Psalm 107:1–7, 33–37 • Joshua 3:7–17 • 1 Thessalonians 2:9–13 • Matthew 23:1–12

Our theme is God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor. In Joshua, priests lead the nation of ancient Israel into the Jordan River at flood time. As their feet touch the edge of the river, the water backs up, making a clear path for the people to walk across and into the promised land. The presence of God is with them, and he will clear the way before them. The psalmist proclaims in Psalm 107 the redemption of the Lord. The psalmist declares how God changes rivers into desert and a wilderness into a pool of water. The Lord will lead his people into a safe habitation and provide for them there. The apostle Paul tells the believers in Thessalonica how they worked diligently night and day to share the good news. They encouraged the believers to walk in a way that was worthy of God, since God’s word, which they received, accomplishes its perfect work in their lives. In the Gospel passage, Jesus speaks to the crowd and his disciples, we see the limitations of human leaders. Praise God there is One perfect, faithful leader we can trust. The theme for this Sunday is only one God is teacher, Father, and instructor.

Reminder: This introductory paragraph is intended to show how the four RCL selections for this week are connected and to assist the preacher prepare the sermon. It is not intended to be included in the sermon.

How to use this sermon resource.

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God is our true Teacher, Father, and Instructor

Matthew 23:1–12 ESV

People of various nations value and use honorific titles in their everyday language. These titles address a person respectfully according to their social standing. For example, the nation of Japan has a system of speech, keishō. It has suffixes and prefixes which are used to show respect and special treatment. How such words are used define relationships and point to a person’s social standing.

In many cultures, a person’s social standing is often considered very important. It determines whether the person receives honor, special treatment, or authority over others. Someone who is of high standing is often given special attention and high value. Those of low standing are often neglected, abused, or treated with indifference.

This common thread was evident in the culture of Jesus’ day too. Specifically, it permeated the religious culture of the ancient Jewish people. The religious elite studied and taught their Scriptures (the Old Testament). They also enforced the Mosaic law (the law of Moses). They held positions of power and authority in their community.

These leaders may have had sincere devotion to God. But many of them pridefully enjoyed the status, authority, wealth, and power which came along with their position. Instead of pointing the people to God, they drew attention to themselves. In our passage for this Sunday, Jesus turns their attention back to who God is and what this means for us.

¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. ¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:1–12 ESV

We can learn a lot about God in this passage. But before we look at Jesus’ words, let’s get some background. The scribes were the lawyers who studied and interpreted the Old Testament scriptures. The Pharisees were part of the religious elite who held positions of power in the community.

These religious leaders took the Law of Moses very seriously. The Mosaic Law is the body of laws and commandments that God gave to Israel through Moses in the Old Testament. (We talked about this last month when our sermons focused on the book of Exodus.) But over time, many additional teachings, called the oral tradition, were passed down alongside that written law.

Imagine a family recipe that was never written down. Each generation teaches the next how to make it. The recipe becomes a tradition even though it isn’t in a cookbook. Oral tradition worked much the same way, passed from person to person by word of mouth.

In Jesus’ day, religious leaders had not only the written Law of Moses but also many teachings and interpretations that had been passed down orally for generations. This collection of practices was passed down by memory and instruction and were not in the Bible itself.

For example, strict ritual washing was practiced. There were many rules about what could or could not be done on the seventh-day Sabbath. Tithing, or paying 10% of one’s income, was broken down into detailed instructions about counting out herbs and spices.

The problem was not tradition itself. The problem was that many of these added rules became a heavy burden. Instead of helping people draw closer to God, they made faithful life feel exhausting, complicated, and nearly impossible to follow.

People sought to keep the oral tradition, but it did not draw people closer to God. Instead, these teachings made life more difficult than what God intended. Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees “tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders” (verse 4).

Jesus Teaches a Better Way

Jesus told the crowd to obey what the Pharisees and scribes instructed them to do. He encouraged them to obey God’s law of love.

