Matthew 23:5-12

TEXT: 23:5-12

5 But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi. 8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

a.

What is the difference between the Pharisees-' sin of doing all their works to be seen of men and Jesus-' exhortation to Christians to be the light of the world. the salt of the earth. a city set on a hill with the objective of letting your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works? How can Jesus promote the one and condemn the other?

b.

On the basis of Jesus-' warnings here, do you think it is wrong

(1)

for people to be specially noticed by the type of religious clothes they wear? How do you feel about robes and stoles for preachers or choir members who represent God in sermon and song?

(2)

for certain men to be referred to as Doctor Jones, Brother Jones or by some other distinguishing title given them because of their religious or scholarly distinctions above their brethren?

(3)

for anyone to be honored by special notice, special placement or seating or special greetings?

c.

By what right does Jesus in the same context associate Christ, as the one master of all, with your Father as their only true Father? Is this not implying something about the identity and position of the Christ?

d.

How did Jesus prove Himself worthy of our highest praise as the greatest of all?

e.

How did this section show that the Pharisees transgressed the first commandment to love God and the second commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself?

PARAPHRASE AND HARMONY

Everything they do is calculated to attract the attention and approval of others. In fact, they enlarge the Scripture-text boxes they wear on their foreheads and arms, and on their robes they lengthen the tassels that remind them of the Law. They enjoy walking around in their long robes, symbols of their scholarly rank. They love to be greeted respectfully in public places, to sit in the most important seats in the synagogues, the places of honor at banquets, and to be addressed as -doctor.-' They grow fat on widows-' houses and, to hide the true state of things, pray long prayers. They will receive the more severe punishment!
But you must not allow yourselves to be called -doctor,-' for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers in relation to each other. Address no man on earth as your -spiritual father,-' for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Further, you must not allow yourselves to be considered -leader,-' since you have one Leader, the Messiah. The true -superior-' among you is the one who serves others best. The person who proudly promotes his own interests shall be humiliated, but the one who humbly puts himself at the service of others shall be honored.

SUMMARY

All ambition for distinction above other common disciples of Jesus is condemned, whether this expresses itself by ostentation in dress, by prestigious titles or by positions of public honor. Such ambition despises the common brotherhood of all believers, ignores Him who is truly Father, and abases the Christ as unique leader. True superiority in God's Kingdom is decided on the superiority of one's humble service. Humiliation and punishment await those who crush others to promote their own interests.

NOTES
The Exhibitionism of Arrogant Pretenders

Matthew 23:5 But all their works they do to be seen of men. While the Pharisees may have often violated their understanding of the Torah and its interpretations privately, that they NEVER kept them is proven untrue by this verse. Jesus affirms that they showed their great earnestness by keeping them publicly. So, He censures their base motive: they advertize their piety! He is not criticizing mere public notice, as if all kind helpfulness and generosity must be done in absolute secrecy. (See notes on Matthew 6:3-4.) The Lord had already urged His followers to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the city set on a hill, so that men may see your good works and glorify your Father (Matthew 5:13 ff.). But this laudable goal for doing good in public did not satisfy the hypocrites-' ambition, since their aim is to divert glory from God to themselves. (See notes on Matthew 6:1-2; Matthew 6:5; Matthew 6:16.)

To long to be more really righteous than others is an appropriate aspiration. However, to long for the reputation and praise for it is evidence of an ambitious pride. Exceeding others in genuine goodness is Christian (Romans 12:10), but this cannot be gained by a self-advertising ostentation. Jesus-' disciples are not to be dazzled by the pious pomp others paraded in awesome ceremony. And there before Jesus in the audience sat living object lessons, Pharisees with their enlarged fringes dangling and their conspicuous phylacteries on their foreheads like a spot of leprosy. Others may have been intimidated by such display. Jesus sees right through it.

