Jesus Words

Jesus Words,

“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 obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  
They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 
“Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;  they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;  they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’ 
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.  And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.  
Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.  
The greatest among you will be your servant.  
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” 
Matthew 23:1-12
Here Jesus tells his disciples to obey what the religious leaders tell them. In other words they were preaching the law which the disciples Jews had to follow.
The problem with the teachers of the law was that they themselves were not practising what they were teaching.
The wanted the prestige the job brought. They wanted to be recognized as someone special.
God never intended our religious leaders to be puffed up. They were to be humble practising what they preached.
Jesus laid down some guide lines for his disciples and those to follow them as to how they were to act.
1. you are not to be called “Rabbi’ all are equal among the disciples. No one is better than the other.
2. Don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father’ because you have only one father God
This is referring I believe in the religious sense. We have no spiritual ‘fathers’ on earth only God who is         in heaven.
3. You are not to be called teacher. For you have one teacher Christ.
Here he’s warning against people rising up and calling themselves teachers interpreting the scriptures in           a wrong way. Such teachers may even claim they have new revelation. This is wrong.
Our teaching comes from Christ and him alone. All correct Christian teaching comes directly from God         and Christ alone.
History is full of men and women who have misled people by claiming their teaching is the only correct teaching.
We must always be careful that our teaching is in line with that of the bible.
4 The greatest among you will be your servant.
Lack of humility was a major problem for the Pharisees. Our ministers and evangelist must be humble people. If they are not they can be led astray.
A humble person particularly a leader recognizes his ministry is one of service to his congregation.
He will listen to people and even admit if he makes a mistake and submit to correction.
All of the above is what a Christian should be.
Think about it.