“And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying: ‘What think you of Christ? Whose son is he?’ They say to him: ‘David’s.’ He saith to them: ‘How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool?’ If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?’ And no man was able to answer him a word; neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying: ‘The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them.’”
Because the religious leaders were nipping at Him as a lowly man, Jesus then subtly puts forward the truth of His divinity in such a way that He might not be stoned for blasphemy: “For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:33). It is a movement from His familiar discourse with His disciples that still rings of similarity: “Whom do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15), but because the Pharisees would have said He was a deceiver: “Are you also seduced?” (John 7:47), He puts forward this more theological question. The Pharisees then suppose the Christ to be, though great, merely a man: “And he shall stand, and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the height of the name of the Lord his God” (Micheas 5:4), to which Jesus replies with the proper wielding of Sacred Scripture: “And from his mouth came out a sharp two edged sword” (Apocalypse 1:16). Because of Christ’s sonship from the Father, He was before David: “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am” (John 8:58), both in order of time and in the hierarchy of being, to which David had insight by the Holy Spirit. The Son’s seat at the right hand of the Father is not in a physical sense, but rather is to be in equality with the Father’s glory, for all that the Father is, He translates to the Son: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), and this seat is given “until I make thy enemies thy footstool,” (Psalm 109:1), the “until” not ceasing with this, and this is to show the might of His reign, that even if He has to scare people into His arms, this is better than losing them altogether. While this binds the Pharisees, it is also a gift to invite them into the mystery, that they may put down their swords of biting questions and instead walk with wonder at Him who is the Lord of the great king David: “Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? Who is like to thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). Having applied every medicine, particularly that of wisdom, with which the religious leaders should have been delighted, but having it spat back in His face, He then turns to the Apostles and the people, because unprofitable are the words that win arguments, but great are the words that draw people into love: “There is gold, and a multitude of jewels: but the lips of knowledge are a precious vessel” (Proverbs 20:15). The disciples then represent those who hang on every word of God with an eager heart, wanting to store each one as a gem: “And his mother kept all these words in her heart” (Luke 2:51), the people are those who partake in the Church’s gifts, but are not yet in the throes of love: “Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved” (Canticle 5:1). When He says that the scribes, who could not release the letter of the Law, and the Pharisees, who, due to the thought that they were better than others, separated themselves from others: “He that despiseth his neighbour, sinneth” (Proverbs 14:21), sit on the seat of Moses, this is to show that their teaching is godly. Now, it is not the place that makes the man, but the man the place, and where you pray is sacred ground, because that is where you encounter God: “Come nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). God is in your heart, you are His tabernacle, and to realize you are immersed in His presence and He is in you to hold your hand through prayer, that you may come to know His merciful love is a beautiful way to step into your prayer time. From here, it is seen that the office of priest or teacher is a shame to the one that does not step up to its demands and live as he preaches. When Jesus then tells them to do as the scribes and Pharisees taught, this was to dissuade one from rebelling against an evil teacher: “If thou wilt incline thy ear, thou shalt receive instruction: and if thou love to hear, thou shalt be wise” (Ecclesiasticus 6:34). Christ acknowledges them to be the premier teachers in Israel before viciously upbraiding them, that He may not be thought to be reaching for their authority or holding bitterness in His Sacred Heart, which, despite the rampant assaults upon it, burns only with the fires of love: “Love is strong as death… the lamps thereof are fire and flames” (Canticle 8:6). The reason that Jesus told them to observe all that the scribes and Pharisees taught was that the New Law of grace had not yet come forward, the love story was not yet unveiled, and the Law is in place to be a guide to righteousness, which, when animated by love, turns love from paint to art: “The law is not made for the just man, but for the unjust and disobedient” (1 Timothy 1:9), and those who taught it best would guide to a sharp observance, yet be lacking central point. The teacher, then, that does not follow his teaching, or does not love his craft, is a sad sight, but nevertheless, the gold of wisdom is still gold, even if it is in the hands of someone that does not appreciate its beauty: “A man of sense will praise every wise word he shall hear, and will apply it to himself: the luxurious man hath heard it, and it shall displease him, and he will cast it behind his back” (Ecclesiasticus 21:18). In this is a look at one’s attitude towards Church leaders, down to one’s parish priest, because to speak ill of any can build walls around the heart towards what one may hear, and it is better that one should hold the priesthood in high regard, that it may be reverenced: “With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence his priests” (Ecclesiasticus 7:31), and those that love and teach well may be given their due, rather than holy orders being seen as trivial, and the spiritual fathers of the Church being subject to mockery: “Cursed be he that honoureth not his father and mother” (Deuteronomy 27:16). When Jesus says that they say, but do not do, this is a grave condemnation, because to instruct in holy matters is the most dignified of professions: “If [the wise man] continue, he shall leave a name above a thousand” (Ecclesiasticus 39:15), and because of the influence one has in teaching, as well as one’s message coming off as insincere if it is not also observed, without evidence to its goodness, teaching the life of love without loving is a foul blot on a man: “He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is love” (1 John 4:8). There is then the condemnation that they place heavy burdens on others, teaching and demanding a strict way of life without themselves embracing it, whereas love calls you into action and struggle: “In much work there shall be abundance” (Proverbs 14:23); “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24), while being lenient and merciful on others, not knowing what weighs on their soul. These heavy burdens are the commandments of the Law: “Now therefore, why tempt you God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10), which strangle the heart, with the religious leaders not even attempting to try to carry them. Life is more than rule-following, and while the commandments are instructions to virtue, which give beauty to the soul, they are not the fundamental block of life: “Follow after love” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Now, to lay too austere a way of life on one that is a fledgling lover of God, especially under the threat of punishment, is to follow the Pharisees, for to love is to fly, to flap one’s little wings towards ever higher branches until you can soar off and love with ease. To come off the winds of the Gospel of love for an emphasis on asceticism is to clip the wings: “Are you so foolish, that, whereas you began in the Spirit, you would now be made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3), and to be harsh where God is kind is contrary to love: “Love is patient, is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4).