Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 23:1-4

"Then spake Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, [these] do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men`s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger." — Matthew 23:1-4 (ASV)

Pseudo-Chrysostom: When the Lord had refuted the Priests with His answer and shown their condition to be beyond remedy—since clergy, when they act wickedly, cannot be corrected, while laypeople who have gone wrong are easily set right—He turned His discourse to His Apostles and the people. For a teaching is useless if it silences one person without improving another.

Origen of Alexandria: The disciples of Christ are better than the common crowd; in the Church, you may find those who come to the word of God with greater passion. These are Christ's disciples; the rest are simply His people. Sometimes He speaks to His disciples alone, and other times to the multitudes and His disciples together, as He does here.

The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, as they profess to follow his Law and boast that they can interpret it. Those who do not depart from the letter of the Law are the Scribes; those who make high professions and separate themselves from the common people as being better than them are called Pharisees, which means "separate ones."

Those who understand and explain Moses according to his spiritual meaning truly sit on Moses' seat, but they are neither Scribes nor Pharisees; they are better than either, being Christ's beloved disciples. Since His coming, these disciples have sat upon the seat of the Church, which is the seat of Christ.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: But we must consider how each person fills his seat, for it is not the seat that makes the priest, but the priest who makes the seat; the place does not consecrate the man, but the man consecrates the place. A wicked priest derives guilt, not honor, from his priesthood.

St. John Chrysostom: But so that no one could say, "I am negligent in my practice because my teacher is evil," He removes every such excuse, saying, All therefore whatsoever they say unto you, observe and do. For they are not speaking their own words, but God's, which He taught through Moses in the Law. And see what great honor He gives Moses, showing again how much harmony there is with the Old Testament. ¹

Origen of Alexandria: But if the Scribes and Pharisees who sit in Moses' seat are the teachers of the Jews, teaching the commandments of the Law according to the letter, how can the Lord bid us to do all the things they say? For the Apostles in the book of Acts forbid believers from following the letter of the Law.ⁱ These men indeed taught according to the letter, not understanding the Law spiritually. Whatever they tell us from the Law, if we understand its spiritual sense, we should observe and do, while not doing according to their works. For they do not do what the Law commands, nor do they perceive the veil that covers the letter of the Law.

Or, by "all," we should not understand everything in the Law—for example, the many things relating to sacrifices and the like—but only those things that concern our conduct.

St. John Chrysostom: But why did He give this command about the doctrine of Moses and not the law of grace? Because it was not yet the time to publish the commandments of the New Law before the season of His passion. I also think He had something further in mind here. He was about to make many accusations against the Scribes and Pharisees in the discourse that followed. Therefore, so that arrogant people might not think He desired their position of authority or spoke this way out of hostility toward them, He first dispels this suspicion and then begins to rebuke them. This was so that the people would not fall into their same faults. And so that, just because they should listen to them, they would not think they should also imitate their works, He adds, But do not do according to their works. What is more pitiable than a teacher whose life, if imitated, leads to ruin, but whose example, if rejected, leads to salvation for his disciples?

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Just as gold is separated from the dross and the dross is left behind, so listeners can take the teaching and leave the practice, for good doctrine often comes from an evil man. But just as priests judge it better to teach the wicked for the sake of the good, rather than to neglect the good for the sake of the wicked, let those under their authority also respect the bad priests for the sake of the good, so that the good are not despised because of the bad. For it is better to give the wicked what they do not deserve than to deprive the good of what is rightfully theirs.

St. John Chrysostom: See how He begins His rebuke of them: For they say, and do not. Everyone who transgresses the Law deserves blame, but especially one who holds a teaching position. This is for three reasons: first, because he is a transgressor; secondly, because when he ought to correct others, he himself falters; and thirdly, because, being a teacher, his influence is more corrupting.

He then brings another charge against them: that they oppress those under their authority. They bind heavy burdens. In this, He shows a twofold evil in them: they demanded the strictest way of life from those under them without any allowance, while they allowed themselves great license. A good ruler should do the opposite: be a severe judge to himself, but a merciful one to others. Notice the forceful words He uses in His rebuke. He does not say they cannot, but that they will not; and not that they will not lift them, but that they will not even touch them with one of their fingers.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For the Scribes and Pharisees of whom He is now speaking, the unbearable, heavy burdens are the commandments of the Law, as St. Peter says in the book of Acts: Why are you trying to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (Acts 15:10). By commending the burdens of the Law with invented proofs, they bound the shoulders of their hearers' hearts with straps, as it were, so that, tied down by what seemed like reasoned proof, they could not throw them off. But they themselves did not fulfill them in the slightest—that is, they not only failed to fulfill them completely, but did not even attempt to.

Glossa Ordinaria: Or, to bind burdens means to gather traditions from all sides, not to aid the conscience, but to burden it. ²

St. Jerome: But all these things—the shoulders, the finger, the burdens, and the straps with which they bind the burdens—have a spiritual meaning. In this, the Lord also speaks generally against all teachers who command difficult things but do not do even the small things themselves.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: This is also true of those who lay a heavy burden on people coming to repentance, so that while people try to avoid present punishment, they overlook the punishment that is to come. For if you lay a burden on a boy's shoulders that is heavier than he can bear, he must necessarily either throw it off or be crushed by it. In the same way, the person on whom you lay too severe a burden of penance must either refuse it completely or, if he submits to it, will find himself unable to bear it, and so will stumble and sin worse.

And if we are wrong in imposing too light a penance, is it not better to answer for mercy than for severity? Where the master of the house is generous, the steward should not be oppressive. If God is kind, should His priest be harsh? Are you seeking a reputation for holiness by doing this? Be strict in ordering your own life, but lenient in the lives of others; let people hear that you require little but perform much. The priest who gives license to himself and demands the utmost from others is like a corrupt tax collector, who burdens others heavily to ease his own load.

1. Hom. lxxii
2. interlin.