• "Do not call anyone on earth your father. Only one is your father, the One in heaven" Matthew (23:9)

• Taken literally you would have to wonder this right?
• It's important to remember context with a passage and not use any verse without context.
• Jesus is addressing the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees - as he often did. They sit on Moses' seat and thus have an obligation to teach the people as Moses taught. but they do not practice what they teach. While Jesus tells the people to follow the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees, He warns them not to follow their prideful practices.
• Given the context, he says not to call anyone "Rabbi," "Father" or "Teacher" in the sense of arrogating to oneself an authority that rests with God.
• We call those who instruct us and others "teacher"; our male parent "father"; and Jewish religious leaders "rabbi." these titles are common.
• Mark 7:9-13, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and scribes for not honoring their "fathers." So the literal meaning to not call anyone father must be different than the literal interpretation.
• In 1 Corinthians 4:15, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says,

"For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

St. Paul calls himself "father" because he recognizes his cooperation with God in begetting the spiritual life of the community entrusted to his care.

• Acts 7:2; Acts 22:1; Corinthians 4:15; Galatians 4:19; 1 John 2:12; and Philemon 10, which show that the title "father" was applied to others besides God and biological fathers in the New Testament.