Bible School · Ministry and the church's offices · Class 27 of 27
Rabbi, Father, Reverend: titles in the church and Matthew 23
Matthew 23 · about 19 minutes · Rabbi, Father, Reverend: titles in the church
By the end of this class you should be able to
- Explain Matthew 23:1-12 in context and say what Jesus forbids and what he leaves alone.
- Collect the New Testament uses of father, teacher and servant for human leaders and say what each shows.
- Trace the origin of the titles Reverend, priest, pastor, bishop, archbishop, metropolitan, patriarch and pope.
- State the arguments for and against ecclesiastical titles and for hierarchical, presbyterian and congregational government.
- Show how the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 pictures the way the early church decided, and how Christ is the one Teacher, Father and Servant.
Read the passage
23Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: 2“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. 6They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues, 7the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed. 8But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ. 11The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. 16Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred? 18And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred? 20So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it. 23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. 27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. 29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous. 30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. 33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell? 34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town. 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 38Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Open Matthew 23 in the reader (BSB)01Background
is Jesus' last public teaching in Jerusalem in the final week before the cross. It follows a series of controversies in the temple courts (-) and precedes the Olivet Discourse (24-25). Matthew, who probably wrote between AD 60 and 90, places the chapter before his last discourse and makes it a sharp warning to the crowds and the disciples about the scribes and Pharisees. These were the teachers of the law and a lay movement devoted to its strict observance. Jesus does not deny their office: 'The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat' (). He condemns their conduct and their love of honour. The chapter is not a criticism of Jewish teaching in general. It is a prophet's lament in the line of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and it ends with sorrow over Jerusalem ().
The passage this class studies is the opening section (), with the woes and the lament as its frame. Honorific titles were part of the social world of Jesus' day. 'Rabbi' (literally 'my great one') was a respectful address for a teacher. Scholars debate how formal a title it was before AD 70, and it became the settled title for ordained sages later. Roman and Greek cities honoured their rich patrons with titles and the best seats at feasts. The church in later centuries developed its own system of titles. The question is what means for them.
02Outline
- Moses' seat: heed what they teach, not what they do
- Burdens, show, places of honour and the title Rabbi
- Not Rabbi, not father, not instructor: one Teacher, one Father, one Instructor
- The greatest is the servant; exalted and humbled
- The seven woes (hypocrisy in teaching, oaths, tithes, cleanness and tombs)
- The lament over Jerusalem
- ; How the New Testament church decided, and Paul as father
03How to read it
Jesus' speech in is address with vivid contrast, using Semitic exaggeration. He does not say that no father should be honoured; he himself upholds the command to honour father and mother (). The statement 'do not call anyone on earth your father' belongs with sayings such as 'if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off' () and with the call to hate father and mother for his sake (). They are heightened language that fixes the mind on one claim. Here the claim is that the disciples must give no human being the place that belongs to God and to Christ.
The context fixes what is forbidden. describe the motive: deeds 'done for men to see', love of 'places of honor', greetings and the title 'Rabbi'. The grammar of is 'you are not to be called Rabbi', a passive, aimed at the desire to receive such honour. gives the opposite principle: the greatest among you shall be your servant. The class therefore reads the command as forbidding status, rivalry and the seeking of honour. It then asks how that governs titles in the church.
The New Testament use of the same words must also be weighed, because a rule that applied to every use of 'father' and 'teacher' would condemn the apostles. They call themselves father () and teacher (), and the church has 'teachers' as a gift ().
04What the text says
. Jesus speaks 'to the crowds and to His disciples.' The scribes and Pharisees 'sit in Moses' seat.' This probably refers to their role in teaching the law. So the disciples are to 'practice and observe everything they tell you.' But they are not to do what they do, 'for they do not practice what they preach.' The authority of the law is not taken away. The hypocrisy of the teachers is condemned.
. They tie up heavy loads on others and will not lift a finger to move them. Their deeds are done 'for men to see': broad phylacteries (small boxes with scripture texts worn on the forehead and arm) and long tassels (; ). They love the places of honour at banquets, 'the chief seats in the synagogues' (protokathedria), public greetings, and the title 'Rabbi'. Rabbi comes from the Hebrew-Aramaic root for 'great' (rab) with the pronoun 'my', and was used of Jesus by his disciples (; ), who also called him 'Rabbouni' ().
