Our Lord Jesus taught all must obey the Word of God regardless how hypocritical its teachers are. We must not follow those who “say and do not do”---“we are to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). That is the definition of sola scriptura.
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4 "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6 "They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7 "greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men,`Rabbi, Rabbi.'
8 "But you, do not be called`Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10 "And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11 "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Mat 23:1-11 NKJ)
Author David Wooten contradicts this claiming Christ commands obedience to Jewish extra-biblical traditions in Matthew 23:1ff!
BUT if he really believed that he would list the precise Jewish Traditions Christians today must obey.
As David did not do that, it’s clear he doesn’t believe his own interpretation.
Therefore why should we? Christ tells the Israelites to fulfill the requirements given to them by the Pharisees, but not to imitate them in their hypocrisy. Yet, listen to the reason given by Our Lord for why the Israelites were nonetheless bound to obey the Pharisees:
If that is so, why did Christ immediately overturn their extra-biblical requirements, saying:4 "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6 "They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7 "greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men,`Rabbi, Rabbi.'
8 "But you, do not be called`Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10 "And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11 "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Mat 23:1-11 NKJ)
Their extra-biblical traditions re phylacteries, seating in synagogues, religious titles elevating themselves above their students, were immediately condemned by Jesus. And He wasn’t finished, He goes on to condemn their extra-biblical requirements for prayer, proselytizing, swearing and all the traditions that went against justice, mercy and faith.):
Lest any think we should follow the extra-biblical traditions of the Pharisees, Christ goes on to condemn even more extra-biblical traditions of the Pharisees and scribes:
14 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say,`Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'
17 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
18 "And,`Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'
19 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20 "Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.
21 "He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.
22 "And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
24 "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (Mat 23:14-24 NKJ))
So what precisely did Christ mean by πάντα οὖν ὅσα ἐὰν “all therefore whatever if-ever” they bid? The same as πάντα ὅσα ἐὰν “all whatever if-ever” in Mat 21:22
"And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Mat 21:22 NKJ)
Whatever you ask according to God’s Law, believing you will receive. If you should ask for money, power, sex, or anything against the Law of God, you certainly will NOT receive that from God.
Same with those who sat and taught the Word of God, whatsoever they properly fetched from the Law, that we are to obey, NOT their unscriptural extra-biblical traditions.
“…The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not” (Matthew 23:2-3). Notice that the reason Christ gave for the Pharisees’ authority was that they sat “in Moses’ seat.”
Incorrect, the aorist ἐκάθισαν “they seated themselves” is literal, not a metaphor, ancient synagogues had literal seats in honor of Moses from which the Law and the prophets were read and expounded.
Among the finds within the debris heaped in the synagogue was this “Throne of Moses,” carved of black basalt and decorated with an incised rosette on the back support and a four-line Aramaic inscription on the front. The Aramaic reads: “Be remembered for good Yudan the son of Ishmael who made this porch and its staircase. As his reward may he have a share with the righteous.” This chair, as a type, seems to be known in the New Testament as the Seat of Moses (Matthew 23:2). The Biblical World in Pictures; 2003. Biblical Archaeology Society.
While the scribes could claim Ezra gave them divine teaching authority, the Pharisees could not---they were laymen. Therefore it would be act of defiance for them usurp Mosaic authority and sit literally in Moses’ seat, therefore the aorist literally translates as “they seated themselves” :
saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; (Mat 23:2 NAS)
saying, 'On the seat of Moses sat down the scribes and the Pharisees; (Mat 23:2 YLT)
It was consistent with their hypocrisy and rebellion against God that they sat themselves down in Moses’ seat, God did not put them there. They also claimed to be “masters” in contradiction to God’s law we are all equals. Christ was certainly not condoning their action, the entire chapter is one of condemnation and rejection of all they claimed to be and teach, that was against the Word of God.
Because copies of scripture were expensive and rare before the invention of the printing press, most heard the Word of God via these hypocrites at the synagogue. Christ’s point was clear, regardless how hypocritical its teachers are, the Word of God is Supreme and undiminished in authority over the people, all are to obey whatsoever is properly fetched from it, even if it were the Devil himself who taught it= sola scriptura. God’s Word is undiminished in authority by anything in this world.
We are commanded not to follow them in their rebellion against God’s Word, we must obey it without hesitation, when we lay down, when we get up and when we are about in the way. God’s Word must be before our eyes, continually, to do it (Deut 6:7-9; 11:18-22).
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (Jam 1:22 NKJ) The start of “Moses’ seat,”—the seat of judgment from which Moses ruled on the Law before Israel in the Old Testament—is recorded in Exodus 18:13.
If Christ thought the seat imparted Mosaic authority upon those who sat in it, the verses Mat 23:5-39 would not exist, especially this:
33 "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? (Mat 23:33 NKJ)
Clearly they lacked Moses authority for teaching what they did.
However, the position of authority held by the Pharisees—whose supposed connection to that of Moses in Exodus was certainly extrabiblical—was nonetheless accepted and promoted by no less than the Lord Himself.
Incorrect, the grammar and syntax is they had no authority and context confirms this as Christ lists various traditions as examples of what His disciples are not to obey.
The apostle Peter and his fellow apostles confirms this interpretation when those who sat in Moses’ seat commanded rebellion against the Word of God:
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them,
28 saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!"
29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said:
"We ought to obey God rather than men. (Act 5:27-29 NKJ)
A more elegant statement of “sola verbum dei” cannot be made. As what is indisputably God’s Word today is found in the Scriptures “sola verbum dei” = “sola scriptura”.
While these two passages are often used together by Evangelicals to address the Roman Catholic Church’s claims to the papacy, such an issue is, firstly, a non-issue for the Orthodox, and, secondly, an ironic one for us, as the Protestants frequently use two passages that, if examined closely, present a very real problem for those very people who would seek to establish a Scripture-only view of what can be seen as authoritative for the believer.
As Christ taught obedience to God regardless what men say or do, it hardly presents a problem for sola scripturists of any denomination.
While the establishment of Moses’ seat is found within Scripture, the directive to continue it—not to mention who would then hold its authority within the community of Israel—are found absolutely nowhere within the Old Testament, yet the words of Our Lord make clear that this extrabiblical tradition is not only not anti-biblical, but also a good, worthy tradition in spite of its not being written down.
Just like today scripture reading and teaching happen in known locations, that ancient Jewish synagogues honored Moses by referring to this area as “his seat” is hardly warrant for unscriptural traditions which Christ condemned throughout His Advent:
13 "making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do."
14 When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:
15 "There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.
16 "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Mar 7:13-16 NKJ)
It is defiling to teach the traditions of men that contradict the Word of God, and no defiled person can stand in the presence of the Almighty Holy God. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The sola scriptura adherent, then, has to provide and answer for why Our Lord here seems to be going against the idea that only that which is written in Scripture is to be accepted as authoritative for the people of God.
Unsound
straw man argument as sola scriptura does not say only what is in scripture can be accepted. As God put teachers in the church these clearly have some authority:
And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers… (1Co 12:28 NKJ)
But like those who sat in Moses Seat, these cannot contradict what is in the Word of God:
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. (Gal 1:8 NKJ)
Sola scriptura means the Only Scripture is Supreme because only it is indisputably the Word of God and He is indisputably the Supreme Being. It does not mean the church councils, fathers or modern day teachers have no authority over God’s people, it only means said authority cannot contradict what is in God’s Word.
Sola scriptura is the essence of Christ’s message to the people, everywhere and every place Christ taught obedience to God above men and their traditions.