They make broad their phylacteries. Taking passages like Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18; cf. Exodus 13:9; Exodus 13:16, literally, the stricter Hebrews created a small leather box to be strapped (hence called tephillin straps in Hebrew) either on the left arm or on the forehead between the eyes or both, naturally with the proper prescription for tying it on correctly. (See I.S.B.E., 2393.) In exactly four compartments (no more nor less!) the box contained scraps of Scripture such as Exodus 13:3-21; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deuteronomy 11:13-21. God had not intended such gross literalism. That He spoke figuratively is evident from other figurative expressions in these texts that are not taken literally by those formalists. He meant, rather, Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds, making them the object of your meditation (bind them on your forehead), make them the motive of your daily actions (tie them on your hands).

Beyond the unthinking literalism involved in wearing the phylacteries, their Greek name comes from phylàsso which means to guard or protect and refers to something that preserves or defends, hence a fort or military station; preservative or defense; amulet or talisman (Rocci, cf. Arndt-Gingrich, 876). This latter definition points to a superstitious use of these boxes as protection against harm or demons, an evidence of less than total trust in a living God.

They enlarge the borders of their garments. These borders are the tassels with the blue cord to remind the wearer to remember the Lord's ownership and obey all His commands (Numbers 15:37-41; Deuteronomy 22:12). However, the Law had not prescribed the length. So, to make them exceptionally long was popularly thought to distinguish the wearer as specially pious.

Note that Jesus does not condemn the wearing of phylacteries per se nor does He forbid the fringes. In fact, even He wore these tassels (Matthew 9:21 f; Matthew 14:36). Rather, He denounces the wearing of king-sized phylacteries and extra-long tassels that aimed at rendering the wearer more conspicuous to others as more conscientious and holy. But the scribes-' public strolling in long, flowing robes (stolé: Mark 12:38 = Luke 20:46) intentionally sets them apart as persons of distinction. Broad fringes on their flowing robes combined to make their elegance also holy! Even if phylacteries were only worn during prayer, Pharisees loved to pray publicly! (Cf. Matthew 6:5; Edersheim, Life, I, 624f., esp. note 1, p. 625.)

Does this criticism of Pharisees-' distinctive dress bear on our approach to clothing? Jesus rejects external signs flashing the wearer's piety. What of modern Christians who wear gaudy crosses for a Christian testimony? Contrast the unexceptional simplicity with which Jesus garbed Himself. How strikingly unlike the grand garments worn by the Pope and his imitators and colleagues!

Love of Power

Matthew 23:6 They love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. (Cf. Luke 11:43; contrast John 13:4 f, John 13:12-17.) The chief place signified prominence at those meals where guests would be invited. So, to be ushered to the best place meant recognition as someone of importance. (Cf. Josephus, Ant., XV, 2, 4; XX, 3, 2.) The custom of reclining on the left elbow on couches organized fan-like around three sides of a table, led people to consider the place farthest to the left as the most desirable. This position permitted the one reclining there to view the whole banquet table without having to lean back or turn his head. (Cf. John 13:25; see I.S.B.E., 2015.)

The chief seats in the synagogues were located near the end of the building where the scrolls of the Law were kept in a chest called the holy ark. These seats faced the congregation and were occupied by its leadership. These places of honor represented power in the congregation, the equivalent of being ushered to a place on the speaker's platform front and center in today's churches. There none could miss their sanctimonious pose. But they did not love such prominence merely for the psychological satisfaction of sitting up front. It was rather for the POWER that their ambition demanded to wield. Thus, their seeking precedence and prominence was all calculated to promote their own self-advancement. Such vain persons could have retorted, Well, SOMEONE has to sit in the chief seats! This honor is rightly mine: I earned it and I shall enjoy it!

