Jesus asked the Israelites to do what the Pharisees says?

Matthew 23 23 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.  -kjv 23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  -niv 23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach.  -hcsb Comments and Observations

1. It seemed in verse 3 that Jesus is asking the Israelites to obey what the scribes and pharisees say when they sit in Moses' seat, which is puzzling because Jesus certainly did not say anything that is remotely positive of the scribes and pharisees anywhere else in the gospels.

2. In most synagogues, there is this chair called the seat of Moses. The scribes and pharisees function as legal authorities in addition to their religious authorities, so they would be the attorneys, judges in their so called court cases in their time and they would sit in these ceremonial chairs which are called the Moses' seat to oversee the court case.

3. As per Exodus 18:13, Moses used to sit to judge the legal problems of the Israelites. In Deuteronomy 17, it becomes apparent that that authority get distributed and delegated to other leaders and when these leaders render judicial decisions, the Israelites must do and observe what they say.

4. So what Jesus is saying here is that the Israelites are not to listen to the scribes and Pharisees with regards to religious matters but when they function as the legal and judicial authority, their decisions are binding.

5. There is no commandment in this verse that we are to keep the law but with regards to the Israelites back in Jesus' time, they are to observe and do what scribes and Pharisees say in the courts. Learned this from moody radio openline on Oct 3, 2015.

Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, covet

Exodus 20 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.  -kjv Romans 13 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  -kjv From the sixth commandment to the tenth commandment, repeated in both old and new testament.

Honour your parents

Deuteronomy 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.  -kjv Ephesians 6:1-3 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.  -kjv This commandment is repeated in both old testament and new testament and is thus still a commandment today. This commandment, if followed, will add years to the person's life.