Summary: Jesus warned against emulating the scribes and Pharisees, who, despite holding authority, failed to practice their own teachings and sought personal glory. He urged his followers to pursue humility and service rather than titles, emphasizing the singular spiritual authority of God and Christ. True greatness, he taught, is found in serving others, contrasting with the self-exaltation practiced by religious leaders of the time.
Gospel Acclamation: Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. (Ezekiel 18:31)
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”