Short answer: In Matthew 23:1–12 Jesus tells the crowds and his disciples to do what the scribes and Pharisees teach but not to imitate their works, because they say and do not do. He then says no one among his followers should be called Rabbi, father or master, since one is their teacher and one is their Father in heaven. The point is not a ban on every use of the word father but a rebuke of loving titles as a claim to authority and honor that belong to God. He closes by making service the measure of greatness and warning that whoever exalts himself will be humbled.
Where Jesus says this, and why it matters
Matthew places this teaching in the temple courts during the final week of Jesus' ministry. The verses just before it record a run of hostile questions from the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and a lawyer, each trying to trap him. Jesus answers them, then asks his own question about David's son and Lord, and Matthew 22:46 says no one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forward. The argument is over. What follows is not a debate but a public warning, spoken to the multitudes and to his disciples together.
The shape of the passage is a warning built on contrast. Jesus first describes the leaders' conduct, then turns to his followers and sets a different standard beside it. He grants that the scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so the crowd should observe what they teach but not imitate what they do, because they say and do not do. Matthew 23:3 puts it plainly: "All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don't do their works; for they say, and don't do." The office is acknowledged; the hypocrisy is named. This teaching on titles opens a longer indictment that follows.
The burden language carries the weight of the whole passage. Jesus says these leaders bind heavy loads on other people's shoulders while refusing to lift a finger, and that their works are done to be seen. Against that, he tells his disciples not to chase the titles of Rabbi, father, and master, and he closes with the servant who is greatest. The point is not to police ordinary family speech or to license contempt for church leaders. It is a mirror held up to the desire for honor, and it invites honest self-examination rather than judgment of someone else's motives.
One Father, one teacher, one master
The setting matters. Jesus has just silenced the religious leaders with a question about David's son, and Matthew notes that no one dared ask him anything more (22:45–46). Then he turns to the crowds and his disciples and speaks openly about the men who hold Moses' seat. He grants that they teach, and he tells the people to do what they say, but not to imitate what they do, because their lives contradict their teaching (23:2–3). The passage is not a rejection of authority. It is a warning about authority that loves its own honor more than the people it is meant to serve.
The key words are the titles: Rabbi, father, and master. Each names a real role of authority and honor, and Jesus does not pretend those roles are unreal. What he exposes is the grasping for them. The teachers widen their phylacteries and lengthen their fringes, take the best seats and the greetings in the marketplaces, and love to be called Rabbi (23:5–7). Against that, Jesus says, do not be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher; call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father in heaven; be called neither master, for one is your master (23:8–10). The phrase on the earth is important. It sets the earthly use of father beside the heavenly Father rather than forbidding all family language. The point is that no human title carries the weight only God can bear.
Then Jesus reframes everything: the greatest among you will be your servant, and whoever exalts himself will be humbled while whoever humbles himself will be exalted (23:11–12). That single word servant judges the whole scene. The sin Jesus names is not holding an office but using it to be seen. So this text calls for honest self-examination, not for judging the motives of others or for treating ordinary family language as a sin. It also gives no license to despise legitimate leaders. It asks each of us whether we are grasping for honor or laying it down to serve.
What Jesus says about titles and fathers
The setting is the temple courts in Jesus' final week. He has just silenced the Pharisees, Sadducees, and lawyers, and his question about David's Lord left no one able to answer. Matthew places this warning right before the series of woes, so the teaching on titles introduces a longer indictment of hypocrisy. Jesus begins by granting that the scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. The crowd should therefore do what they teach, but not imitate their works, because they say and do not do. The office is real; the men are not trustworthy examples. That distinction shapes everything that follows.
Jesus then names the pattern he is exposing: they bind heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders while refusing to lift a finger, and they do their works to be seen, widening their phylacteries and enlarging their fringes. They love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats, greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi. Against that love of titles he tells his disciples they are all brothers, that one is their teacher, the Christ, and one is their Father in heaven. He is not banning every use of the word father. He is rebuking the appetite for authority and honor that belongs to God alone, and he calls for honest self-examination rather than judging others' motives.
The passage closes with the kingdom's measure of greatness: the greatest among them will be servant, and whoever exalts himself will be humbled while whoever humbles himself will be exalted. This is wisdom about how God orders his kingdom, not a promise that every humble person will be praised in this life. Read alongside the woes that follow, the warning is serious, yet it is aimed at pride in leaders and at the desire to be seen. It does not justify rebellion against legitimate church leaders, nor does it shame ordinary family language. Grace comes first: Christ is our teacher, and God is our Father.
Where readers disagree about calling a man Father
Careful readers part ways here. Some take Jesus' words as a direct command: since he says to call no man on earth father, the religious title of father for clergy and teachers should be laid aside in obedience. Others read the same verses as aimed at the prideful love of titles, since the passage describes men who love greetings and the best seats. On that reading, ordinary family language stays proper, and Scripture elsewhere honors father and mother. The same question is asked about titles like reverend or doctor. Some treat them as titles of honor to be refused; others see cultural forms that are harmless when the heart is not hunting for glory.
The text itself sets limits on both sides. Jesus does not abolish the family; he tells the crowd to observe what the scribes teach, so he is not forbidding all respect for teachers. What he targets is the appetite behind the titles: they say and do not do, they bind heavy burdens, and they do all their works to be seen by men. Read that way, the passage is not a rule about vocabulary alone. It is a warning against using any name to claim honor and authority that belong to God alone.
Across these views, what stays central is plain: one is your Father in heaven, and one is your teacher, the Christ. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. That means the passage should not be used to shame believers for ordinary family language, nor to justify rebellion against legitimate church leaders. It calls for honest self-examination about pride, not for judging another person's motives. Grace comes first: God has lifted us in Christ, so we can lay down titles and take up service without fear.
