And all their works they do to be seen of men for they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders [of their garments],
Jesus is describing Israel's religious leaders, and here He names the motive behind all they do: the eye of the watching public. Both things He picks out, the phylacteries and the fringes, came from God's own law — so how did a God-given reminder become a costume?
The first item was a wearable copy of Scripture. The Lord objected not to the object but to its size.
Short portions of the law were written on strips of parchment. These were placed in a case made of calf skin, and worn on the forehead and the left arm, supposedly in obedience to Deuteronomy 6:8 and Deuteronomy 11:18. The Pharisees and scribes made them large to attract attention, and the Lord condemned this making them "broad." In later times they wore them as a sort of charm.
The command they leaned on asked for something inward. The same passages that mention the forehead also mention the heart.
Strictly speaking, something to be worn on the forehead and, as the passages say, between the eyes. Israel's rescue from Egypt and the law were to be always before them, as a token on their hand and as frontlets between their eyes (Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18). They were also told to lay the words up in their hearts. So it seems clear that wearing them as frontlets was meant as a picture. In the New Testament we find that people took it literally, and they called the articles they wore phylacteries.
The fringes go back to a blue cord God told Israel to wear on the edge of their clothes. Its purpose was memory. This verse shows that purpose turned upside down.
When we turn to Matthew 23:5, we learn the sad use that man had made of this God-given institution. The very thing set up to make them remember the Lord, and to obey His precious word in lowliness, they turned into an occasion of self-exaltation and religious pride. Instead of thinking of God and His word, they thought of themselves, and of the place they held in the opinion of others. Not a thought of God. They lost the spirit of the original institution altogether, while keeping up the outward form for selfish ends. So let us take care. We must not turn the heavenly memorial into an earthly badge, or turn what should lead to lowly obedience into an occasion of self-exaltation.
God gave the blue cord to guard Israel from following their own will. The men with the longest fringes did the very thing it was meant to stop.
It was to be a reminder of the sacredness of the commands of God, and a protection against doing their own wills. As the centuries passed, men twisted even this, as Matthew 23:5 shows so plainly. The Pharisees showed a false piety by enlarging the borders of their garments. Yet these same men set aside the commands of God in favour of their own tradition.
They dressed for an audience of people. But another pair of eyes was watching the fringe too.
Yes, the eye of the Son of God saw that ribbon of blue on the fringe of their garments as a mark of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
Verse 5 opens a list. The clothing was only the first symptom of a hunger that follows a man everywhere he goes.
Then, in verses 5-12, He exposed their love of notice and pre-eminence. All was for the eye of men. At feasts, in synagogues, in markets — the social circle, the religious circle and the business circle — they wanted the chief place as Rabbis and Masters. The disciple of Christ is to be the exact opposite of all this, so let us take it deeply to heart.
Making things broad and long is a way of climbing in other people's eyes. Christ's road runs the other way.
This is the only place where phylacteries are mentioned. They bound four portions of the word of God in a leather case on their foreheads and on their left arm. This was to show that they were obedient in mind and heart. God knows best. He is the searcher of the heart. This is the exact opposite of Philippians 2. The Lord Jesus is the great example of going down: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." When I know I am a dear child, I can afford to go down.
- The gift. God gave Israel a reminder to wear. Words of the law sat near hand and eyes, and a blue cord ran along the hem, so they would remember His commands and obey.
- The heart. The same commands told them to lay the words up in their hearts. The outward token was a picture, and taking it literally already missed the point.
- The distortion. Broad phylacteries and long fringes turned a memorial to God into a badge about self. The form stayed, the spirit went, and tradition pushed God's commands aside.
- The spread. What starts with clothing does not stay there. The same appetite for notice reaches the social circle, the religious circle and the business circle.
- The reversal. Christ's eye reads the long fringe as hypocrisy. His own example runs downward, and whoever knows he is a dear child can afford to go down.
and love the chief place in feasts and the first seats in the synagogues,
The Lord is about to pronounce His woes on the religious leaders of Israel. First He names what they loved: seats. The verse exposes a heart that measures itself by the place other people give it.
The places named cover the whole of a man's public life.
Then, in verses 5-12, He exposed their love of notice and of being first. All was for the eye of men. At feasts — the social circle. In synagogues — the religious circle. In markets — the business circle. In all of them they wanted the chief place as Rabbis and Masters. The disciple of Christ is to be the exact opposite of all this, so let us take it deeply to heart.
The "best seats" in the synagogue were a real, visible place in the building — the seats beside the sacred books.
A chest stood at one end, holding the sacred books. Near this was the place of honour, or the 'chief seats,' which some people wanted, Matthew 23:6, and James 2:2-3 (where the word translated 'assembly' is 'synagogue').
Older translations say "rooms" here. One writer explains the word and draws the lesson from it.
In this verse, the word "rooms" is out of date in our language in this sense. It means "place." Standing above others, being higher in the church, is completely against what the Lord taught… The great thing is to be true inwardly. God will have truth in the inward parts no matter what others think of us.
The Lord moves past their personal conduct to something deeper: the standing they wanted other people to grant them.
