They tie up heavy and hard burdens and place them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them even with their finger.
Jesus explains the very behavior described by his words, “they say, but they do not do.” The scribes and Pharisees placed many laws, rituals, and traditional rules on people, turning God’s commandments into a heavy burden, while they themselves did not keep them. They had turned religious duties into a system that was impossible to follow. They had distorted the true purpose of the law—the spirit of love and mercy. Jesus’ word reveals that false faith always makes people’s lives heavier, whereas God’s true law brings freedom. The expression “they do not move it with a finger” shows their cold and merciless attitude: they loved to rule, but not to serve. Thus, this word condemns religious authority that, through formal rules, oppresses people without care and compassion.