“You Have One Teacher”
Jesus
spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. "The teachers of the law and the
Pharisees sit in Moses' seat," he said. "So you must obey them. Do
everything they tell you. But don't do what they do. They don't practice what
they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on other people's shoulders.
But they themselves aren't willing to lift a finger to move them.
"Everything they
do is done for others to see. On their foreheads and arms they wear little
boxes that hold Scripture verses. They make the boxes very wide. And they make
the tassels on their coats very long.
"They love to
sit down in the place of honor at dinners. They also love to have the most
important seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted in the market places.
They love it when people call them 'Rabbi.'
"But you
shouldn't be called 'Rabbi.' You have only one Master, and you are all
brothers. Do not call anyone on earth 'father.' You have one Father, and he is
in heaven. You shouldn't be called 'teacher.' You have one Teacher, and he is
the Christ. The most important person among you will be your servant. Anyone
who lifts himself up will be brought down. And anyone who is brought down will
be lifted up.
"How
terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders!
You shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter.
And you will not let those enter who are trying to.
Matthew
23:1-14
The Pharisees and
teachers of the law seemed to have had an issue of saying one thing and doing
another. Jesus had a scathing assessment of them. He saw them as being
spiritually bankrupt. He held them directly responsible for this sad spiritual
condition. As the successors of the lawgiver Moses, they were responsible for
expounding the law so that people could walk in God’s ways and have a genuine
and vibrant relationship with the Lord. But their personal interpretation and
application of the law had become more important than God’s law. They did not
practice what they preached.
The test of the
effectiveness of following Jesus is not just in what we say but in how we live.
Are we telling others God’s Word and doing what it says?
A good
example preaches a powerful sermon.
Our Daily Bread –