But the people were not to follow these leaders’ example or traditions, because their actions were hypocritical. Jesus pointed out that these leaders had one main concern: to be publicly elevated and venerated. And these leaders wanted to tell the people what to do, even though they did not do it themselves. They were showing off. They were hypocrites full of pride

Notice that Jesus did not tell the crowds to disobey God. He told them to follow what they were being instructed that was from the Scriptures. But the other, the teachings made by humans, to promote human values and positions — Jesus told them not to follow this example.

In other words, Jesus was telling them not to build their identity around public honor, special titles, or positions of authority. Instead of seeking recognition from others, they were to turn their attention back to the triune God.

Then Jesus specifically addresses three titles commonly used by these leaders: rabbi, father, and instructor. In each case, he redirects the crowd away from human status and toward God. God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor.

God is Teacher

Jesus begins with the title of rabbi (“my great one,” “master”):

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. Matthew 23:8 ESV

In the first century, the word “rabbi” meant something different than it did a few decades later. The original word was commonly used as a title of respect for a teacher or master, especially one who taught and interpreted the Scriptures. They passed judgments on people’s concerns and questions. Jesus says, “there is only one teacher and you are all brothers” (v. 8). Your Bible might say this teacher is the Christ or Messiah. But that is not in the original Greek — it has been added in some translations.

In the Gospels, Jesus is often called rabbi or teacher by his followers. Before his death, Jesus also told his disciples the Holy Spirit would come. And that the Spirit would teach them all things and bring all that Jesus had taught them to their remembrance (John 14:26).

When Jesus says, you are all siblings (brothers), it speaks to our equality and unity with one another. And the Spirit makes this possible through Christ (John 17:23; Gal. 3:28). So, this statement by Jesus, points to the work of the Spirit, not just his own ministry as rabbi or teacher.

God is Father

Next, Jesus tells the crowd:

And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Matthew 23:9 ESV

The title Father belonged uniquely to God. Jesus came to help people know God not as a distant ruler, but as a Father. In the Old Testament, God was sometimes called the Father of Israel as a nation, but people did not usually speak of him as their own Father in a personal way.

Jesus, however, spoke of God as his Father. He shared a unique relationship with him and taught his followers to know God as Father as well. This was shocking to many of the religious leaders because Jesus was claiming a relationship with God that no one else had.

By calling God his Father, Jesus was revealing who he truly was. He was not just a teacher or a prophet. He was the Son of God, equal with the Father and sent by him into the world.

In everyday life, every human person has a father. And we often call our human fathers by the name “Father” or “Dad” or “Papa”. [You may wish to use what is appropriate in your context.]

Jesus wasn’t saying we can’t call our human fathers these names. What he was saying was for us not to seek to be elevated to a “father” status — a status that only our heavenly Father holds. Our supreme adoration and desire for approval should be to God alone. And God is our heavenly Father.

God is Instructor or Leader

Lastly, Jesus tells his listeners:

Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. Matthew 23:10 ESV

Jesus reminds the crowd that they only have one instructor. He is the Christ or Messiah (the one sent by God to rescue his people). Jesus was instructing them about who God is and who they are in him. Jesus the Christ is the one perfectly faithful instructor, not those who are just trying to gain the people’s attention and adoration.

Jesus holds the spiritual leaders of his day up against the lens of the triune God. God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor. The Spirit unites all people as brothers and sisters. All are equal and all are taught by Jesus in the Spirit. The only leader-father they are to look to and hold in affection is their heavenly Father. And their only true instructor and leader is Jesus Christ, the One who would soon humbly lay down his life.

Leadership Jesus’ Way

Then Jesus hits the bottom line when it comes to positions of leadership or teaching:

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11–12 ESV

Jesus shows them the divine reality of true leadership: greatness is expressed through humble service. A faithful leader does not seek applause, status, or control over others. Rather, a faithful leader serves others in humility. Jesus does not merely teach this way; he lives it.

In the final days before his crucifixion, Jesus went willingly toward Jerusalem. There, the leaders would arrest him on false charges, mock him, torture him, and hand him over to be crucified.

And Jesus allowed them to do this. Jesus humbled himself to the point of sacrificing his own life on behalf of all. This sinless person, Jesus Christ, willingly died for the sake of all humanity. He did this so we might all be freed from evil, sin, and death and be given new life.

