Post #4308027

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes 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. -Matthew 23:1-3 When Jesus says that the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, He was almost certainly being sarcastic. After all, He just spent the previous parables, those of the tenants and the wedding feast, portraying them as murderous traitors who had abdicated any authority they once held (Mt.21:33-46, 22:1-14). They sat in Moses' seat as pretenders and usurpers, having replaced the Word of God with their "oral Torah." See, they denied the Commandments through legalistic exceptions. The Pharisees taught things like "Corban," wherein one stops honoring his parents by telling them his deeds were dedicated to God. They tried to commit murder by slandering Jesus as a sorcerer or tax rebel, caring nothing about the Eighth Commandment - or for that matter the Fifth! And how would they excuse it, but by claiming that they were just speculating in public or just asking questions. Such exceptions were to be found for nearly every Mosaic commandment...but none were permitted for their traditions. In the first century, you could get away with theft or adultery or refusing to honor you parents, so long as you used pharisaic escape clauses; heaven help you though if you were caught healing a man on the Sabbath! To say that they were in Moses' seat then is an accusation, not a concession: they were there illegitimately. So when Jesus says "do and observe whatever they tell you," this too is not meant as an earnest command. He did not personally do what they instructed people to do and nor did the Apostles and other disciples. Christ and His followers ate without washing, plucked grain on the Sabbath, healed on the Sabbath, and spent time with those declared untouchable by the Pharisees (tax collectors and sinners). Being without hypocrisy, our Savior quickly adds "but not the works they do." In other words, if a Pharisee does it, do not do it: this includes their illegitimate commands, which they themselves observed. They preached righteousness, but practiced nothing but talmudic nonsense. Thus, He means that only insofar as a Pharisee says what Moses commanded, that is what the people should do. So it is with our churches today. If a Pope, metropolitan, pastor, theologian, etc., tries teaching or commanding something that is not in Scripture, what authority does he have? Why should you feel any need to obey him? If a man in a dress demands that you kiss paintings, fast twice a week, pay indulgences, put in "seed money," or any other absurdity, is this not the same abdication of authority as the Pharisees?