Does this passage bother anyone else?

[Jaime]

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.

[4WD]

Mathew 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.

[Jaime]

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

[Jaime]

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.

[4WD]

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.

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.

[Jaime]

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.

[DaveW]

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.

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.

[Jaime]

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.

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.

[Texas Conservative]

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

[Jaime]

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.

[DaveW]

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.

[Jaime]

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