Neville Goddard on Matthew 23:3-4 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Matthew 23 in context

Scripture Focus

3All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

4For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Matthew 23:3-4

Biblical Context

Jesus warns that the scribes and Pharisees tell people to observe the law, yet they do not observe it themselves. They lay heavy burdens on others while refusing to lift even a finger.

Neville's Inner Vision

Within the Gospel scene you are not reading about distant men; you are hearing the quiet whisper of your own state of consciousness. The 'they' are outward commandments, the voice that says, 'Observe, perform, comply'—and the 'do not' arises when inner alignment falters. The burden is not the rule but the belief that life is a series of external duties imposed from without. When you witness those who teach the law yet do not embody it, view them as the stage on which your own habit of separation plays out. The liberating shift is to realize that all true obedience begins in the I AM, the awareness that you are already complete. You can revise the scene by assuming a new state: that the law is fulfilled in your inner being, and that your actions flow from effortless alignment rather than fear. As you assume this state, the imagined heavy loads dissolve and you feel a light readiness—your inner authority, not external judgment, guiding you.