NOTES for Mat 23:1-12

When someone tries to explain to us a truth that is inconvenient for us, we always have a fine argument in reserve: "And are you yourself able to live that way? No? Then be quiet." Very convenient and, it would seem, logical: only the one who has himself fulfilled all the commandments has the right to teach others. Jesus says an astounding thing: truth does not stop being truth if it is spoken by an unworthy person. Yes, one should not imitate the scribes and Pharisees, but one must obey their words. For the Pharisees' sin is not that they teach wrongly, but that they only pretend to fulfill the commandments. Jesus calls His disciples to fulfill everything the Pharisees teach, and at the same time not to consider themselves righteous, remembering that any human righteousness is nothing before the Righteousness of God.