Mat 23:5 But all their works are done to be seen by men: they broaden their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

For some time I have struggled with how to separate social relationships, which Christ consistently disparages, with personal relationships, which Christ sees as one step away from spiritual. In the physical and mental realms, Christ describes getting "stuck" as the problem. You have to progress from the physical, the mental, into relationships to reach the spiritual and move onto the next cycle of life.

However, in the area of relationships, there is this problem with society that arises over and over. Christ defines personal relationships as the one-to-one relationships we have with those who are physically close-by. Social relationships are one-to-many and include people who are distant. In many of these discussions regarding the defects of society, the issue is our "getting our reward" from these social relationship. Christ never criticizes the rewards we get from personal relationships, but the rewards that people look for from social relationships are different.

Often, these social rewards often come from on clothing which are physically seen at a distance. Indeed, clothing is almost always mentioned when Christ talks about social relationships.

In this verse, Christ reveals the defect with social relationships: the matter of position. The people who Christ is criticizing want to set themselves above most people. They do this with their clothes, but they also do it with the places they take at feasts, in the temple, and how they are addressed in markets. It is all about being seen as higher in status.

Though we might worry about our position in one-to-one personal relationships, there is never a question of status. However, that idea is unavoidable in one-to-many social relationships. In other words, what gets us "stuck" in our relationships is our concern about "position."

This completes Christ's analysis of how people get stuck in one phase of life. With the physical part of life, we get stuck on pleasure. With the mental part of life, we get stuck on ego. With the relationship part of life, we get stuck on position or status.

On a personal note, there is some irony here, since a large part of my intellectual efforts are devoted to the science of strategy, which is all about advancing your position in those one-to-many relationships.

"Seen" is theaomai, which means "to behold," "to gaze with a sense of wonder," "view as a spectator," and "to contemplate."

"Phylacteries" is from phulaktêrion, which means a "guarded post," "fort," "safeguard," and "security." (It is the source word for "prophylactic." ) In Christ time, it was used to refer to protective verses from the Bible actually worn as clothing.

"Love" here is not the agapaô that Christ uses for loving God and others. It is
phileô, which means "to love," "to like," "to be fond of doing," and "to show affection."

"Uppermost rooms" and "chief seats" come from protoklisia and protokathedria which literally means "first place," and "first seats" respectively.

"Rabbi" is not from any Greek, but the Hebrew rab, which means "much," "many," "great," "strong," and "greater than." This is the first time that the word is used in the Gospels, and Christ does not use it again. All other references are by others to Christ. He must have really not liked that. Interestingly, the first such reference in the Gospels is by Judas when he betrayed Christ in the garden.