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Author: Stephen Weller
802 words, 4 minutes read time

Beware of Those Who Mislead

Scripture: Matthew 23:2-3, 5-12; Luke 20:45-47

With the previous lesson we covered the section about the question of whose son is the Messiah. With this lesson we will cover another short section which is about hypocritical religious leaders that we are to beware of.

^{Lk 20:45} And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, ^{Mt 23:2} and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ^{Lk 20:47} Who devour widows’ houses They will receive the greater condemnation.”

As they were still gathered together, in the hearing of all the people, Jesus now gives specific instruction to his disciples. He tells them to beware of the scribes so as to not be misled by their teaching. It is true that not all scribes deserve this condemnation as suggested in verse 39 where we read that some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” In Mark 12:32 – 34, we find greater detail in what the scribe said, 32 ‘And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”’

These Pharisees that sit on Moses’ seat describes seats of authority. In their positions of authority, the people realize that they did not teach with the authority of Jesus (Matthew 7:29, Mark 1:22). These like the scribes teach things that mislead the people.

Jesus does recognize the official function of the Pharisees and scribes as interrupters of the law of Moses, and to the extent that they accurately interpreted the law, they were to be obeyed. However, the extensions they added to the Mosaic laws and some of the things they did were not to be done. Many of the things they taught they did not themselves practice and these things became a burden for the people to keep.

These Pharisees sought places of honor and did things to draw attention to themselves and while doing this they probably served as executors of the estates of widows who had passed away and found ways to take from those estates that which did not belong to them, and for that practice, Jesus said, they would receive the greater condemnation.

^{Mt 23:5} “They do all their deeds to be seen by others, ^{Lk 20:46} who like to walk around in long robes, ^{Mt 23:5} for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ^{Lk 20:47} and for a pretense make long prayers, ^{Mt 23:6} and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

Jesus gives examples of how these drew attention to themselves.

^{Mt 23:8} “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. ¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

To his disciples he instructed them to try not to gain authority over one another as teachers or masters, since Jesus is ultimately each disciple’s teacher and master. Jesus is not forbidding the use of titles, but when used they are not to be used as the Pharisees used them. The point Jesus is making here is that pride like that of the Pharisees does not make one great, but the humble service of one. Jesus, being the Son of God, was willing to humble himself to the shame of the cross to serve us, leaving us an example.

Conclusion

As we are reminded of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, we need to inspect our own lives to be sure we are free of hypocrisy. We need to also inspect our lives for pride that can hinder our service to others. We need to be reminded that he who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humble himself will be in the appropriate time be exalted.