Thematic Bible: Ecclesiasticism


Thematic Bible



But be not ye called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no one your father on the earth; for One is your Father, the Heavenly. Neither be ye called leaders; because One is your Leader, the Christ.

And it came to pass, as He was reclining at table in the house, behold, many tax-collectors and sinners, having come, were reclining with Jesus and His disciples. And the Pharisees, seeing it, said to His disciples, Why is your Teacher eating with the tax-collectors and sinners?" And Jesus, hearing it, said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are ill. read more.
But, going, learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice;' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you, do and observe; but do not according to their works; for they say and do not. And they bind heavy burdens, and lay them upon the shoulders of men; but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for ye do not enter, neither do ye suffer those who are entering in to enter. OMITTED TEXT. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and, when he is made such, ye make him a son of Hell twofold more than yourselves. read more.
"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whosoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!' Fools, and blind! for which is greater??he gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 'And whosoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, is a debtor!' Ye blind! for which is greater??he gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He, therefore, who swears by the altar swears by it and by all things on it; and he who swears by the temple swears by it and by Him dwelling therein; and he who swears by Heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him sitting thereon. "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin; and have omitted the weightier things of the law??he judgment, and the mercy, and the faith; but these it was proper to have done, and those not to have omitted. Blind guides! straining out the gnat, and swallowing the camel! "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish; but within they are full from extortion and excess! Blind Pharisees! cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that its outside also may become clean. "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye are like white-washed sepulchres, which outwardly, indeed, appear beautiful, but within are full of bones of the dead and of all uncleanness. So ye also outwardly, indeed, appear righteous to men; but within ye are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "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 then ye testify to yourselves that ye are sons of those who killed the prophets; and fill ye up the measure of your fathers. Serpents! broods of vipers! How can ye escape the judgment of Hell? Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some ye will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood poured out upon the earth, from the blood of Abel, the righteous, unto the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

For every one shall be salted with fire. Salt is good; but, if the salt becomes saltless, with what will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another."


Then there come to Jesus, from Jerusalem, Pharisees and scribes, saying, "Why do Thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they do not wash their hands, when they eat bread!" And He, answering, said to them, "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? read more.
For God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'He that speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die,' But ye say, 'Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That by which you might be profited by me is an offering,' shall in no wise honor his father; and ye made void the word of God because of your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 'This people honor 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, having called the multitude near, He said to them, "Hear, and understand: Not that which enters into the mouth defiles the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth??his defiles the man." Then, His disciples, coming near, say to Him, "Knowest Thou that the Pharisees, having heard the saying, were made to stumble?" But He, answering, said, "Every plant which My Heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides; and if a blind man be guiding a blind man, both will fall into a pit." And Peter, answering, said to Him, "Explain to us the parable." And He said, "Are ye also even yet without understanding? Do ye not perceive that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and is cast forth into the drain? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and these defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false-witnessings, blasphemies: these are the things which defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

and saw that some of His disciples ate bread with defiled, that is, unwashed hands. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands thoroughly, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders; and, coming from the marketplace, unless they immerse themselves, they do not eat; and there are many other things which they received to hold; as, immersion of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels. read more.
And the Pharisees and the scribes ask Him, "Why do not Thy disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" And He said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it has been written, This people honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Having left the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men." And He said to them, "Well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may hold your tradition! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'He that speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.' But ye say, 'If a man say to his father or mother, That wherewith you might be profited by me is Corban,' that is, 'an offering to God,' ye no longer suffer him to do anything for his father or his mother; making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye handed down; and many such things ye do." And, again calling the multitude, He said to them, "Hear Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing from without the man, that, entering into him, can defile him; but the things proceeding out of the man are those that defile the man." OMITTED TEXT. And, when He entered into the house from the multitude, His disciples asked of Him the parable. And He saith to them, "Are ye too thus without understanding? Do ye not perceive that nothing, entering into a man from without, can defile him; because it goes not into his heart, but into the belly, and passes out into the drain?" This He said, making all foods clean. And He said, "That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickednesses, deceit, wantonness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man."


And, seeing one fig tree by the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon except leaves only. And He saith to it, "No more may fruit come from you forever." And immediately the fig tree withered away! And the disciples, seeing it, wondered, saying, "How quickly the fig tree withered away!"

"But what think ye? A man had two children; and to the first, he said, 'Child, go, work today in the vineyard.' And he, answering, said, 'I go, sir,' and he went not. And, coming to the second, he spake in like manner; and he, answering, said, 'I am not willing;' but later, repenting, he went. read more.
Which of the two did the will of the father?" They say, "The last." Jesus saith to them, "Verily I say to you that the tax-collectors and the harlots are going into the Kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye did not believe him; but the tax-collectors and the harlots believed him; but ye, having seen him, did not even repent afterward, that ye might believe him." "Hear another parable. There was a man?? householder??ho planted a vineyard, and placed a fence around it, and dug a wine-press, 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 to receive his fruits. And the husbandmen, taking his servants, one, indeed, they beat; and one they killed; and one they stoned. Again he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them likewise. But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, 'They will reverence my son.' But the husbandmen, seeing the son, said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and have his inheritance!' And, taking him, they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. When, therefore, the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those husband-men?" They say to Him, "He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render to him the fruits in their seasons." Jesus saith to them, "Did ye never read in the Scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made head of a corner; this was from the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes?' "Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof. And he who falls on this stone shall be broken in pieces; but on whomsoever it falls, it will scatter him as dust."


And they bind heavy burdens, and lay them upon the shoulders of men; but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

But the Pharisees, seeing it, said to Him, "Behold, Thy disciples are doing that which it is not lawful to do on a sabbath." But He said to them, "Did ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those with him? how he entered into the house of God, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but only for the priests? read more.
Or did ye not read in the law that, on the sabbath, the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? But I say to you, a greater than the temple is here. And, if ye had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' ye would not have condemned the guiltless;