MattheW 23:11 | 1579 the God of Ja cob ’ a ? He is not the God of the dead but of the liv ing .”
33
When the crowds heard this , they were aston ished at his teach ing .
The Greatest Commandment
22:34-40pp — Mk 12:28-31
34
Hear ing that Jesus had si lenced the Sad ducees , the Phar i sees got to geth er . 35 One of them , an ex pert in the law , test ed him with this ques tion :
36
“ Teach er , which is the great est com mand ment in the Law ?”
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Jesus re plied : “ ‘ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind .’ b 38 This is the first and great est com mand ment . 39 And the sec ond is like it : ‘ Love your neigh bor as your self .’ c 40 All the Law and the Proph ets hang on these two com mand ments .”
Whose Son Is the Messiah ?
22:41-46pp — Mk 12:35-37 ; Lk 20:41-44
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While the Phar i sees were gath ered to geth er , Jesus asked them , 42 “ What do you think about the Mes si ah ? Whose son is he ?” “ The son of Da vid ,” they re plied .
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He said to them , “ How is it then that Da vid , speak ing by the Spir it , calls him ‘ Lord ’? For he says ,
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“‘ The Lord said to my Lord : “ Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet .”’ d
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If then Da vid calls him ‘ Lord ,’ how can he be his son ?” 46 No one could say a word in re ply , and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more ques tions .
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
23:1-7pp — Mk 12:38,39 ; Lk 20:45,46 23:37-39pp — Lk 13:34,35
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his
23 dis ci ples : 2 “ The teach ers of the law and the Phar i sees sit in Mo ses ’ seat . 3 So you must be care ful to do ev ery thing they tell you . But do not do what they do , for they do not prac tice what they preach . 4 They tie up heavy , cum ber some loads and put them on oth er peo ple ’ s shoul ders , but they them selves are not will ing to lift a fin ger to move them .
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“ Ev ery thing they do is done for peo ple to see : They make their phy lac ter ies e wide and the tas sels on their gar ments long ; 6 they love the place of hon or at ban quets and the most im por tant seats in the syn a gogues ; 7 they love to be greet ed with re spect in the mar ket plac es and to be called ‘ Rabbi ’ by others .
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“ But you are not to be called ‘ Rab bi ,’ for you have one Teach er , and you are all broth ers . 9 And do not call any one on earth ‘ fa ther ,’ for you have one Fa ther , and he is in heav en . 10 Nor are you to be called in struc tors , for you have one In struc tor , the Mes si ah . 11 The great est among you will be your
a
32 Exodus 3:6 b
37 Deut . 6:5 c
39 Lev . 19:18 d
44 Psalm 110:1 e
5 That is , boxes containing Scripture verses , worn on forehead and arm
( which , as part of the Pentateuch , was authoritative for the Sadducees ; see note on Mt 22:23 ). This verse reports God ’ s self-revelation to Moses at the burning bush . By saying “ I am ” ( rather than “ I was ”), God indicates that his relationship with the patriarchs is ongoing even after their deaths — which supports a future resurrection ( compare Rev 20:4 – 6,11 – 15 ).
22:34 – 40 The Pharisees again attempt to discredit Jesus — this time with a legal question .
22:36 which is the greatest commandment Among ancient Jewish legal experts , there was an ongoing attempt to prioritize the commandments . Their debates considered which laws were “ light ” and which were “ weighty .” In this case , their goal was not to gain insight from Jesus but to induce him to say something they could use to discredit him . See the infographic “ The Sanhedrin ” on p . 1746 . 22:37 Love the Lord your God A citation of Dt 6:5 . 22:38 the first and greatest commandment Deuteronomy 6:5 also was one of the best-known commands , as it was part of the Shema — an ancient prayer recited by Jews twice every day . 22:39 Love your neighbor as yourself Jesus is referencing Lev 19:18 ( compare Mt 7:12 ).
22:41 – 46 Jesus asks the Pharisees a textual question , which he expects they will easily answer as teachers of the Jewish scriptures ( see note on 1:1 ).
22:44 The Lord said to my Lord “ The Lord ” refers to Yahweh ; “ my Lord ” refers to the Messiah . See Ps 110:1 . your enemies under your feet In the ancient Near East , warriors would stand on the necks of their defeated enemies as a sign of victory ( e . g ., Jos 10:24 ). 22:45 David calls him ‘ Lord ,’ how can he be his son Jesus ’ question hints at his Messianic identity , as the crowds had recently hailed him as the “ Son of David ” ( Mt 21:9,15 ).
23:1 – 36 Chapter 23 presents the finale of Jesus ’ invective against Israel ’ s religious leaders . He pronounces seven woes in response to their unbelief and hypocrisy . A parallel account appears in Lk 11:42 – 52 .
23:2 teachers of the law See note on 2:4 . Pharisees See note on Jn 1:24 . Moses ’ seat Refers to the tradition and authority of Moses . The Pharisees believed that they alone interpreted the words of Moses properly . 23:4 They tie up heavy , cumbersome loads Refers to the traditions of the elders , not the law itself ( see Mt 15:2 and note ). This contrasts with the light , easy burden of Jesus ( 11:30 ). 23:5 phylacteries Likely refers to small boxes containing Scripture passages that Jews wore on their foreheads or arms . tassels on their garments long Refers to tassels on outer garments or prayer shawls ( see Nu 15:37 – 39 ; Dt 22:12 ). Tassels reminded people to obey the commandments ; the more visible the tassel , the more devout one appeared . 23:9 do not call anyone on earth ‘ father ’ The honorary