Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible





Now the Pharisees who were fond of money heard all this, and they sneered at him. So he told them, "You are the people who get men to think you are good, but God knows what your hearts are! What is lofty in the view of man is loathsome in the eyes of God.

When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the man who is sown 'on the road.' As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm; he has no root in himself, he does not last, but when the word brings trouble or persecution he is at once repelled. read more.
As for him who is sown 'among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word; so it proves unfruitful.

As for those 'on the road,' when the seed is sown there ??as soon as they hear it, Satan at once comes and carries off the word sown within them. Similarly those who are sown 'on stony soil' are the people who on hearing the word accept it with enthusiasm; but they have no root in themselves, they do not last; the next thing is that when the word brings trouble or persecution, they are at once repelled. read more.
Another set are those who are sown 'among thorns'; they listen to the word, but the worries of the world and the delight of being rich and all the other passions come in to choke the word; so it proves unfruitful.


For there are plenty of insubordinate creatures who impose on people with their empty arguments, particularly those who have come over from Judaism; they must be silenced, for they are undermining whole families by teaching objectionable doctrine for the base end of making money. It has been said by one of themselves, by a prophet of their own, that ??"Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." read more.
That is a true statement. So deal sharply with them, to have them sound in the faith instead of studying Jewish myths and rules laid down by men who have discarded the Truth. For the pure all things are pure, but nothing is pure for the polluted and unbelieving; their very mind and conscience are polluted. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their deeds; they are detestable, disobedient, and useless for good work of any kind.


He said to them, "Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you hypocrites ??as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts. You drop what God commands and hold to human tradition. read more.
Yes, forsooth," he added, "you set aside what God commands, so as to maintain your own tradition.

Those 'on the road' are people who hear; but then the devil comes and carries off the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. Those 'on the rock' are people who on hearing the word welcome it with enthusiasm, but they have no root; they believe for a while and fall away in the hour of trial. As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen.

Jesus answered, "If anyone loves me he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up our abode with him. He who does not love me does not obey my word; and what you hear me say is not my word but the word of the Father who sent me.



He said to them, "Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you hypocrites ??as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts. You drop what God commands and hold to human tradition. read more.
Yes, forsooth," he added, "you set aside what God commands, so as to maintain your own tradition. Thus, Moses said, Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death. But you say that if a man tells his father or mother, 'This money might have been at your service, but it is Korban' (that is, dedicated to God), he is exempt, so you hold, from doing anything for his father or mother. That is repealing the word of God in the interests of the tradition which you keep up. And you do many things like that."







He said to them, "Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you hypocrites ??as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts. You drop what God commands and hold to human tradition. read more.
Yes, forsooth," he added, "you set aside what God commands, so as to maintain your own tradition. Thus, Moses said, Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death. But you say that if a man tells his father or mother, 'This money might have been at your service, but it is Korban' (that is, dedicated to God), he is exempt, so you hold, from doing anything for his father or mother. That is repealing the word of God in the interests of the tradition which you keep up. And you do many things like that."