According to Jesus, their mistake lies not in claiming what is their rightful privilege, but in their taking puerile delight in it, loving it, expecting it. Their resentment, when others were honored above them, accurately gauged how real and deep this self-worship was. This is no harmless pastime, because Jesus must expose this love of eminence and foolish pride of those whose ego-feeding depended on it (Luke 14:7-11). Note even James and John were immune to this ambition (Matthew 20:20-28). This kind of self-love is an effective barrier to faith (John 5:44)! John attacked this sin, naming the offender: Diotrephes, who loves to be first (3 John 1:9 f.). Sadly, the very disciples themselves who heard this warning, forgot it and squabbled over the best seats at the Last Supper (Luke 22:24 as background for John 13:2-17)!

Drive for Recognition

Matthew 23:7 (They love) the salutations in the marketplace, and to be called of men, Rabbi. The marketplace (= agorà is Greek for the Latin forum) is not only the place where commerce was carried on, but was also a place of public concourse where public meetings assembled. Hence, to receive these ceremonious salutations in the marketplaces meant to be recognized as somebody important. To be called of men, Rabbi, meant a recognition of one's superior culture and grasp of the Law. This sin lies in loving these pompous titles and obsequious greetings and basking in the blighted glory of human praise. (John 5:44; John 12:43; Romans 2:29; contrast 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 2:6.) To seek to be called Rabbi is to pretend higher respect than that granted to one's earthly parents, because these only communicated ordinary physical life to the child, but the rabbi confers on him spiritual life. Rabbi is Hebrew: my Great One, but with the coloring of Master (kùrios) and not merely teacher (didàskalos). (Kittel, T.W.N.T., VI, 962). From this point of view, the rabbi is higher than king, because, theoretically, he teaches the counsel and sound judgment, the understanding and moral strength by which kings reign and judges make laws. No wonder status-seekers in a religious state would seek to be publicly honored by this title! Nevertheless, Matthew Henry (V, 331) exposed the disqualification involved in turning into religious self-admiration what should have never been more than an example of good manners.

For him that is taught in the word to give respect to him that teaches is commendable enough in him that gives it; but for him that teaches to love it, and demand it, and affect it, to be puffed up with it and to be displeased if it be omitted, is sinful and abominable; and, instead of teaching, he has need to learn the first lesson in the school of Christ, which is humility.

The Essence of True Religion and the Character of Its Teachers

Matthew 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi. This section (Matthew 23:8-12) is particularly addressed to His disciples. Note the emphatic pronoun, YOU, however (humeîs dé), as opposed to the scribes. Those destined to become His official spokesmen would certainly feel the allure of this temptation, and even His followers with less spectacular gifts would be just as drawn to seek those gifts that led to the titles and honors too (1 Corinthians 12-14). This enticement would have been keenly felt by Jewish elders or those few doctors of the Law who became Christians, as they might not wish to discard the titles and the authority they previously knew. (Contrast Philippians 3:4-11.) Nevertheless, most disciples feel tempted to confer such honors and titles on others, particularly their own deeply respected teachers (cf. Matthew 23:9 f.). This looks to the time when Jesus would be gone, as it would have been less likely for the disciples to call themselves Rabbi while the Master Himself was yet on earth with them.

But how could the disciples stop others from calling him Rabbi? The point is more probably the condemnation of expecting deference or demanding to be addressed this way.

Jesus gives two reasons for this injunction:

1.

One is your teacher.

a.

Anyone who has sensed the high holiness and divine origin of Jesus Christ cannot help but sense the chasmic distance that separates Him from every other human teacher, however holy or wise they may be. He is the final Word of God; they are but men to whom the word of God came, not its originators. (Cf. John 10:35 f.) He is the absolutely perfect Revealer; they are but relatively imperfect expounders. His Word is God'Sinfallible, authoritative, unmediated; theirs is a human interpretation, more or less correct, but possessing no more authority than the persuasion it carries in the mind of others as approximating the true sense of His word. Feel the majesty of Jesus-' deity as He widens the distance between Himself and every other human teacher, by claiming to be our only teacher, without the slightest embarrassment or apology (Matthew 23:10; John 13:13).

b.

