1. This passage is part of a single speech from Jesus, spoken on Tuesday of Holy Week. That's the Tuesday after the Palm Sunday when He was welcomed triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem, three days before His execution on the cross, and five days before His resurrection on the first Easter Sunday.
The extended section begins at Matthew 21:18-22.
2. This passage is part of a single speech that runs from Matthew 23:1-25:46. The New Interpreter's Bible enumerates seven reasons for seeing it as such. The three that interest me most are:
a. Matthew 22:46 brings Jesus' confrontation with His opponents to a close (p.428). Here, he begins to address His followers. The use of the word then at the start of Matthew 23:1 is "disjunctive," connoting "a new beginning."Specific to the verses:
b. Intriguingly, the commentary points out that Matthew's "overall structure calls for five major speeches" (p.428). This is true. Many scholars think that Matthew's structure is patterned after the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, always deemed by the ancient rabbis as the most important portion of the Scriptures.
c. "Thematic connections bind the section 23:1-25:46 into one discourse bound together, in part, by the overarching theme of judgment and a focus on eschatology (end times).
vv.1-3a: Jesus is in the Temple precincts, where He has been throughout this Tuesday of Holy Week, going all the way back to Matthew 21:23.
Pivotal: Here, Jesus addresses the disciples and the crowds, the latter group being people who are open to following Him.
The Scribes and Pharisees are distinct, but overlapping categories.
Scribes: "...a professional class with formal training...schooled in the tradition and its application to current issues" (p.430).
Pharisees: Group "within Judaism defined by strictly religious rules..." They're mostly laypersons with no formal theological training. It's thought that by the time Matthew wrote his Gospel account, the Pharisees were the dominant leadership group in Judaism. That would not have been true when Jesus was walking the earth; at that point, the Saducees were the leaders.
"Moses' seat": Metaphor "representing the teaching and administrative authority of the synagogue leadership" (p.430).
Jesus only condemns the practices of the Scribes and the Pharisees, not what they teach. He previously defended the Pharisees' doctrinal views over against those of the Saducees (Matthew 22:23-40).
vv.3b-7: What is Jesus' critique of the Pharisees? (a) They say, but do not do; (b) They burden others with harsh religious obligations while failing to act on them themselves; (c) They act for the wrong reason, to make an impression on others (p.431).
vv.8-10: Jesus here addresses the disciples directly, using you or your eight times in these verses.
Rabbi originally meant my great one (p.432).
Brothers and sisters is a better translation than students, which is how it's rendered in the New Revised Standard Version.
Among members of the family of God "distinctions emphasized by titles are inappropriate" (p.432).
Father is a traditional and Biblical honorific title. Elijah and Elisha were given this designation.
"Matthew's church did have a class of leaders, but Matthew regarded them in a more charismatic and egalitarian perspective" (p.432).
vv.11-12: "Leadership in the Christian community is to be servant leadership" (p.432).
Deacon [diakanos]=servant
[Here are links to the two previous parts of the discussion of this coming Sunday's text:
Part One
Part Two]
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