave to Moses; refer to Numbers 15:37-41 and Deuteronomy 22:12.), and
- they love (with the brotherly or friendly kind of love) the first-position in the meals (the chief, foremost, most important and honorable reclining position leaning at the table during banquets, feasts, etc) and the first-seats in the synagogues (the chief, foremost, most important seating positions in the synagogues) and the greetings in the marketplaces (speaking salutations to those gathering in the market) and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi’ (called by the name of ‘Rabbi’ by the men. ‘Rabbi’ was a Hebrew transliteration used as an honorary title for one who is a great master who teaches and explains the law of Moses.).”
Jesus continues speaking to the crowds and learning-disciples in the temple in Jerusalem:
- “Let you not (emphatically you should not) be called ‘Rabbi’ as an honorary title, in truth one is your teacher (referring to Jesus himself being the one whom God caused to sit-down on Moses’ seat to teach God’s people while completing the law of Moses at that time) and you all are brothers (referring to the fact that they were all in the same position relative-to the one teacher; literally they were all descendants of Israel/Jacob);
- and let you not call someone your ‘Father’ as an honorary title on the earth, in truth One is your Father, emphatically the heavenly Father (God) – only God is your Father relative-to God’s spirit realm and spiritual matters;
- neither let you be called ‘Leaders (leading people down to their destination by going before them)’ as an honorary title because your leader is one – the Christ (the Anointed-one, the Messiah, he leads to resurrection and eternal life and glory);
- but the greater of you will be a minister of you (the one who is comparatively larger in magnitude, rank, importance, depth, etc, relative-to the rest of you will be your minister, a person who serves to benefit you, not 'being-subject' to you but doing work to bring you profit, one who carries-out his day-by-day ministerial duties, his duties of service pertaining to God and the things of God),
- and he-who will heighten himself (lift himself high, elevate himself, bring himself into a high position, exalt himself) will be humbled (will be brought to lowliness, caused to be in a position of humbleness with respect to what God says, which is also what Jesus the Christ says) and he-who humbles himself will be heightened.”
When Jesus said the phrase "your Father, the heavenly (Father)" he put the emphasis on what Father he was talking about – your Father Who is heavenly, as opposed to some other kind of father such as their natural biological father or ancestor. Jesus many times used the name “Father” when referring to God. A 'father' is literally one who has begotten a child with/by his own seed/sperm, and so the son/daughter has originated from his father's seed, and this fact cannot be changed. The father is strong and he protects, feeds, etc, his family. A name is a word or phrase given to a person, etc, to be called and known-by, in order to designate and describe the distinguishing and distinctive constitution, character, quality, workings, etc. The only true God originally created, formed and made mankind (Genesis chapters 1 and 2) and He is Jesus' Father. God gave Jesus the permission and authority to use the name of "Father" when talking to/with Him and when referring to God while speaking with others. [Reference: Matthew 1:18-25, 3:13-17; John 17:6, 11, 12, and 26.]
Here in Matthew 23 while teaching the people Jesus uses the term "your Father" referring to the only true God because that's what God told him to do, and so he was teaching them to perceive God as their Father. The people to whom he was speaking were descendants of Jacob/Israel and they were God's adopted sons (see Exodus 4:22). They were not His sons by birth because permanent holy spirit-life had not been made available yet. Jesus Christ first had to complete all that was required for man's salvation and redemption, and then on the day of Pentecost the Lord Jesus Christ made permanent holy spirit-life available to mankind (refer to Acts chapter 2) and from Pentecost onwards people could become God's sons by birth.
[Reference: Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Matthew 2:6, 6:1-5, 9:20, 11:30, 14:36, 17:1-11, 20:26; Mark 12:38 and 39; Luke 20:45 and 46; John 5:6, 13:13; Acts 3:32, 7:37.]
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