Luke 20:41-47, part 1: Yeshua vs. ‘actors’ as leader of Yisra’el

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In the fourth round of questioning involving Yeshua in the Temple between Lamb Selection Day and the Passover of His crucifixion, Yeshua becomes interrogator, challenging the leaders of Yisra’el on the identity of the Mashiakh (Messiah). Yeshua then fully shows His role as The Prophet, accusing the leaders of the people of really being hypocrites — literally, “actors” — leading the people away from God.

This study will also tackle the assertion in recent years that a Hebrew version of Matt. 23:2–4 says to listen to Moshe (Moses), and not the leadership. A survey of the Hebrew documents involved is explored.

The main text today is Luke 20:41-47, but we will also look at Matt. 22:23-39 and Mark 12:35-40. The longer texts in Matthew and Mark shed additional light on the Luke passage. 

This talk occurred between Lamb Selection Day and Passover. The various Jewish religious leaders have been informally interrogating Yehsua and here Yeshua turns the table a bit and interrogates his interrogators. 

What is the TaNaKh (Torah, Prophets and Writings, i.e. Hebrew Scriptures) about?

• Love YHVH your God.
  • It comes from the Shema, found in Deut. 6:4-5.
  • Who is YHVH?
• Love your neighbor as yourself.
  • Yeshua addresses in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
  • Who is my neighbor?
  • Yeshua exhorted the leaders of Yisra’el to learn to say, “Hello, neighbor!”

Today, we are going to focus on the second question about loving one’s neighbor as oneself. When Yeshua rebukes the “hypocrites” that word in Greek literally means “actor” and the terms are synonymous. Yeshua rebuked those actors, who are playing a public role or part, that doesn’t express their true nature. 

The Samaritans were called “sellouts,” “half-breeds” and other derogatory terms by Jews of the period. The Samaritans were the last people that the Jews would have considered as their “neighbor” or one who deserve to be treated with courtesy. 

Yeshua discourages His followers from coveting exalted titles such as “Rabbi,” “Rav” or “Leader.” Yet we see apostle Yokhanan (John) address his readers as his “children” (1st John 2:1, 12–13, 18, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21), and Paul also calls himself a “father” to his congregations (1st Cor. 4:15). Context is very important. 

The question is “by what authority are you doing these things?” What is the source of the authority. The Mishna and Talmud expansion on the Mishna both use a formula “So and so, in the name of so and so says, …” The two major schools of Judaism at this time were the P’rushim (Pharisee) schools of Hillel and Shammai. 

Where does your authority originate and what does that authority say? It’s a heart issue. If you claim to love God with all your heart and can’t stand your neighbor, you have a heart problem. In modern times, we have come up with a fancy psychological word for this: projection. 

The reason our country has so many laws that they take up their own library is because of lawlessness of people’s hearts. 

But in the first century, the Judaism of the day also had many burdensome rules to try to help people live a life devote God. People can’t really follow God just by blindly following some rules. It has to be a conscious daily choice, a daily decision to follow God. Otherwise, we are just actors. 

Yeshua told the actor-leaders, “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). We need to be a servant for God and for others. 

Matthew goes on to say, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, actors, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” 

It goes from two commandment to thousands of commandments, that surpass the 613 laws of the Torah by leaps and bounds, potentially putting a profound burden on people. This issue was addressed in Acts 15. 

In Judaism of that time, there was a profound push at Gentile conversion to Judaism with circumcision and the Shabbat as the main entry points into the Jewish community. 

This brings us to the most profound question of all: Who is YHVH? Psalm 110 gives us part of that answer, but we’ll continue in this question about who is our neighbor and how to love our neighbor. 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, actors! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.” (Matt. 23:35)

The prophesy of Haggai explains this further (Hag. 2:10–19): There’s no righteousness by association. You love God with all your heart — not your parents’, grandparents’ or your spouse’s heart. 

Peter said in the context of the Jerusalem Council, “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?  But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” (Acts 15:10-11).

There are those who say that Peter was talking about the Torah of Moses. Yet the council’s final four recommendations for new believers from the nations came 100% from that same Torah that Moses revealed on Mt. Sinai. 

Who is it who saves? Who is the Savior? YHWH is the savior. The Torah is not the lock pick set or the key to heaven. The way in is not in your lock pick set at all, but it is in Messiah. 

We start with loving God and loving our neighbor. Then we are in a good position to explore the rest of the Torah.

Does Hebrew Matt. 23:3 say to follow Moshe and not those who sit in his seat?

I have been dancing around a controversial issue that I would like to address now.

“The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.” (Matt. 23:2-3, emphasis added)

There are various versions out there out there that claim to debunk or change this translation from Greek. Some assert that there’s a Hebrew version of Matthew that more correctly renders Matt. 23:2-3, “chair of Moshe; and now all that he (Moshe) tells you, guard and do…,” taking the emphasis off the leaders of the synagogue and placing it on Moses. The assertion is that the real lesson from Yehsha was to follow Moshe and not the scribes and Pharisees. 

The other point is that the Pharisees were self-appointed leaders, they were not chosen by God because they were teaching things that were beyond the Torah. 

There are a few challenges with this understanding. There are about nine manuscripts in good enough condition to evaluate Matthew 23. What we actually have found are Hebrew translations of Greek manuscripts. Only two out of nine of the oldest manuscripts use singular “him,” and the rest render it “them.”*

There is a “sage-ophobia” in some segments of the Messianic community and Christianity in general. There’s an aversion to the Mishna and Talmud. They don’t see any benefit whatsoever in them. Anything related to the Rabbis and dismiss it as “the synagogue of Satan.” 

The concept of the synagogue or meeting place was an invention by the Sages. Saying prayers before and after meals was another innovation of the sages. They took the functions in the Temple into the public sphere. 

On the other hand, we do have to be careful about replacing what God says with what man says. We are supposed to be in this together and we are supposed to be part of the same body. The Mishna and the Talmud are a big “data dump” of information that is not qualified or categorized as good, bad or indifferent. Each student is supposed to wrestle with that on his own. 

Yeshua is the teacher, rabbi, leader appointed by God to lead His community. Any titles we give to each other should not diminish that. If the focus is taking off the Messiah and onto a human leader, the community is endangered.

Speaker: Jeff. Summary: Tammy.

*Tim Hegg, “Why Nehemia Gordon is Wrong About Matthew 23:3: A Response to Nehemia Gordon’s Article in Petah Tikvah (vol. 23.1, Jan-Mar 2005).” TorahResource.com. <http://torahtalkonline.com/Articles/Matt23.3Gordon.pdf> [back]