Thematic Bible: Ecclesiasticism


Thematic Bible



But be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your teacher; and ye are all brethren. And call no one your father on the earth; for one is your father, he who is in heaven. Nor be ye called leaders; for one is your leader, the Christ.

And it came to pass, as he was reclining at table in the house, lo! many publicans and sinners came and reclined with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why doth your teacher eat with the publicans and sinners? But when he heard that, he said, They who are well do not need a physician, but they who are sick. read more.
But go ye and learn what this meaneth: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." For I came not to call righteous men, but sinners.

saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses. All, therefore, whatever they bid you, do and observe; but do not according to their works; for they say, and do not. They bind heavy burdens, and lay them on mens shoulders, and will not themselves move them with a finger.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites I because ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for ye go not in yourselves, nor suffer those who are entering to go in. (...) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him twofold mole a son of hell than yourselves. read more.
Woe to you, blind guides, that say, Whoever sweareth by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever sweareth by the gold of the temple, is bound. Fools and blind I for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whoever sweareth by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, is bound. Blind men! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar flint sanctifieth the gift? He then who sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all that is upon it; and he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him who dwelleth in it; and he who sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him who sitteth thereon. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithes of the mint, and the dill, and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law, justice, and mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave those undone. Blind guides! who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of robbery and licentiousness. Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the inside of the cup, that its outside side also may become clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whited sepulchres, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of dead mens bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. So that ye bear witness against yourselves, that ye are the sons of those who killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers! Serpents, brood of vipers! how can ye escape the punishment of hell? Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom ye slew, between the temple and the altar.

For every one will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

Then come to Jesus Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said to them, Why do ye too transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? read more.
For God commanded, saying, "Honor thy father and thy mother;" and, "He that curseth father or mother, let him surely die." But ye say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, Whatever thou mightst receive in aid from me is a gift [to God], he shall not honor his father or his mother. Thus have ye made void the law of God for the sake of your tradition. Hypocrites! well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you, saying, "This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." And calling the multitude, he said to them, Hear, and understand. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then come the disciples, and say to him, Dost thou know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard that saying? But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch. And Peter answering said to him, Explain to us that dark saying. And he said, Are ye too still without discernment? Do ye not understand, that whatever entereth the mouth goeth into the stomach, and is cast out into the drain? But the things which proceed from the mouth come out of the heart; and these defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimony, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man.

and seeing some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is, unwashed hands, (for the Pharisees, and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands often, do not eat, holding fast the tradition of the elders; and on coming from the marketplace, unless they bathe, they do not eat; and there are many other things which they have received to hold, the dipping of cups, and pitchers, and brazen vessels;) read more.
then the Pharisees and scribes ask him, Why do not thy disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with defiled hands? And he said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Laying aside, the commandment of God, ye hold fast the tradition of men. And he said to them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition! For Moses said, "Honor thy father and thy mother;" and, "He that curseth father or mother, let him surely die." But ye say, If a man say to his father or mother, Whatever thou mightst receive in aid from me is Corban, that is, a gift to God, [he is not bound by the command. Thus] ye suffer him no longer to do anything for his father or his mother; making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have handed down; and many such things ye do. And again calling the multitude to him, he said to them, Hearken to me all of you, and understand. Nothing that entereth into a man from without can defile him; but the things that come out of him are what defile a man. (...) And when he had gone into the house from the crowd, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith to them, Are ye too so without discernment? Do ye not understand that whatever thing from without entereth into a man, cannot defile him? because it entereth not into his heart, but into the stomach; and goeth out into the drain, which cleanseth all kinds of food. And he said, That which cometh out of a man, that defileth a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, come forth evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetousness, iniquities, deceit, wantonness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile a man.

And seeing one figtree by the roadside, he went up to it, and found nothing on it, but leaves only; and he saith to it, Let there be no fruit from thee hencefoward for ever. And immediately the figtree withered. And the disciples seeing it, marveled, saying, How suddenly did the figtree wither!

But what think ye? A man had two sons: he came to the first, and said, Son, go, work today in the vineyard. And he answered and said, I will not. Afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the other and said the same. And he answered and said, I will, sir; and went not. read more.
Which of the two did the will of his father? They say, The first. Jesus saith to them, Truly do I say to you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you as a preacher of righteousness, and ye did not believe him; but the publicans and the harlots believed him; and ye, when ye had seen it, did not afterward repent, that ye might believe him. Hear another parable. There was a householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and dug in it a winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went abroad. And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive his fruits. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first; and they dealt with them in the same manner. And afterward he sent to them his son, saying, They will respect my son. But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and get his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do to those husbandmen? They say to him, He will bring those wicked men to a miserable end, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render him the fruits in their season. Jesus saith to them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same hath become the cornerstone; from the Lord did this come, and it is marvelous in our eyes?" Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. (...)

They bind heavy burdens, and lay them on mens shoulders, and will not themselves move them with a finger. Verse ConceptsFingersYokesBindingJoining ThingsShouldersHeavy BurdensFingers Of PeopleNo Helprelaxationweight

But the Pharisees, seeing it, said to him, Lo! thy disciples are doing that which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath. But he said to them, Have ye not read what David did, when he and those who were with him were hungry? how he went into the house of God, and they ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but for the priests alone? read more.
Or have ye not read in the Law, that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say to you, that something greater than the temple is here. But if ye had known what this meaneth, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," ye would not have condemned the guiltless.