Jesus teaches that leaders are to offer humble service. Then he shows the profound difference between self-promotion and the self-giving love of God.

The Son of God set aside for a time the privileges of divinity (God’s being) in order to join us in our humanity. He lived a truly human life in faithful obedience to his heavenly Father. And he offered himself for all in humble sacrifice on the cross to free us from evil, sin, and death.

And Jesus rose from the grave, bringing all humanity home to his heavenly Father. And then he sent the Spirit so we could all by faith participate in his own relationship with his Father in the Spirit.

God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor. He comes for us in Jesus Christ, humbling himself as a human being, allowing himself to be crucified for us. And Jesus, who went all the way down into death itself, is exalted by his heavenly Father to his right hand in glory. Our heavenly Father brings each of us into his own life through Jesus Christ in the Spirit. And he teaches us all things through Jesus in the Spirit, leading us in his paths.

Humble Leadership is a Walk of Faith

Jesus, our High Priest, entered into the gates of death for each of us. He stepped into the crucible of death, allowing himself to be crucified. He entered death and came out the other side.

He rose again, delivering us from death, evil, and sin. He brought us through the dangerous waters of death into the glorious light of new life in him. Now we are all able to walk safely into the promised land of God’s kingdom.

In Christ, we enter God’s kingdom. By faith, we begin now to participate in Jesus’ life with his heavenly Father in the Spirit. The Spirit begins now to build new settlements. Christ’s holy ways of living, his godliness, and truth are built into areas formerly given over to sin and selfishness. We begin to live out Jesus’ triumph over sin, evil, and death in this world.

Through Jesus, in our homes and in our communities, we live Christlike lives of humble service and faithful obedience. By the Spirit, we reflect the truth of who Jesus is as Lord and Savior of all. Rather than lifting ourselves up, Jesus works through us to lift up those around us.

Jesus Christ Includes Us

Our life in Christ is not a heavy burden laid upon us. It is not strictly keeping rules and rituals in order to gain God’s favor. Rather, it is Christ living his own life in us by the Holy Spirit. It is his life with our heavenly Father that we participate in as we live our everyday lives.

We can live humbly and serve others because that is who Jesus is and who we are in him. Jesus lives in us by the Holy Spirit. So, empowered by the Spirit, we can serve humbly and live in right relationship with God and others.

We do not need titles or special recognition. We can learn from one another, be taught by one another, as inspired by the Spirit, because we know we are all one in Christ Jesus. We believe that God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor. And we can trust him to lead and guide us into all truth.

We can rely on God to teach us whatever we need to know. We can trust him to grow us up into who he created us to be in Jesus by the Spirit. We can rest in Jesus’ finished work, in God’s approval, recognition, and status given to us in him. The Spirit helps us to recognize when we are tempted to gain praise, worth, or value in other, human ways. Jesus reminds us then to turn away from all of this and to keep our focus on our triune God.

Our faith is in God — Father, Son, and Spirit — and God is faithful to finish what he has begun in us. Jesus has finished in humble service all that needs to be done for our salvation. And he reigns in glory now and forever. And he reigns in our hearts and lives by the Spirit as we trust in him. We are held in Jesus’ arms, secure in the Father’s love, and comforted by the Spirit’s peace, now and into eternity.

One last time, hear the good news in this passage:

⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. (verses 8–10)

You have one teacher, the Spirit.
You have one Father in heaven.
You have one instructor, Jesus Christ.

There is only one faithful teacher, Father, and instructor — the Holy Trinity.

And if you remember only one thing from this sermon, let it be this:

¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (verse 11–12)

Jesus is the One who descended to earth, becoming a servant.
Jesus is greatest among us, yet he humbled himself all the way to the cross.
Jesus is the One whom the Father exalted to sit at his right hand in heaven.

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Go Deeper Philippians 2:5–11: What did the Son of God give up in order to bring humanity home to the Father? What does this tell us about who Jesus Christ is?

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Small Group Discussion Questions