Avant-garde theologians and proud scholars must submit to this dictum as surely and as humbly as their less erudite brethren. In the absolute sense we must have only ONE THEOLOGIAN, Jesus Christ! In the academic world of Biblical and theological studies there will always be Christians with an intellectual grasp of the overall plan of God, broader than that of their brethren, or with specialized information in certain spheres of Christian knowledge of which others are uninformed. Scholarship per se is not in question here. Otherwise, there could be no distinctly Christian scribes (Matthew 13:52; Matthew 23:34) who love God with all their mind (Matthew 22:37) and no Christian teachers (Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:29; 2 Timothy 1:11; 2 Timothy 2:2; Acts 13:1). But these latter must be people who never cease to be DISCIPLES of Jesus who aim to clarify and correctly apply the message of our one teacher.

c.

Where, then, does the Apostolic ministry enter in? Are these not our official teachers to reveal the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:6-16)? Indeed, there is no discipleship, not faithfulness to Jesus, that does not humbly submit to and faithfully continue in the Apostles-' doctrine (Acts 2:42; Galatians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). To receive Jesus-' authorized messengers is to receive the Lord Himself (Matthew 10:40; John 13:20; Luke 10:16). However, to welcome the Apostles is only possible by believing and responding positively to their Spirit-given message; to do otherwise is to reject them, and, consequently, Jesus who sent them. This explains why the apostles-' doctrine is not really or merely theirs, but is the gospel of Christ, the doctrine of Christ (Galatians 1:6-11; 2 Corinthians 4:5-7).

d.

How well Matthew himself learned this lesson of Jesus-' unique lordship! Although other Evangelists correctly refer to Jesus as rabbi (cf. Mark 9:5; Mark 10:51; Mark 11:21; John 1:38; John 1:49; John 3:2; John 4:31; John 6:25; John 9:2; John 11:8; John 20:16), Matthew uses kùrie, Lord (Matthew 17:4 where Luke uses epistàta, Master, Teacher, Doctor, Luke 9:33; cf. Matthew 20:33 = Luke 18:41, but Mark uses rabbounì. None of John's uses are parallel to Matthew.). Although these words may be considered synonymous, Matthew's constant substitution of Lord for rabbi or teacher in the mouth of disciples, evidences an intention to teach that Jesus is no mere teacher in the standard Jewish sense of the word. Rather, He is the LORD of His disciples. The only disciple to use rabbi, in Matthew's Gospel, is Judas Iscariot (Matthew 26:25; Matthew 26:49)!

2.

All ye are brethren.

a.

In this context, brethren implies a certain equality under the one Teacher. The uncomplicated simplicity of Christ's Kingdom must not be spoiled by titles that mistakenly repeat the same aggressive awareness of rank and status that characterizes the very worldly society Jesus came to transform. Not only does titling certain brethren foster pride and a feeling of earned importance among those who are thus distinguished, but it also spawns jealousy and a sensation of lesser worth in those who do not. This splits God's family into two categories: the worthy and the less worthy. It restructures God's community along old pagan lines, violating the nature of Christ's body (1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12:3-8).

b.

Alford (228) commented:

Brethren: all substantially equalnone by office or precedence nearer to God than another; none standing between his brother and God. And the duty of all Christian teachers is to bring their hearers to the confession of the Samaritans in John 4:42.

Splendid! However, even in the family from which this rich metaphor is taken, there are older and younger brothers whose judgment, information and experience differ from that of the others. Elders and deacons must still be qualified, teachers must still do their homework. Jesus is not sentencing the brilliant minds among His followers to plodding along a dull plateau of development or trudging along at the pace set by slower students of the Word. Nor is He damning the intellectual curiosity of the conscientious researcher. Rather, He is saying, No matter how much information you may acquire, your degrees and scholastic attainments do not lift you above your responsibility to be a BROTHER to all your brethren. He also devastates that bumptiousness and pride in personal achievements and worldly recognition that crows, We scholars., Leading scholars teach that., or The most advanced scholarships has proven that., especially where the state of the questions involved is quite unsettled.

c.

