Today’s Thought “Theoretical Mishap” G. Ward

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.” Matthew 23:1-2

The seat of Moses for Jews was regarded as the most authoritative position within the synagogue. Although the relevance of the chair seems esoteric to Old Testament, we’ve viewed the transcendence of this tag in every realm of life.  Colleges and universities (in this modernity) now refer to their department heads as “chair.” It’s representative of their authoritative knowledge in a particular subject.

The problem with this could be the same as Jesus proposed for those self-imposed leaders of that day. Jesus said, “They do things to be noticed by men.” Moreover, the Savior sought to warn His disciples and the multitudes in being impressed by those great intellectuals. Religious zealots (i.e. preachers) of today are leaders of conjecture more than truth. They still desire being seen over the message of the cross (1 Cor. 2:1-8), promoting dependence on them vs. personal intimacy with Holy God (Ro. 10:8). Truth tellers still hide (Ps.27:5) behind the Great “I AM…”

Happy Thursday!