. 'But you are not to be called Rabbi, for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.' The reason is two things: one Teacher, and a family of equals. 'And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.' In Jewish usage, revered teachers were called 'fathers', and in later rabbinic sources the Hebrew and Aramaic word for father (ab, abba) is a title of respect for sages and ancestors. 'Nor are you to be called instructors (kathegetai), for you have one Instructor, the Christ.' The Greek kathegetes, a guide or leader, appears in the New Testament only here. The word for Teacher in is didaskalos. Jesus names himself, the Christ, as the one Instructor. This is the only place in the Gospel of Matthew where the claim is made so openly.
. 'The greatest among you shall be your servant' (diakonos). The same principle is in and -27: the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and are called 'Benefactors', but it is not to be so among you. uses the title 'benefactor' (euergetes), which kings and patrons took for themselves. states a reversal found throughout the Gospel: the one who exalts himself will be humbled (; ). shows it enacted when Jesus, called Teacher and Lord, washes the disciples' feet.
The Gospel then lists seven woes (), including hypocrisy in making converts (), evading oaths (), tithing herbs but neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness (), cleaning the cup's outside (), and resembling whitewashed tombs (). In 23:34 Jesus says he sends prophets, wise men and teachers (the Greek word here is grammateis, scribes) to Jerusalem, some of whom will be killed. The lament over Jerusalem () closes the chapter.
How the New Testament uses the words. Paul writes that the Corinthians may have many guides in Christ but not many fathers, since he became their father in Christ Jesus through the gospel (). He calls Timothy his child () and Onesimus his child (Philemon 10). He treats the Thessalonians as a father treats children (). Stephen addresses the council as 'brothers and fathers' (), and Paul does the same (). John writes to 'fathers' as a class of older believers (). Abraham is father of all who believe (, ). In all these cases father describes a relation of origin, such as the one who brought another to faith, or of age. It is never an address of honour for a church office. Leaders are elsewhere called by name, by function (apostle, elder, overseer, deacon, teacher) or 'brother' (; ). Third condemns Diotrephes who loved to be first.
05Key terms
- Rabbi rhabbi (Hebrew-Aramaic rab, 'great' + 'my')
- 'My teacher' or 'my great one'. A respectful address (). The disciples called Jesus by it, and Jesus forbids his disciples to seek it for themselves ().
- father pater (Aramaic abba)
- Forbidden as a title of status (). Used by Paul of his relation to those he brought to faith () and of the older generation of believers ().
- instructor, guide kathegetes
- Occurs in the New Testament only in . Jesus claims it for himself as 'the Christ'.
- teacher didaskalos
- A gift in the church (; ) and used of Paul (). Jesus accepts the word for himself () but warns his followers against the desire for the title ().
- servant diakonos
- The greatest is the servant (). Also the name of an office (; ) and of Paul's own work ().
- to be exalted, humbled hypsoo, tapeinoo
- The reversal in , repeated in , and .
06In the whole Bible
The Bible places one Lord, one Teacher and one Father over the people of God. Christ is Teacher () and Instructor, and the Father is the source of all fatherhood (). The people of God are a family of brothers and sisters (; ). Authority within this family is a service. and forbid lordship in the pattern of the world. First Peter 5:3 tells elders not to be domineering but to be examples, and Paul says he and Apollos are servants, and does not lord it over their faith (; ).
The New Testament also gives honour where it is due. Elders who lead well are worthy of double honour (). Believers are to respect and highly esteem those who labour among them () and to remember and imitate leaders (). Honour of a person who serves is distinct from the pursuit of status. Where Scripture is explicit, titles name function: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher (), elder or overseer, and deacon. Where it is not explicit is the development of fixed forms of address, ranks of bishops and the particular titles 'Reverend', 'archbishop', 'patriarch' or 'pope'. These came later, and the traditions justify them by the church's need for order, by the example of Old Testament and apostolic offices and by long custom.
The New Testament also gives a picture of decision-making. In a dispute at Antioch (circumcision of Gentiles) is taken to Jerusalem, where the apostles and elders meet with the church. After much debate Peter speaks, Barnabas and Paul report, and James proposes the judgment from . The result goes out in a letter in the name of the apostles, the elders and the whole church: 'it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us' ().
07Where Christ is
names Christ as the one Instructor and sets the titles of the church under him. He is also the servant who is greatest. says the Son of Man 'did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many', and describes how he emptied himself and took the form of a servant, and was therefore exalted. The reversal of happens in his own career, and shows him washing the disciples' feet while calling himself Teacher and Lord.