So,how SHOULD Christians relate to their professors, teachers and preachers who are their psychological authority figures in the Kingdom? Distinguishing titles can be dropped without any loss, first and especially because, if these teachers intend to help people mature, they must be humble enough to see themselves as members of the larger family of God, not superior to it nor to its several members, including their own students. Second, because even the best of these titles smack of partiality, they may be dropped. Even to call one professor or preacher, Brother Fowler, while at the same time first-naming everyone else outside the professional chair or pulpit, immediately implies that, while everyone is theoretically equally a brother in Christ, some brothers are more equal than others, merely because of their expertise, experience or erudition!

This insidious partiality forces all of us to walk a tightrope between our respect for those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,. esteem them very highly in love because of their work (1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7; Hebrews 13:17), while, contemporaneously, not addressing them by ecclesiastical titles like rabbi. father. master (Matthew 23:8-10).

Jesus could have argued: Do not be called Rabbi, because one is your teacher and you are all simply disciples, which would have shown that no one, however erudite, can ever surpass our common Teacher and must always learn from Him as an humble disciple. Nevertheless, He chose here to insist upon that common bond of brotherhood and belonging to each other that renders these stratifying titles absurd by comparison. So as to lay even more stress on our sense of family, Jesus passed from naming us brethren to naming our Father:

Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father on the earth. Father, here, cannot refer to one's own physical parent, since Jesus and the Apostles regularly spoke of this relationship positively, (Matthew 15:4-6; Matthew 21:31; Luke 15:11-32; Hebrews 12:7-11; Ephesians 6:1-4, etc.). Rather, it is this precious association with our earthly fathers that Jesus uses to shape our initial concept of the heavenly Father (Matthew 7:9 ff.). For one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. The full criterion, by which our earthly parent is judged, is set by Him whose fatherhood furnishes the exalted standard of all fatherhood (Ephesians 3:14 f.). Others may be our human fathers, but only God is rightly the Father of our spirits (Hebrews 12:7-10). From this standpoint, why would anyone WANT to venerate an ultimately disappointing human being, when he belongs to the family of your heavenly Father? Who needs a mediating priesta father, Jewish, Latin, Greek or Protestant,when the King of the Universe is OUR FATHER?

Nevertheless, just as Jewish disciples tended to honor promised teachers of an earlier age as the Fathers because these giants were thought to have brought moral life to their spiritual children, begetting them, as it were, by their wise, life-giving doctrine (cf. Aboth 4:15; Sir. 44:1; Sir. 8:9, the prologue and chaps. 44:50), so Jesus-' disciples, too, would be tempted to perpetuate whatever misguided and misleading views the Fathers had taught. (Matthew 15:2; Matthew 15:12 f.; cf. Pirke Aboth, Sayings of the Fathers, a Pharisean treatise, and Roman Catholic dependence upon Church Tradition as one source of its present doctrine. Documents of The Second Vatican Council, § 880-888.) No amount of ecumenical wishful thinking can eliminate the fact that, because the modern Roman Catholic faith upholds the pope as the Holy Father, not merely as Peter's successor, but as the true and legitimate, universal father and moderator of the universal Church, we must object to these claims of authority that rightly belong to God alone.

Contrary to Catholic use of Paul's reference to himself as father of the Corinthian Christians (1 Corinthians 4:14 f.) or his calling Timothy his son in the faith (1 Timothy 1:2) or Peter's similar reference to Mark (1 Peter 5:13), it should be noticed that these are figurative expressions, not the creation of an honorary title to be taken literally. In Paul's case, he had literally converted these people personally, and so was, in a figurative way, their father, (cf. Philemon 1:10) just as he was the figurative mother of the Galatian Christians (Galatians 4:19). He was not making of this figurative relationship a badge of honor to exalt himself or even that they should exalt him above themselves. Rather, he urged that they remember this when tempted to exalt other ecclesiastical leaders who, by Catholic standards, should have been considered spiritual father (i.e. priests and popes) too. (See context of 1 Corinthians 1-3.)

