\"Then Spake Jesus to the multitude, and to His
disciples, saying, The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses\' seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not ye in the manner of their works: for they say and do not do.\" (Matthew 23:1-3)
The commentary of St. Theophylact will be used to interpret the meaning of these verses.
St. Theophylact: \"When He has shut the mouths of the Pharisees and shown them to be incurably diseased, then He speaks about them. He speaks about their life and manner of living, admonishing His listeners not to despise their teachers even if they have a corrupt life. At the same time He shows that He is not in opposition to the law, but rather desires that the law be practiced even though those who teach it are unworthy. For, He says whatever the teachers say, you must treat as if it had been spoken by Moses, and indeed by God. Then should everything be done that they say, even if is bad? We would answer, first that a true teacher would never even dare to exhort someone to do evil. But then, supposing that there were someone encouraging and evil life, we would say that such a man is not from the seat of Moses, nor does he give utterance from the law. The Lord speaks of those sitting in the seat of Moses, that is, those who teach the law. Therefore, one must listen to those who teach something from the divine law, even if they themselves don\'t practice it.
It seems apparent that those who follow the letter of law are deemed Pharisaical, however the Holy Fathers call those who justify themselves like the Pharisees since the Pharisees justified themselves and did not follow the law.
Did Christ not just say... all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not ye in the manner of their works: for they say and do not do.\" (Matthew 23:3)
Should we neglect the Holy Teachings of our Mother Church and those of St. Nikodemos, St. Ambrose and many other countless Saints... or is their teaching on fasting too hard? Are we not exhorted to follow what our Teachers of the Faith tell us to do in order that our souls may be saved?
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