Thematic Bible: Ecclesiasticism


Thematic Bible



But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master, and you are all brethren. And do not call anyone on earth your 'Father,' for you have one Father, he who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'Teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.

And as Jesus sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when Jesus heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. read more.
But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

"The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must observe and do whatever they tell you. But do not do what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who would enter to go in. (...) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win a single proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. read more.
"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift that is on it, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law, justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. You serpents! You brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

For every one will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said, "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat." He answered them, "And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? read more.
For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might have received from me is a gift to God' he is not to honor his father with it. Thus you have made the word of God of no effect for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, when he said: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'" And he called the people to him and said to them, "Hear and understand: not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." Then the disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" He answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." But Peter said to him, "Explain the parable to us." So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornications, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

they saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash themselves. And there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pitchers and copper vessels.) read more.
The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with impure hands?" And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites; as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' You let go of the commandment of God, and hold on to the tradition of men." And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do." And he called all the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, everyone, and understand: there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him." (...) When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. So he said to them, "Are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, since it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, come evil thoughts, fornications, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."

And seeing a fig tree by the road he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And immediately the fig tree withered. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"

"What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' He answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he went to the second and said the same thing. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. read more.
Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him. "Hear another parable: there was a landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vine dressers and went into a far country. When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did the same to them. Last of all, he sent his son to them saying, 'They will respect my son,' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.' So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? "Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. [And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."]

They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. Verse ConceptsFingersYokesBindingJoining ThingsShouldersHeavy BurdensFingers Of PeopleNo Helprelaxationweight

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? read more.
Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.