How should we understand the fact that both Stephen (Acts 7:2) and Paul (Acts 22:1) addressed Sanhedrin members as fathers? Does not this violate Jesus-' express prohibition? Lenski (Acts, 899) answers: -Brethren and Fathers-' is thus not to be understood from the Christian and spiritual but from the national standpoint. any wrong them who are in authority are honored by him as fathers should be honored. Their form of address is respectful and conciliatory, spoken as one under the authority of these national leaders as a member of the Jewish nation. It was a cultural carry-over, rather than a spiritual judgment of the councilors-' true fitness to lead the nation.

But this raises the question of our own cultural context: is it possible to honor all men (1 Peter 2:17), especially where they deserve it because of particularly noble, worthwhile achievements, without resorting to some expression of this fact stated in a name or title? Various commentaries conceive it possible to use titles and grant honors where especially deserved, truthful and modest. Further, even such titles as grandiose as Rabbi (my great One) or Pope (Father) have now become mere conventionalisms that denote the office without necessarily indicating respect and subservience on the part of the user. It would be less clear to modern hearers to speak of Mr. Karl Wojtyla rather than by his title, Pope John Paul II, and less clear to speak of a Jewish clergyman as Mr. Fishbein rather than as Rabbi Fishbein. Further, the user not only does not necessarily intend, but rather actually rejects, the original immodesty and presumption these titles originally communicated. Nevertheless, the continued wide-spread use of such titles, even though declassed to common designations, is unfortunate, because it perpetuates that gray area of confusion among those who really, however wrongly, accept the full significance of the titles, as well as among those who, while rejecting the spiritual implications of those pretentious designations, yet need a conventional word to refer to those figures who demand the titles.

Matthew 23:10 Neither be ye called master. Jesus says it both ways: Do not call others by pompous ecclesiastical titles, nor demand that others address you by them! Master (kathegetés) anciently referred to any teacher, guide or leader, and in modern Greek is simply professor. The word does not refer to civil authorities nor to those who are lord or master of their slaves or servants concerning whom other instructions are given (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:7; 1 Peter 2:17 f.; Ephesians 6:5-9). Master, rather, bespeaks that high, authoritative religious sense that rightly describes Jesus Christ, hence must not be granted to His inferiors. In fact, it is but a short step from assuming grandiose titles to assuming the authority and basking in the power they imply. But not lording it over those entrusted to you (1 Peter 5:1-4; 2 Corinthians 1:24) gets forgotten by power-hungry, ladder-climbing wearers of titles, busy accrediting their own teachers, institutions and instruction.

After accepting acclaim as the Son of David, which everyone knew meant the Christ, Jesus asserts, For one is your master, even the Christ. In this context where He taught the high reverence to the ONE Father in heaven and now narrows earth's theologians to the ONE Christ, this can be nothing short of a claim to be the only authoritative Teacher in Christianity, the only One who, along with the Father, is to be considered worthy of praise and veneration by titles. (Cf. also Matthew 11:25-27; Matthew 15:17-20; Matthew 15:27; Matthew 17:5; Matthew 28:18.)

You have one teacher. one Father who is in heaven. one master, the Christ. There is no time when we can say, On earth we have no teacher, father or master. His teaching office is never vacant, never needing vicars or a living teaching authority divinely inspired to communicate true doctrine. Jesus is ALWAYS our Teacher or Master for as long as God is our heavenly Father. We infer that He pictures these offices or functions as contemporaneous. So saying, Jesus taught three things:

1.