But it was not only this God-dishonouring pettiness. "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces." Now we come to something else. It is not so much their personal conduct, or their claim to be the strictest of all in conscience. It is their love of a public name for holiness, and of honour in the religious world.
Elsewhere the chief seats appear inside a longer list, and the list has a direction to it.
Such people love display — "long robes;" public recognition — "greetings in the marketplaces;" top place in religion — "the best seats in the synagogues;" social standing — "the places of honor at feasts;" building themselves up, even at the expense of widows; and religious showing off, when "for a pretense they make long prayers." How solemn are the Lord's words: "They will receive the greater condemnation." The greater the pretension, the greater the judgment.
Christ taught the opposite of the chief seat, and He lived it Himself.
Then comes a more positive word: "When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place." He had done so Himself. Then "when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.'" He took the form of a servant. He was found in human form, humbled Himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. "Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9).
Everything depends on who gives the place.
If I know I am a sinner, and so deserve no place, I will take none. I will wait until God gives me one… When God gives me a place, it is a place of power and nearness to Himself. When a man takes a place for himself, it is a place of weakness and separation from God, because self is the object.
God gave Israel a reminder meant to lead them into humble obedience.
So the very thing God set up to lead them to remember Jehovah, and to obey His precious word in lowliness, they turned into an occasion for self-exaltation and religious pride… Can we not see something like this around us and among us? Let us think of it — think deeply and seriously.
- The love. The sin named here is not sitting in a good seat but loving it — wanting the chief place at feasts and in the synagogue.
- The reach. That love spreads through the whole of life. It claims the social circle, the religious circle and the business circle for self.
- The root. Behind it is a hunger for a public name for holiness and honour in the religious world. What counts instead is being true inside.
- The end. Left to grow, it moves from display to profit taken from the defenceless, and to long prayers put on for show. The greater the pretension, the greater the judgment.
- The reversal. Take the lowest place, as Christ did, and wait for the host to move you up. A place God gives brings you near Him. A place you take for yourself leaves you far from Him.
and salutations in the market-places, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Jesus is finishing His public charge against the scribes and Pharisees, and He points to something as small as a greeting in the market. The question is why He treats the craving for a name so seriously — and what should replace it among His own.
The greetings here are one item in a longer list. One writer shows how that list covers a man's whole world:
Then, in verses 5-12, He exposed their love of notice and pre-eminence. It was all for the eye of men. At feasts, the social circle. In synagogues, the religious circle. In markets, the business circle. In each of them they wanted the chief place as Rabbis and Masters. The disciple of Christ is to be the exact opposite of all this, so let us take it deeply to heart.
The title was more than politeness. It has a history, it was used of the Lord Himself, and it sat on a scale of honour:
A title of respect among the Jews, meaning "master, teacher." There is no known use of it before the time of Herod the Great. People used it of the Lord Himself... Jesus forbade His disciples to be called Rabbi, for Christ alone was their Master (Matthew 23:8). In Jewish use the steps of honour rose from Rab to Rabbi, and then to Rabban or Rabboni.
The root of the word explains the appetite behind it:
They liked to be recognised as something great — "Rabbi," my master. "Rab" means great one.
These greetings did more than flatter. One writer names what the title was really buying:
All this increased their power with the people. Power and place were what they were always seeking... With it came a love of prominent places too — at feasts and in the synagogues. They also loved greetings in the markets, where people addressed them as Rabbi, with all due respect.
The wish to be greeted looks harmless. Yet the Lord ties this taste for honour from men to unbelief:
There are few greater snares than human honour and praise, for they destroy faith. "How can you believe," said our Lord, "when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44). John 12:42-43 tells us the same thing. Many of the rulers believed in Him. Yet they did not confess Him, because they feared the Pharisees would put them out of the synagogue. They loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.
The verses that follow turn to the disciples. Christ takes down the whole ladder of titles at once:
The spirit of the disciples was to be the opposite of all that. They were not to be called Rabbi, for Christ alone was their Master, and they were all brothers. They were not to call others by the name of father, for only One was their Father, He who is in the heavens. Finally, they were not to be called teachers, for Christ alone was the One who taught them. Whoever would be great among them was to be their servant.
This warning still applies, but it needs care. One writer weighs both sides:
All this calls for serious attention from everyone who truly calls Christ Lord. Yet it also needs wisdom in how we apply it. Scripture itself applies all these terms — "teacher," "father," "leader" — to disciples. So they cannot be forbidden outright. But that is what happened in Israel then, and it has largely happened in the Christian Church today. Men who should have been the servants of their brothers claimed to be masters. They stood between the consciences of men and Him who alone is Lord of the conscience.
- Greeting. The market greeting is the smallest item on a list that covers social, religious and business life — all of it staged for the eye of men.
- Great. "Rab" means great one, and the ladder ran Rab, Rabbi, Rabban; wanting the word was wanting the rank.
- Grip. The title was not empty flattery. It increased their power, and power and place were what they always wanted.
- Glory. Honour traded between men is one of the greatest snares, because those who take glory from one another cannot believe.
- Given up. The mark of a disciple is the reverse: no title, one Master, all brothers, and the greatest among them the servant.