fulfilment the words of our Lord in Matthew are hardly stronger than those of Luke. In Matthew our Lord definitely recognizes the authority of the scribes in interpreting the Law and demands obedience to it (23:3), but this is deeply modified in 15:6–14, 16:12, 23:16 ff. He Himself, however, is represented as restoring within ‘His Church’ (the New Israel) the same authority which had proved so liable to abuse (16:19, 18:18). Now, if we bear in mind that the differences between the records of the