The one teacher and the one Father
Jesus has just silenced his questioners, and Matthew notes that no one dared ask him anything more. Then he turns to the crowds and to his own disciples, not only to the experts. He grants that the scribes and Pharisees hold Moses' seat, so their teaching carries weight: do what they say, but do not imitate what they do. The charge is concrete. They tie up heavy loads and set them on other people's shoulders while refusing to move a finger to help. They widen the boxes they wear and lengthen the tassels on their robes, and they hunt for the best seats and the greetings in the marketplaces. The problem is not the office but the performance.
Against that picture Jesus sets his own way. He tells his disciples not to chase the title Rabbi, father, or master, because they already have one teacher, one Father in heaven, one Christ, and they stand as brothers. The command rests on something already true, not on something they must earn. And the one speaking is himself the Christ, the Son who knows the Father and makes him known. His pattern is the reverse of the leaders he describes: he does not load burdens and step back. He carries them. The one who humbled himself and was exalted calls his people brothers and sisters.
So this text invites honest self-examination, not a hunt for other people's motives. It does not ask a child to stop calling a parent father, and it does not license contempt for legitimate church leaders. It asks whether I want a title more than I want to serve, whether I load others and then keep my hands clean. The gospel gives a different footing. Because we already have a Father in heaven and a teacher in Christ, we do not have to grasp at titles to secure our place. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
What faithful response looks like when titles tempt us
Jesus turns from silencing his critics to warning his followers. In 23:2–3 he grants that the scribes and Pharisees occupy Moses' seat, so their teaching should be obeyed, but their example should not be copied, because they say and do not do. Then he names the pattern: burdens bound on other shoulders with no finger lifted to help, works done to be seen, broad phylacteries and long fringes, the best seats and the greetings in the marketplaces. Notice that the problem is not knowledge or office. It is using a role to secure honor while refusing the cost of serving the people that role was given to carry.
So examine yourself honestly. If you teach or lead, ask whether you load expectations on others that you will not help bear, and repent of performing for notice. Practice the low place instead: greet the person no one greets, take the seat that is not the best, do good where no one sees. Jesus grounds this in something better than self-improvement. He says one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers (23:8). You already have a Father in heaven, so you do not need a title to make you significant. That freedom is what lets you serve without needing to be called anything great.
None of this means scorning ordinary family language or rebelling against legitimate church leaders. Jesus is not inviting you to judge another person's motives or to audit their vocabulary. He is asking you to look at your own heart when a role becomes a way to be admired. The command stands whether or not you ever use a particular title: whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (23:12). Humble yourself, help carry what you place on others, and leave the exalting to God, who sees what is done unseen.
Biblical fidelity check
Read carefully, Matthew 23:1–12 sits at the end of a public confrontation: Jesus has just silenced his questioners (22:46), and he now speaks to the crowds and his disciples about the scribes and Pharisees. The risks here are real. One is lifting the warnings out of context and turning them into a general attack on all religious authority, when Jesus still tells the crowd to observe what these teachers say (23:3). Another is flattening the three titles into one rule without noticing that Jesus names Rabbi, father, and master separately. A third is reading 23:8–10 as if roles of teaching and family were abolished, when the passage aims at the grasping of honor.
The genuine disagreement is how far the command reaches. Some readers hear Jesus forbidding the religious title of father for clergy as a matter of obedience; others hear him targeting the love of titles, so ordinary family language and respectful forms of address remain proper. The same question is raised about titles like reverend or doctor. The text sets its own limits: Jesus does not dissolve the family, and he does not forbid all respect for teachers. What stays central is that God alone is Father and Christ alone is teacher and master, and no title may claim the honor that belongs to God.
Reading Matthew 23:1-12 alongside other passages
These themes run through the rest of Scripture, so it helps to trace them further: Jesus Denounces Hypocrisy in Matthew 23, Matthew 1: Genealogy and Birth of Jesus, Matthew 10: Jesus Sends the Twelve with Authority and Matthew 12: Lord of the Sabbath and Sign of Jonah. Read them beside this passage and let the wider witness sharpen what Jesus is and is not forbidding.
Frequently asked questions
Does Matthew 23:9 mean I cannot call my dad father?
No. Jesus is not forbidding the ordinary family word for a dad; he is correcting the religious title-seeking he has just described, where leaders loved being called "Rabbi, Rabbi" and taking the place of honor. In 23:8–10 he sets one teacher, one Father in heaven, and one master, the Christ, over against titles worn for status. The point is humility, not household vocabulary, and 23:11–12 makes that plain: the greatest serves, and the self-exalting are humbled. Calling your dad father does not claim the place God alone holds.
Should pastors be called Father or Reverend today?
Jesus tells his disciples not to be called Rabbi, father, or master, because one is their teacher and Father in heaven, and all of them are brothers (Matthew 23:8–10). He is not banning every title in every setting but rebuking the love of honor and the claim to stand in God's place over others (23:5–7). So a pastor should not take a title that makes him the source of truth or a spiritual father in God's stead. Titles are secondary; the heart of the passage is that the greatest among us serves (23:11–12).
Why did Jesus tell the crowd to obey the Pharisees but not imitate them?
Jesus told the crowd to do what the Pharisees taught because they sat on Moses' seat, an acknowledged place of authority for expounding the law, yet he drew a sharp line at their works, since they said and did not do (Matthew 23:2–3). Their teaching could be true while their lives were not, so obedience to the law they read did not mean copying their practice. Jesus then exposed what imitation would have meant: heavy burdens laid on others without a finger lifted to help, and works performed to be seen by men (Matthew 23:4–5). The warning is against hypocrisy, not against the Scriptures themselves.