He is the Father's image. He says to Philip that whoever has seen him has seen the Father (). The Father is named as the only Father in heaven, and the Son brings people into that relation (; ). The woes and the lament end with Jesus speaking with God's voice: he sends prophets and wise men () and longs to gather Jerusalem's children as a hen gathers her chicks, an image the Old Testament uses of God's shelter (; , echo). He leaves the house desolate until the people say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord' (), which is , the cry of the crowds at his entry (), and which fulfils the hope of that psalm.
08How traditions read it
The traditions agree that condemns the seeking of honour, and they differ on whether titles and ranks are permitted or wise.
On 'Father', Catholic and Orthodox writers point to and to the example of Stephen and Paul (; ), and argue that Jesus forbade a status that rivals God, not the spiritual fatherhood that the apostles claimed. The title 'Father' for a priest, they say, expresses the priest's care for the people. Some Evangelical writers answer that the apostles used father of their relation to those they led to faith and not as a form of address, and that Jesus' wording is strong. Many Protestants avoid calling ministers 'Father'.
On 'Reverend', the Latin reverendus means 'worthy to be revered'. In the King James Version, says of God, 'holy and reverend is his name.' The Hebrew word (nora) means 'to be feared' or 'awesome', and is used of God's name. The title was used in England for clergy from the later Middle Ages and became the usual style for Protestant ministers after the Reformation. Quakers refused honorific titles from the 1650s, and George Fox taught that such honour belonged to God. Many Brethren and Churches of Christ also decline 'Reverend', citing and . Others reply that it is a courtesy, as 'Doctor' is, and does not claim the honour of God.
'Priest' is in English a form of the Greek presbyteros, 'elder' (through Latin presbyter and Old English preost), not of hiereus, the sacrificing priest. Catholic and Orthodox churches call their presbyters priests, in the sense of a ministry that offers the Eucharist, while Protestants generally reserve hiereus for Christ and for all believers () and use 'minister', 'pastor' or 'elder'. Class 26 treats that question. 'Pastor' is Latin for shepherd. 'Bishop' comes from episkopos, 'overseer'.
'Archbishop', 'metropolitan' and 'patriarch' belong to later development. The Council of Nicaea (325) recognized the metropolitan bishop of a province (canon 4) and confirmed the wider authority of Alexandria, Rome and Antioch (canon 6) and the honour of Jerusalem (canon 7). 'Patriarch' is the word for Abraham and his sons in and , and was used in the church of the great bishops, especially the five chief sees later called the pentarchy, as in the legislation of Justinian in the sixth century. 'Pope' is from papa, 'father', used of bishops in general in early centuries and still the title of the bishop of Alexandria. Gregory VII (about 1075) claimed it for the bishop of Rome alone.
On 'Apostle' and 'Prophet' as personal titles, the New Apostolic Reformation, a term popularized by C. Peter Wagner, and many Pentecostal and charismatic networks, including large ones in Africa, hold that gives these gifts until the church reaches maturity, and that those who carry them may be recognized by name. Reformed, many Baptist and Catholic and Orthodox writers reply that the apostolic office was closed, or that its succession is the bishops, and that using the title for oneself invites the criticism of and . Supporters answer that apostolos means 'sent one' and is used of Barnabas, Andronicus and Junia (; ).
The structures also differ. Hierarchical churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist) hold that Christ left the apostles with successors, bishops over presbyters and deacons, and appeal to as a council of leaders, to James at Jerusalem and to Timothy and Titus as overseers of others. Presbyterian churches (Reformed and Presbyterian) hold that elders govern in councils of equal elders, and appeal to , and . Congregational churches (Baptists, Congregationalists, many Pentecostals and independents) hold that the local assembly decides, and appeal to , to , and . Each can claim , because it contains apostles, elders, James's judgment and the consent of the whole church.
09Review questions
- What do the scribes and Pharisees do in that Jesus condemns, and what does he leave in place?
- What reason does Jesus give for each of the three prohibitions in , and what does he say about the greatest in ?
- How do , and use 'father', and how do they bear on ?
- Where do the words Reverend, priest, bishop, archbishop, patriarch and pope come from, and which are in the New Testament?
- How do hierarchical, presbyterian and congregational churches each read ?
Prepared with AI assistance. A scholar's review is still to come; if you spot anything to correct, please tell us.
Your notes
Only you can see your notes.