But *ye*, be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your instructor, and all *ye* are brethren.
The Lord says this to His disciples, right after exposing the scribes and Pharisees who loved public greetings and the title "Rabbi." He is not correcting bad manners; He is naming who alone teaches His people, and what that leaves everyone else to be.
The title was a mark of rank, and it came with a ladder of grades to climb.
A title of respect among the Jews, meaning 'master, teacher.' There is no record of anyone using it until the time of Herod the Great... Jesus told His disciples not to let anyone call them Rabbi, for one was their Master (kathegetes), even Christ. According to the Jews the levels of honour rose from Rab to Rabbi, and from there to Rabban or Rabboni.
That word, kathegetes, means more than an ordinary teacher, and the claim to it did not stop with Israel.
The "leader" here (kathegetes) is more than a teacher: he is the teacher who may have many teachers under him... But it was so in Israel then, and it has become so in much of the Christian Church today. Those 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.
(Older translations read "one is your Master, even Christ"; the ESV renders it "you have one teacher.")
His followers were to turn all of that around. The change reaches even to how they measure greatness.
The spirit of the disciples was to be the opposite of all that. They were not to let anyone call them Rabbi, for Christ alone was their Master, and they were brothers. They were no longer 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 let anyone call them teachers, for Christ alone was the One who taught them. Whoever would be great among them was to be their servant. Whoever exalted himself on earth would be brought low, and whoever humbled himself would be lifted up.
The Lord is stopping something at its root, before it can grow.
Such things were not to be among believers. So the Lord next puts His finger on the beginnings of things. If allowed, they would produce the very same thing in Christianity as they had done in Judaism. So — they were to avoid the principles of the Rabbi who sought to form a school around himself. Their Instructor was Christ, and His word their sole authority and unerring guide... And there was to be no leadership apart from the leadership of Christ Himself.
A teacher's job is to make himself unnecessary.
Of course, there are God-given teachers. No one with Scripture in front of him could deny that... It is the intended glory of all these special 'gifts' to enable those they speak to to do without them — to send men from themselves to Christ.
Scripture itself calls some believers teachers and fathers. So the ban is not on the words but on the badge.
Scripture is clear that some believers are, in a spiritual way, "fathers" (1 Cor. 4:15), "teachers," "pastors," "evangelists" (Ephesians 4:11), and "leaders" (Heb. 13:17). But the Lord forbids anyone to give or to accept such a title. Only Christ has a right to the title "Teacher" or "Leader." Only God the Father in heaven has the right to be called "Father." "All you are brothers," He insists. That is, none are above others; all stand on the same level.
What is at stake is not gift but standing.
The question here is not about the various gifts the Lord gives by the Holy Spirit to His members in His body the Church. It is about religious authority in the world, and about the status and respect that come with church office or position.
The name the Lord leaves His people is not a demotion. It is the name He shares with them.
Here as elsewhere Scripture shows the dignity of using the term. Had not Christ said, "One is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brothers"? Besides, He is not ashamed to call us brothers... Since there will only be brothers in the Father's house, let us be only brothers down here.
Yet equality of standing does not erase order of service.
We are glad to receive the truth, "One is your Master, Christ; and all you are brothers." But if we make our common brotherhood a reason for ignoring God's order, we lose its blessedness and disobey the Master... Anyone who thinks that being a "brother" leaves him free to take up any function in the assembly makes a serious mistake.
- One Teacher. "Rabbi" was a graded ladder of honour; Christ removes the ladder by keeping the top place Himself.
- One authority. Christ is the Instructor, so His word is the only authority. No school gathers around a man. No leadership stands beside His.
- One level. The Lord refuses every title that lifts one believer above another. Scripture still names real fathers, teachers and leaders in service.
- One family name. "Brother" is the dignity left to us, and the name Christ Himself is not ashamed to use.
- One order. Being brothers is no excuse to ignore how God arranged service. Equal standing, distinct gifts.
And call not [any one] your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, he who is in the heavens.
The Lord has just exposed the scribes and Pharisees, who loved the best seats and the flattering greetings. Now He turns to His disciples with three short bans. One forbids calling any man on earth "father." Does that mean a child may not call his own father "father"?
The ban belongs to religion, not to family life. Scripture elsewhere tells us to honour our parents, so the Lord must mean something else.
This cannot refer to our father in the flesh. Scripture insists strongly that we owe full respect to our own father and mother on earth. It clearly refers to calling anyone on earth "father" in a spiritual sense, in contrast to the Father in Heaven. To call anyone "father" in a religious sense is an insult to the great Father in Heaven. But the Roman priesthood sets this ban aside. Their fatherhood is plainly a religious one, for they are celibate. Their own Church laws do not allow them to marry.
The command protects something. A rival father on earth would weaken what the disciples felt toward God as their own Father.
Nothing was to be allowed that would weaken their sense of relationship to God as their Father.
Verse 9 sits in the middle of a set of three names. Each one belongs to Christ or to the Father, and the Lord ends by turning the usual order upside down.
They were not to be called Rabbi, for Christ alone was their Master, and they were brothers. They were no longer 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. Anyone who exalted himself on earth would be brought low, and anyone who humbled himself would be lifted up.
The same three words appear elsewhere in Scripture for ordinary believers. So the ban falls on the title, not on the work behind it.
On the other hand, Scripture is clear that some are "fathers" in a spiritual way (1 Cor. 4:15), and others are "teachers," "pastors," "evangelists" (Ephesians 4:11), and "leaders" (Heb. 13:17). But the Lord strictly forbids giving or accepting any of these as a title. Only Christ has a right to the title "Teacher" or "Leader." Only God the Father in heaven may be called "Father." "You are all brothers," He insists; that is, none are above others, but all on the same level.
The Lord is not limiting the abilities He gives His people. He is dealing with official position and public respect.
The question here is not about the various gifts which the Lord gives by the Holy Spirit to His members in His body, the Church. It is about religious authority in the world, and about the status and respect that come with church office or position.
The warning is not just ancient history. When servants take the place of masters, a man stands where only the Lord should stand. And the people themselves often want it that way.
But it was so in Israel then, and it has become just as common in the Christian Church today. Those 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 the Lord of the conscience. Neither the Church as a whole nor any group of men in it can rightly claim an authoritative place for their teaching. Scripture alone, as the word of the Lord, has that place. Yet in many forms this is what men keep doing, and the people of God, for their part, are not merely allowing the claim but encouraging it.
The same principle reaches past the word "father" to any title that borrows honour belonging to God. Take the word "reverend," which older translations use in Psalm 111:9 where the ESV reads "awesome."
It is striking that the word "reverend" is found only once in the Bible, and that time it refers to God. It appears in Psalm 111:9. That verse tells us God's name is reverend, and no other name in Scripture is ever called this. How then can any mortal man, however godly and worthy of respect, be given or take a title which God's Word gives to God alone?
- One Father. The title belongs to heaven, and heaven already fills it. The ban guards a relationship, not good manners.
- One level. Since the Father is one, the disciples are brothers — none above the others, all on the same level.
- One Lord of conscience. A title lets a man stand between your conscience and Christ, who alone rules there.
- One service. Spiritual fatherhood, teaching and leading are real in Scripture. The Lord forbids turning them into titles of rank.
- One direction. The whole passage runs downward. The great one serves, the one who exalts himself sinks, and the one who humbles himself rises.