As I prepare to preach Titus 1:9-16 at CrossView Church this Sunday, I see how this passage connects to Matthew 23:8-10. The sermon this Sunday is on the responsibility of pastor-elders to refute, rebuke, and silence false teachers. Jesus is the Teacher of the Church and all true gospel local churches and so he is the one who refutes, rebukes, and silences false teachers primarily through qualified pastor-elder-overseers. I’ll connect it more in my sermon, but here’s the Matthew text below with the ESV Study Bible notes on it.
Matthew 23:8-10 (CSB) – “But as for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven. And do not be called masters either, because you have one Master, the Messiah.
From the ESV Study Bible (esvonline.org):
Matt. 23:8–10 not to be called rabbi, … call no man your father … Neither be called instructors. Jesus’ disciples should not try to gain authority over one another as teachers or masters, since Jesus is ultimately each disciple’s teacher and master (you have one teacher … one instructor), to whom the disciple is accountable. Jesus does not literally forbid use of the titles “teacher,” “doctor,” or “father” for all time in all circumstances, but he prohibits his disciples from using these terms in the way the Pharisees used them, in a spirit that wrongly exalted leaders and reinforced human pride.
