Passion Week: Live Up To What You Know

Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus spoke at length in the Temple during His final week on earth. One of the teachings He made was to speak against the scribes and Pharisees. One of the more fascinating parts of this passage is at the very beginning. He notes that they seat themselves on the chair of Moses. This indicates that they have given themselves authority over the people.

What is even more fascinating is what Jesus says next. He says "do and observe" what they command to do! He doesn't say, "Ignore them." He does not say, "They don't know what they are talking about." He explicitly says to observe their teaching. 

I don't know about you, but those two statements seem "odd" or downright wrong. Let's keep the tension in place for a moment and return to verses 3b and 4.

Jesus says not to follow the actions of the teachers because they are not living up to what they teach. Additionally, they refuse to help people who struggle with living up to what the teachers are teaching. Verse 2 and 3a appear to be endorsements of of the scribes and Pharisees, while 3b and 4 appear to condemn them.

This is a case of having to remember the different tools available to a speaker (Jesus)/ writer (Matthew) to teach people a point. We note that good teachers will sometimes use irony to strengthen a point. According to D.A. Carson, this is exactly what Jesus (and Matthew) do here. The first two points are ironic, while the second two are non-ironic.

The hint is in verse 2. They put themselves into positions of authority, rather than God putting them in to authority. Think about people who have self-appointed themselves to have authority over your life: what did you think about those moments? In my life, the best thing I could say about those situations is that I was amused (but deep down it made me mad.)

When Jesus says "do and observe", He is being ironic since these teachers don't have genuine authority. Also, if the things they taught were so great, then it would have made a difference in their own life. To illustrate it a different way, "Don't take weight loss advice from an overweight person."

What does this mean to us? We should evaluate what we teach and make sure we are living up to it. There is no room in the Christian life for an attitude of "do what I say, not what I do." Jesus taught what it means to be in relationship with the Father, then He lived it out every day. While the Pharisees refused to help the people under the burden of the law, Jesus' burden is easy and light. The Pharisees placed heavy burdens on others, Jesus bore our burdens and sins so we can have eternal life.