He forever freed us from servile submission to arrogant officialdom attempting to rule God's people in the name of Christ, but in the spirit of the Devil! Our headquarters and our brains are not among men in any one city on earth. We are rightly independent of great assemblies that pass resolutions, approve doctrines and otherwise dictate faith and practice, and free from theological chairs that trifle with principles or doctor the faith.

2.

By means of three prohibitions and three reasons in three consecutive verses, He insistently and firmly placed us in total dependence upon Him, claiming full mastery over our thoughts, emotions, conscience and will. So doing, He developed our initiative and sense of personal responsibility to know and to do God's will, quite independently of what others around us may do or think. Our very spiritual existence comes, not from some rabbi, earthly father or spiritual guide, but from God through Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30 f.).

3.

Jesus Christ is as much our Teacher and only Theologian while He is physically away, as God is always our Father, although He never came to earth. So, although our Headquarters are in heaven (Philippians 3:20 f.; Colossians 3:1 ff.), He is able to rule, guard and feed us on earth as easily as our heavenly Father is able to beget, love and care for us from there. We need no human father-image or vicar of Jesus Christ, once we understand what we have in Him!

The Standard of True Greatness

Matthew 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Study notes on Matthew 18:1-35, the Lord's power structure; Matthew 20:26 f.; Mark 9:35; Mark 10:43 f.; Luke 9:48; Luke 22:26.) Jesus-' statement has the dual-toned ring of a promise and of an order, since commands in Hebrew are often stated in future indicative. (Cf. You shall not kill!)

1.

Command: Let him who is truly a servant be nominated to the high posts of importance and honor in the Church. Only such are qualified.

2.

Promise: Only the disciple who humbly serves others shall be considered greatest among Christians and rank highest in God's favor.

Here is the key to solving the dilemma as to how to react to our authority figures: no one is truly great among Christians who is unwilling to be the servant of all, the humblest, most unassuming, most unpretentious of all. The truly great wear only one title: servant, because their one business in life is that of stooping to lift everyone up to God (1 Corinthians 6:19 f.).

The secret of balance is to be found in that high regard we must have for everyone else who does not happen to be our superior, teacher or authority figure. That is, if we raise our level of appreciation for every single person on the basis of their importance to God, be they Christian or not, and, if at the same time, we reverence in our hearts Christ as Lord, we will probably not fall into that servile obsequiousness toward certain authority figures that Jesus here disapproves. Rather, our adoration of a perfect Lord and Master should liberate us from getting overexcited about even the best of human teachers, fraught as they are with all-too-human weaknesses. Our sensitive concern for the weakest, the wobbliest, the less-than-lovely people, that seeks to elevate them to the level of kings and queens whom we may serve as unto Christ, will not only make new men and women out of them as they respond to this unexpected, new kind of love. It will also transform us to the point that we recognize our authority figures to be of only relative importance anyway. We begin to see them as useful to us only as they, by example and teaching, show us how to perform our Christian ministry.
In short, if our teacher does not measure up to the standard of servanthood, he is not worthy of the title, and no granting him the title will substitute for measuring up! If he measures up, he will be the first to teach us not to tack the title on him. Either way, the title is superfluous.

The Fall of the Pharisee

Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted. (Cf. Matthew 18:4; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14. An ancient principle: Proverbs 11:2; Proverbs 15:33; Proverbs 16:18; Proverbs 18:12; Proverbs 22:4; Proverbs 29:23; Isaiah 66:2; Daniel 4:30-37.) Even while announcing the ruin of proud, self-exalting, presumptuous people, Jesus still does not crush out our desire to advance by bold and active enterprise and initiative. Rather, He redirects our aggressive energies into useful channels where our ambition can do some real good. Anyone who really cares about God's approval and promises of exaltation will humble himself by putting himself at the service of everyone (Philippians 2:3-8; John 13:1-7). James (Matthew 4:6; Matthew 4:10) unblushingly promotes exaltation by God as a valid motivation for humbling ourselves. (Cf. 1 Peter 5:5-6.)

Who will be the humbling and who the exalting?

1.

