What did Yeshua mean when He said, “Do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds”?

Are the Pharisees to be recognized as those in authority?

 

Matthew 23:1-3 says, Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”

 

The seat of Moses was a term used for the authority given to those who teach the Law of Moses. There is a tension here that needs clarification. While the Pharisees clearly held a position of authority in first-century Judaism, Matthew 23 offers no indication that this authority was divinely ordained, as were the authorities of the prophets and the priesthood. We see the Pharisees as already seated in the seat of Moses, but what we hear from Yeshua is a very strong, direct denunciation and condemnation of the religious leaders of His time. Throughout the entire chapter, He repeatedly exposes the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, emphasizing that their words and actions are in complete contradiction.

 

Jesus describes them as leaders who “say things and do not do them.” They impose heavy burdens on others but refuse to lift a finger to help. They seek public honor and the praise of men, yet their hearts remain far from the righteousness they claim to uphold.

 

Therefore, the point of Jesus’ statement is not to endorse their authority as trustworthy teachers, but rather to highlight the tragic inconsistency between their teachings and their behavior. His warning is essentially this: do not imitate their conduct, demonstrating the danger of religious hypocrisy, knowing the truth but failing to live it.

 

Just following, in that same chapter, verses 13-29, Jesus pronounces woes against the Pharisees. It is interesting that Jesus chooses the Pharisees, rather than the Sadducees, as the recipients of this lengthy denunciation. We might see it as prophetic. Why? It was the Pharisees who ultimately gained control of the religious authority in Judaism for the next 2000 years. Yeshua then pointed to them and warned us as well that we must always use the Word of God as our gauge and not fall blindly for self-imposed religious leaders who alter the truth for the sake of prestige, authority, or power.