Seeds for 01/03/2024 - Matthew 23:1-4
Scripture: Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
Observation: Jesus has been dealing with the “teachers of the law and the Pharisees” and, switching focus to address His followers, He has thoughts.
This is fascinating. Jesus clearly tells His followers to “do everything they tell you.” His problem in this instance is not with what the Pharisees and teachers are saying. It’s the integrity issue—there’s a contrast where there should be a comparison. Do what they say, not what they do, “for they do not practice what they preach.”
First, let’s notice that Jesus is capable of evaluating the message separately from the messenger. Being hypocrites doesn’t make the Pharisees wrong about everything, but it does compromise their integrity. This calls to mind the saying from Bayard Rustin, the organizational genius behind the 1963 March on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others in the Civil Rights Movement, who said, “If a bigot says to me, 'The sun is shining.' If the sun is shining, I say, 'Yes the sun is shining,' because I want to tell the truth." The truth is the truth, regardless who says it, if only because “even a broken clock is right twice a day.” The Pharisees have problems, but when they tell the truth about the law, carefully follow it.
Second—and this goes along with the first point, being right about one thing (their knowledge of the law) does not make them right about everything (their living out the law). They know, but they fail to do. This is such a huge theme in the Bible. James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church, said it this way: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
Looking at integrity by analogy is instructive. Consider the structural soundness of a bridge. The building plans and the execution of those plans must match up in order to insure that the bridge is structurally sound, that is has integrity. Integrity has a moral and character dimension for sure. But this illustration (borrowed, not mine) brings to light the reason why it is so important. Just as a bridge will not possess strength and resilience without structural integrity, neither will a human life.
There seems to be a two-fold exhortation underlying this text. When evaluating others, discern the truth of the message independently from the integrity of the messenger. But at the same time for yourself, recognize the significance of living with all the integrity between your words and your deeds as you can, with God’s help.
Application:
When has someone’s actions inspired you to pay greater attention to their words?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, cause your Spirit to work powerfully in me, that I may know and do your word, thereby building a strong and resilient life and witness. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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