Surprisingly, Jesus begins His litany of woe (Matthew 23) by commending the teaching of Jewish scribes and Pharisees. They sit in the seat of Moses, and Jesus’ disciples are to “do and observe” what they say.
They may sit in Moses’ seat, but they are not Mosaic in their conduct. Moses came to break the yoke of oppression and free slaves, but the scribes and Pharisees “tie up heavy loads and lay them on men’s shoulders” and refuse to lift a finger to help. Despite their teaching, they are more Pharaoh than Moses.
These are sobering words for pastors. We too “sit in the seat of Moses,” but we are capable of turning the gospel of freedom into an instrument of oppression. We must beware the hypocrisy of announcing “Let my people go” with our lips while saying “bricks without straw” with our lives.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Restoring Man at Notre Dame
It is fascinating to be an outsider on the inside of an institution going through times of…
Deliver Us from Evil
In a recent New York Times article entitled “Freedom With a Side of Guilt: How Food Delivery…
Natural Law Needs Revelation
Natural law theory teaches that God embedded a teleological moral order in the world, such that things…
