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Mathew 3:1-3 (correction, should be 23:1-3)

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.

Quote from: Jaime on Mon Oct 20, 2025 - 18:26:49Mathew 3:1-3

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.

What is that?  That is not Matthew 3:1-3 in my bible.

From ESV:

Mat 3:1  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 3:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Sorry it should be Mathew 23:1-3. Fat thumb typo. See, I knew it would bother someone! 

My problem with the subject verse is it seems antithetical with the following verse:

Mark 7:5-8

5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?"
6 And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
"'This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."

Why would Jesus say in the Mathew 23 passage, listen to what the Pharisees say, but beware of what they do; and He says in the Mark 7 passage that the the Pharisees leave the commandments of God and hold to the traditions of men.

Quote from: Jaime on Yesterday at 07:57:35My problem with the subject verse is it seems antithetical with the following verse:

Mark 7:5-8

5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?"
6 And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
"'This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."

Why would Jesus say in the Mathew 23 passage, listen to what the Pharisees say, but beware of what they do; and He says in the Mark 7 passage that the the Pharisees leave the commandments of God and hold to the traditions of men.

On Matthew 23:3 ------

Barnes says:

All, therefore, whatsoever ... - That is, all that they teach that is consistent with the Law of Moses - all the commands of Moses which they read to you and properly explain. The word "all" could not be taken without such a restriction, for Christ himself accuses them of teaching many things contrary to that law, and of making it void by their traditions, Mat_15:1-6

Clark says:

All therefore whatsoever - That is, all those things which they read out of the law and prophets, and all things which they teach consistently with them. This must be our Lord's meaning: he could not have desired them to do every thing, without restriction, which the Jewish doctors taught; because himself warns his disciples against their false teaching, and testifies that they had made the word of God of none effect by their traditions. See Mat_15:6, etc. Besides, as our Lord speaks here in the past tense - whatsoever they Have commanded, ὁσα ειπωσιν, he may refer to the teaching of a former period, when they taught the way of God in truth, or were much less corrupted than they were now.

In the Mark 7 passage it seems to say they (the Pharisees) have left lock stock and barrel the commandments of God in deference to the traditions of men.

Quote from: Jaime on Yesterday at 07:57:35My problem with the subject verse is it seems antithetical with the following verse:

Mark 7:5-8

5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?"
6 And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
"'This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."

Why would Jesus say in the Mathew 23 passage, listen to what the Pharisees say, but beware of what they do; and He says in the Mark 7 passage that the the Pharisees leave the commandments of God and hold to the traditions of men.

Not really.  This part is what he was talking about "but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice."

IOW, what they actually taught was OK but not how they lived.

Quote from: DaveW on Yesterday at 09:33:58Not really.  This part is what he was talking about "but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice."

IOW, what they actually taught was OK but not how they lived.

But didn't they verbally espouse the traditions of men such as handwashings in the Mark 7 passage. Were they teaching correctly the Torah in the synagogues and then SPEAKING incorrectly in interactions with the public? In other words Jesus was telling them their "oral Torah" or Tradititions of men was faulty. They showed no shame or indicated any deceit in questioning  Jesus's disciples why they didn't wash their hands per the traditions of men as opposed to silence of the Torah on the subject.

They went beyond the law.  They created fences where the law did not.  Their hearts were not in the works that they did.  They had love of prestige, money, and power.

Compare this to the Sermon on the Mount

Yoi're right TC, but when Jesus said basically do as they say or teach, not as they DO it seems a stretch to think what they TAUGHT or preached was correct per what Jesus indicated in Mathew 23:1-3.

Well then, take this passage for what it is worth:

Acts 28:17
After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, "Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

"Customs of the fathers" is referring to the oral tradition.

That was what Jesus referred to as Traditions of Men, right?

Doesn't bother me.

Just told them they still need to obey the leaders of their tribes and clans, even if those people don't act righteously themselves. 

I don't see the problem

Jesus saying listen to these guys sounds like they were spouting some truth, but if they were leaning on traditions of men rather than God's Torah, they were sorely lacking in even what they spoke muchless what they DO. Jesus just denounced one of their erroneously  spoken and taught traditions of men, the handwashings. The fact that they were hypocrits was not new. Jesus just said do what they teach, but don't do what they DO. However, they speak and teach error in the traditions of men, AND practice that as well in their actions. Jesus's statement to do what they preach or say and avoid what they DO doesn't seem to make complete sense to me. They don't say or teach much trufh it seems either. If Jesus said, "absorb whatever truth might come out of their mouths", then I totally understand, but he didn't.  It was simply do what they say and don't do what they do. At least a little puzzling in light of what they just SPOKE about the handwashing ordinances of men.

It would seem he was reestablishing the law of two witnesses. Two used as a metaphor in parables indicates one God not seen is made know by what he created  Jesus the Son of man .The Dynamic Duo.

Two the father and Son. Two the old testament letter of law  (death)with the new testament. Two husband and wife .two each kind on the Ark

The law of faith, the invisible power of the Holy Father  .   


Deuteronomy 17:6At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

The metaphor three a family denotes the end of a matter.

Deuteronomy 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

Our Holy Father with his finger (will) hewn out two tables writen on both sides with no room for the oral traditons of dying mankind . Moses coming down in violation of oral tradition broke the first set of tables .to show the power of the letter of the law (death).Old testament

Then to show the part of his apostle Moses He moved Moses to hewn out two new tables (writing material)then again with his finger he wrote the same words on both sides with no rom for the oral tradition of dying mankind .showing God had mercy on some.

Sends them out two by two, family by family. faith Christ's labor of love by faith.
 
Two by two the husband to represent Christ the unseen head and the church his bride . A sign to the unbelieving world leading to the two tables written on both sides with no room for the oral tradition of dying mankind false prophecy coming from false apostles.

Mankind lost its earthly outward representation when the born agin believer yoked them selves with unbelievers called daughters of men denoting birth  and born agin believer sons of God denoting birth of God  . The flood came and changed the inspiration and a great effect on the physicals world  .The new order of inspiration with the sign of a rain bend into a bow, a sign to the unbelieving world .Believer have prophecy written on both sides (sola scriptura)