Matthew 23:1-12
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat;
3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.
4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,[a] and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.
6 They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues
7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi.
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.
9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father, the one in heaven.
10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.[b]
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
Imagine sitting with Jesus, with a big crowd, listening to Jesus teach. In this lesson, he tells you about those who have taught you all your life. The lesson makes a lot of sense, although you had not realized it before.
For example, Jesus said, “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them”. He was saying that the teachers of the law required you to follow a lot of strict rules to be in God’s favor, but that the teachers did not help you.
They cared about how they were seen by others – they wore fancy clothes and prayer shawls, they sat at the head of the table, they wanted to be seen and respected, and called rabbi.
Jesus says to not be like the rabbis. He says to remember who you are and how you live in relation to God. God is like a father, Jesus is The Only Teacher. Listen to His teachings, not others.
The most challenging part of this lesson, to me, is about being humble, and being a servant. Jesus says to serve others. Take a moment and think about the ways you serve others. As a parent? As a worker? Do you share knowledge or give your time and energy to others? Also, how are you a servant to God? Remember that you are God’s hands and feet, heart and mouth. Do you serve God and God’s people in all that you do?
Now that you have determined that you are indeed serving God, you might realize that by doing so, you are being humble. And that you are not like the rabbis who thought they were better than others and deserved special treatment.
Unfortunately, the moment you realized that you were humble, and were happy that you were not like the rabbis, you just exalted yourself. Oh, no! The exalted shall be humbled!
So, life is like this. We need to constantly humble ourselves, by serving God. We will realize that we are doing a good job, because we are people, and it would be close to impossible to not evaluate how well we are serving God. Then we exalt ourselves, then we have to go back and serve and become humble again. And again. And again.
This is our life. We must always remember our lessons throughout our lives. We are never finished.
So please tell me, how do you serve God?
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