Matthew 23:3

a “All things therefore whatever they bid you,

b These do and observe,

b But do not you after their works,

a Because they say, and do not.”

Note again the chiastic formation. In ‘a' and its parallel we have a reference to what they say, and in ‘b' and its parallel a reference to activity. ‘Therefore' indicates that they are to obey the bidding of the Scribes  because  they sit in Moses' seat. In other words they are to ‘do and observe' the Law of Moses in so far as it was received through the Pharisaic Scribes, and failing them the Pharisees, through the readings in the synagogue. The suggestion that it is through their declarations in general must be ruled out simply because in the same context Jesus refers to them as ‘blind guides' and three times declares them to be ‘blind'. You do not appoint a blind man to keep watch. One thing, however, that must be said in the favour of the Scribes and many of the Pharisees was that they had a firm grasp of the words of the Pentateuch, and could recite them without difficulty in both Hebrew and Aramaic and were thus constantly able to remind the people of them.

It may have been because of his that they were thus to do whatever the Scribes and Pharisees bid them (‘all things') from the Law of Moses, as they read them out or recited them from memory. Whatever His disagreement with the Scribes and Pharisees He did not want it to prevent His disciples or His would be disciples from obeying the Law of Moses, or going to hear it read. (They would be spreading far and wide after the feast). And if only the Scribes and Pharisees had genuinely obeyed the Law of Moses that they knew by rote He would have been satisfied with them too. But that was the point, they had not (Matthew 5:20). They had mainly limited their obedience to ritual matters, or had altered the significance pf the Law to suit themselves by subtle interpretation, thus often caricaturing the Law. On the whole the zeal of their predecessors, who had sought to preserve the Law against Hellenisation, had hardened the Law into a harsh religious observance, and into a condemnation of those who did not follow their ideas. This was made even more intense by conditions in Palestine and the sense of insurrection that was constantly in the air. They really did believe that this might be God's time and they wanted to ensure that they did not come short. But unfortunately they put the emphasis in the wrong place. (We should note, however, that ‘subtle interpretation' is not just the preserve of the Scribes. We can all be as guilty of it as they were when trying to defend our positions by stretching or paraphrasing the Greek and Hebrew). So His disciples must not follow their behaviour, because what they say when they proclaim the Law of Moses is not what they actually do. They say and do not. The righteousness of His disciples must therefore exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, for they must actually do what the Law says in the way that He has explained it in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:20).

‘All things.' There is a question here as to whether ‘all things' means literally ‘everything they teach' (which can hardly be true) or whether it is to be read in the light of His other teaching and thus as signifying ‘all things that they cite as reliably based on the Law of Moses'. Some see these words as literally meaning ‘everything they teach' and see it therefore as indicating biting irony and even sarcasm, e.g. ‘They sit in Moses' seat. You should do everything that they bid you, for they certainly do not', or ‘of course if you wish you can do what they say, but do not do what they do'. However most see it as needing to be read in context and therefore as clearly excluding their amplified interpretations and pronouncements, many of which Jesus Himself condemns (compare what ‘was said of old' in Matthew 5:33; Matthew 5:38; Matthew 5:43; also Matthew 12:7; Matthew 15:3; Matthew 15:14; Matthew 16:6; Matthew 16:12; Matthew 23:16). What they had to obey was ‘all things that the Scribes and Pharisees told them ‘from Moses' seat' which was genuinely in the Law of Moses'. But either way we again have the emphasis on the need to ‘hear and do' and the condemnation of those who do not (compare Matthew 7:21). Hearing is not sufficient. And this applies equally as much to us today (see James 1:22).