Bible Question: The Bible says that our lord spoke as one having authority and not as their scribes. What was wrong with the way the scribes taught? I believe it was because they did'nt receive Jesus. (Matt 7:28-29) |
Bible Answer: In the first century, most teachers and scribes could not teach their own interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. They had to teach in the name of their teacher. Torah Teachers usually were those who taught in a local area only and taught the Text as it has been passed down to them. Scribes generally knew the Text really well and copied it down in scrolls. If a Teacher (or Rabbi) were to say, "You have heard it said....but I tell you...." That person was brining a new teaching. Not so much new in that it wasn't in their Bible, but a new understanding of what it really meant. A person who taught this way was said to have Semicha (authority). It was generally given by no less than two leading Rabbis who also had Semicha and they would lay their hands on the person and lean on them their weight, thus giving them their authority. Later, Jesus is asked in Matt 21:23, "And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" The answer is not given by Jesus directly, but he hints that John the Baptizer was either one who gave him authority, or at least witnessed it. God Himself would have been the second one who declares Jesus to have His authority. To say, “the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” This was not so much that the scribes were teaching the wrong way or even the wrong things, but that the people (at least these people) had not heard a teacher give new interpretation like Jesus had. This is far too early for anyone to be condemned for not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. It was a requirement of the good religious leaders to test anyone claiming to be Messiah (Deut 12:32-13:18 is the big one.) Had the teachers NOT questioned Jesus, they would have been in the wrong. That is different than trying to “trap” Jesus as some of them also did. Testing is not the same as trying to trap. So to answer your question, there was nothing wrong with the scribes, they simply lacked the authority to teach in the way Jesus taught. MJH |