What is the meaning of Matthew 23:5? All their deeds are done for men to see Jesus exposes the heart of the scribes and Pharisees: “All their deeds are done for men to see” (Matthew 23:5). • The issue is not the deeds themselves—it is the motive of performing them for applause. Compare Matthew 6:1: “Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them.” • God values sincerity over spectacle. In 1 Samuel 16:7 He reminds Samuel, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” • Genuine service seeks God’s approval alone (Colossians 3:23). The warning is timeless: when we crave human recognition, even good works become self-promotion. They broaden their phylacteries Phylacteries (small leather boxes containing Scripture, worn on forehead and arm) were meant to remind Israel of God’s Word (Deuteronomy 6:8; Exodus 13:16). • The religious leaders made theirs larger, turning a private reminder into a public billboard of supposed holiness. • Jesus’ rebuke underlines how easily we turn God-given symbols into status symbols. Paul cautions, “Knowledge puffs up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). • True obedience delights in the Word itself, not in advertising our affiliation with it (Psalm 119:11). and lengthen their tassels Tassels, commanded in Numbers 15:38-40 and Deuteronomy 22:12, called Israel to remember God’s commandments. • By lengthening their tassels, the leaders signaled superior piety, forgetting the purpose of the tassel: “so that you may remember and obey all My commandments and be holy to your God” (Numbers 15:40). • Contrast the woman who touched “the fringe of His cloak” (Matthew 9:20). Her faith was in Jesus, not in the size of a tassel. • Micah 6:8 centers obedience where it belongs: “to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” summary Matthew 23:5 exposes the danger of religious showmanship. Whether through conspicuous deeds, oversized phylacteries, or elongated tassels, the heart that craves human applause drifts from the God who “sees in secret” (Matthew 6:4). Authentic discipleship pursues hidden devotion, humble obedience, and a life that points glory upward, not inward. |
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