MEN? Even in this world, unbelievers and Christians alike sooner or later recognize that true greatness which is rightly the possession of those wise individuals whose service to mankind is born of real, unstinting concern for others. We also tend to distrust and deflate those self-important people who consider themselves God's elder brother. If we share the mind of Christ, we must resist the pretentiousness and arrogance of pushy church members who love the pre-eminence (3 John 1:9), steam-rollering others while promoting their own pet programs or views. (1 Corinthians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 14:38; 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians 10-13; Galatians 2:4 f; Galatians 4:17; Galatians 5:9 f.; Ephesians 5:3-12; Philippians 2:21; Philippians 3:2; Philippians 3:18; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:16 ff.; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:15-18; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 2 Timothy 3:12 f.; Titus 1:10-16; Titus 3:9-11.) Similarly, Christians are exhorted to honor those unassuming leaders, among them who labor in humble, useful service on Christ's behalf, not abusing their position, but quietly, loyally working (1 Corinthians 16:15-18; 1 Timothy 5:17 ff.; Romans 16:1 f.; Hebrews 13:7; Hebrews 13:17).

2.

GOD!

a.

Even before the final Judgment, God breaks the pride of Pharaoh (Exodus 4-14), Sennacherib (Isaiah 36, 37), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4; Jeremiah 50:17 f; Jeremiah 51:34), Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:20-24) and numerous lesser dignitaries (Malachi 2:1-9). Even non-Biblical Jewish thought, undoubtedly based on divine revelations, grasped this, (Cf. Sir. 1:28 ff.) God can exalt or debase men in this life as well as in the next!

b.

Final judgment, with its exaltation to eternal glory or its humiliation and dishonor, is His prerogative (1 Corinthians 4:5; John 5:44; 2 Corinthians 10:18; 2 Corinthians 5:9 f.). Our judgment is relative and fallible, while His never fails to hand down the perfect verdict. Honest self-humiliation on its knees, with open-eyed wonder will have the happy surprise of seeing the Almighty Creator and Ruler of the universe stoop to lift His servant (Isaiah 57:15; Romans 14:4). As one wise Christian put it, The only degree worth the effort to attain it is the -A.U.G. Degree,-' i.e. approved unto God! (2 Timothy 2:15).

How radically Jesus overturns the pagan structures that prevail, not merely in worldly society, but also in so-called Christian institutions, conventions and congregations! Rather than automatically single out the Church's highest officials, the Lord hands the crown to those humble, often obscure, people who patiently minister in His name at whatever level they are needed and can function. Rather than becoming proud of achieving the highest levels of professional competence, these simply give themselves unselfishly in generous Christian ministry. Matthew Henry (V, 332) summarized it thus:

In this world the humble have the honor of being accepted with the holy God and respected by all wise and good men; of being qualified for, and often called out to, the most honorable services; for honor is like the shadow, which flees from those that pursue it, and grasp at it, but follows those that flee from it. However, in the other world, they that have humbled themselves in contrition for their sin in compliance with their God, and in condescension to their brethren, shall be exalted to inherit the throne of glory; shall not only be owned, but crowned, before angels and men.

FACT QUESTIONS

1.

What are phylacteries? In what does making them broad consist? What was the Pharisees-' purpose for doing this?

2.

What was the purpose of enlarging the borders of one's garments? What were these borders and why did the Pharisees enlarge them?

3.

What was the chief place at feasts?

4.

Where were the chief seats in the synagogues generally located?

5.

What greetings addressed to religious leaders did Jesus condemn?

6.

What reason does Jesus assign for not calling any given person teacher?

7.

What reason does Jesus assign for not calling any man on earth father?

8.

What Scriptures help determine whether He meant one's spiritual or physical father?

9.

What reason did Jesus assign for calling no man master?

10.

Show how the deity of Christ is revealed in this section?

11.

According to Jesus, who is the greatest, or on what basis is true greatness determined?