For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers

 

 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

- Matthew 23:1-12 

 

Yesterday we read that when the Pharisees heard that Christ had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."   While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.   

 

Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: . . .  This chapter in Matthew's Gospel consists entirely of the words Jesus spoke as His final public sermon (Matthew 23:1-39).  As the text says, it's addressed both to the multitudes and to His disciples.  Its substance includes a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees.  My study Bible sums up several themes as follows.  First, the Jewish leaders have God-given authority and they teach God's Law, but they are personally ungodly and cold-hearted.  Their teaching is to be honored, but they are not to be imitated (verses 2-7).  Second, God is our true Father and Teacher.  A teacher or father on earth is one who leads people to God.  The scribes and Pharisees do the opposite, placing themselves in God's position (verses 8-12).  Finally, my study Bible notes an eightfold indictment of the scribes and Pharisees (verses 13-36).  It notes that Jesus charges them with inverting God's values, and with being mean-spirited, judgmental, greedy, ambitious, absorbed in externals, and blindly self-righteous.  While these charges are directed at the leaders of that time, each word applies equally, my study Bible says, to those in the Church who behave this way.  

"The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do."  To sit in Moses' seat, my study bible explains, means to hold the succession of office down from Moses himself.  In the synagogue, the teacher woulds peak while seated as a sign of authority.  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who notes that the scribes were depraved in thought and in heart, but Jesus still upholds the dignity of their office, as they speak not their own words but God's.  Likewise within the Church, so the clergy are also to be shown respect as they hold apostolic office, even though they are also sinners.  Moreover, the sins of the clergy do not relieve the people from their own responsibilities before God.

"For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."  Do not hypocrites everywhere do the same?  Those who fail to have insight into their own failings often express a sense of superiority through such hard-hearted behavior, without empathy.  This is not what a good shepherd does, who cares for the flock.

"But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'"  My study Bible explains that phylacteries are small leather pouches which contain passages of Scripture, worn on the arm or forehead.  The idea is to keep God's Law always in mind (see Exodus 13:9), but the Pharisees use them as a show of false piety, making them increasingly larger and more noticeable.  The rest of the behaviors described here clearly indicate to us the outward show.  But in this case, it masks the problems of the heart.

"But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ."  My study Bible says that Christ's warning against calling hypocrites father and teacher is not an absolute prohibition against using these terms.  These terms are in fact applied to people many times in the New Testament, all of which usages are inspired by God.  "Teacher" is used in John 3:10, Acts 13:1, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11, and 2 Timothy 1:11.  "Father" is used in Luke 16:24, 1 Corinthians 4:15, and Colossians 3:21.  Since the earliest days of the Church, my study Bible explains, bishops and presbyters have been called "father" not because they take the place of God, but because in their fatherly care for their flocks, they lead people to God, and they exercise fatherly authority within the community.  For this reason, women who help to lead others to God, such as those who became early desert monastics known for their wisdom and spiritual leadership, are called Mothers.

"But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  Here is Christ's oft-repeated message, this time in the context of His discourse on hypocrisy -- especially of those in the religious leadership.  But let us note these words are directed to all of us who would call ourselves His disciples.  Humility is the one preventive practice for such hypocrisy and spiritual failing, and its antidote.

We are all very familiar with hypocrisy, but not all of us are always aware of what a danger it is to our spiritual lives, the place God would ask us to be.  Jesus makes this distinction very clearly in today's reading, as He speaks not only of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.   He speaks of the scribes and Pharisees as people for whom "all their works they do to be seen by men."   In other words, everything is simply for show.  But He takes this message home for all of us, for each one of us, when He adds, "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  It is not the first context in which He's preached this message to His disciples; He has said the same to them when they wanted to know who would be greatest in His kingdom, and taught the same in the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16).  For Christians, it has been traditionally understood that humility is the key, the gateway to all the other virtues and fruit of the spirit, based upon these teachings by Jesus.  Another facet of insight regarding the kind of hypocrisy that Jesus describes here is an extremely materialistic viewpoint on life.  Not only does He describe in this discourse the greed and selfishness of the religious leaders, but their failure to secure for themselves the "treasures in heaven" He's preached about.  In the Sermon on the Mount, after He's pointed out the benefit of doing good deeds secretly, such as almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (Matthew 6:1-7, 16-18), He then teaches, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).  To the rich young ruler, whom Jesus loved, He taught, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (see Matthew 19:16-30).  There He also winds up counseling His disciples with a lesson on humility:  "But many who are first will be last, and the last first."  If we put all of these things together, we start to understand a pattern of a highly materialist viewpoint on life, where everything becomes currency, and the entire guiding principle of life is to use whatever is available to us -- including other people -- simply to get the currency we want.  This is life absent the understanding of the two great commandments, as taught by Jesus in yesterday's reading, above.  This is a life absent the understanding and love first of God, and then by extension to all those also created by God, and the relationship that dictates to us.  If we understand life only on material terms, we will not be good shepherds to anyone.  Our lives will be all about what we can gain, how we can use people and things, and it will dictate our perspective on our world.  We will no longer cherish life and creation as a gift, but rather as things to be used and exploited, regardless of what we tell ourselves our motives are.  We can see this in one example after another throughout history, in which the most awful outcomes so often are created by those claiming to work for the good of all, but absent the spiritual life and understanding that Jesus teaches.  This intangible reality of the love of God, which teaches proper love of neighbor, is simply absent from a purely material perspective on life, and it can pervade even the deepest family relationships in which love is paid lip service.  But then again, Jesus is calling hypocrites those who are steeped in the Scriptures and religious and spiritual tradition, the ones who are to be guardians of that great gift, and lead the people in the worship of God and the obeying of God's law (see Matthew 15:8, Isaiah 29:13).  So we see that hypocrisy can pervade everywhere, and only the heart really tells the story.    Let us remember His words, for they are for all of us, to keep us in the place where we're rich in our deepest needs.