Thematic Bible: Of jesus against hypocrites


Thematic Bible



"The scribes and Pharisees have taken Moses' seat. So do everything they tell you, and observe it all, but do not do as they do, for they talk but do not act. They tie up heavy loads and have them put on men's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. read more.
They do everything they do to have men see it. They wear wide Scripture texts as charms, and they wear large tassels, and they like the best places at dinners and the front seats in the synagogues, and to be saluted with respect in public places, and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' But you must not let people call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and you are all brothers. And you must not call anyone on earth your father, for you have only one father, your heavenly Father. And you must not let men call you master, for you have only one master, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. "But alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you lock the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven in men's faces, for you will neither go in yourselves nor let those enter who are trying to do so. OMITTED TEXT Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you scour land and sea to make one convert, and when he is converted you make him twice as fit for the pit as you are. Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the sanctuary, it does not matter, but if anyone swears by the gold of the sanctuary, it is binding.' Blind fools! which is greater, the gold, or the sanctuary that makes the gold sacred? You say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it does not matter, but if anyone swears by the offering that is on it, it is binding.' You blind men! Which is greater, the offering, or the altar that makes the offering sacred? Anyone who swears by the altar is swearing by it and by everything that is on it, and anyone who swears by the sanctuary is swearing by it and by him who dwells in it; and anyone who swears by heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. "Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you pay tithes on mint, dill, and cummin, and you have let the weightier matters of the Law go??ustice, mercy, and integrity. But you should have observed these, without overlooking the others. You blind guides! straining out the gnat, and yet swallowing the camel! Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! You must first clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may be clean too. Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you are like white-washed tombs! They look well on the outside, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead, and all that is unclean. So you outwardly appear to men to be upright, but within you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. "Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you build tombs for the prophets, and decorate the monuments of the upright, and say, 'If we had been living in the times of our fathers, we would not have joined them in the murder of the prophets.' So you bear witness against yourselves that you are descended from the murderers of the prophets. Go on and fill up the measure of your forefathers' guilt. You serpents! You brood of snakes! How can you escape being sentenced to the pit?

They sent some Pharisees and Herodians to him to entrap him in argument. And they came up and said to him, "Master, we know that you tell the truth regardless of the consequences, for you are not guided by personal considerations, but teach the way of God with sincerity. Is it right to pay the poll tax to the emperor or not? Should we pay it, or refuse to pay it?" But he saw through their pretense, and said to them, "Why do you put me to such a test? Bring me a denarius to look at." read more.
And they brought him one. He said to them, "Whose head and title is this?" And they told him, "The emperor's." And Jesus said, "Pay the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and pay God what belongs to God!" And they were astonished at him. Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question. "Master," they said, "Moses made us a law that if a man's brother died, leaving a wife but no child, the man should marry the widow and raise up a family for his brother. There were once seven brothers. And the eldest married a wife and died, leaving no child. And the second married her, and died without leaving any child, and so did the third. And none of the seven left any child. Finally, the woman died too. At the resurrection, which one's wife will she be? For all seven of them married her." Jesus said to them, "Does not this show that you are wrong, and do not understand either the Scriptures or the power of God? For when people rise from the dead, there is no marrying or being married, but they live as angels do in heaven. But as to the dead being raised, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of dead men but of living! You are entirely wrong." One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing. He saw that Jesus had answered them well, and he asked him, "Which is the first of all the commands?" Jesus answered, "The first one is, 'Hear, Israel! The Lord our God is one lord, and you must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind, and your whole strength.' And this is the second: 'You must love your neighbor as you do yourself.' No other command is greater than these." The scribe said to him, "Really, Master, you have finely said that he stands alone, and there is none but he, and to love him with one's whole heart, one's whole understanding, and one's whole strength, and to love one's neighbor as one's self is far more than all these burnt-offerings and sacrifices." And Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully, and he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God!" And no one ventured to ask him any more questions. As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he answered them and said, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is a son of David? David himself, under the influence of the holy Spirit, said, " 'The Lord has said to my lord, "Sit at my right hand Until I put your enemies under your feet." ' David himself calls him lord, and how can he be his son?" The mass of the people liked to hear him. And in the course of his teaching he said to them, "Beware of the scribes who like to go about in long robes and to be saluted with respect in public places, and to have the front seats in the synagogues and the best places at dinners??40 men that eat up widows' houses and to cover it up make long prayers! They will get a far heavier sentence!"

But the Master said to him, "You Pharisees clean the outside of cups and dishes, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the Creator of the outside make the inside too? But give your inmost life as charity, and you will immediately find everything clean. read more.
But alas for you Pharisees! For you pay tithes on mint, rue, and every tiny herb, and disregard justice and the love of God. But you should have observed these, without neglecting the others. Alas for you Pharisees! For you love to have the front seat in the synagogues and to be saluted with respect in public places. Alas for you! For you are like unmarked graves which men tread upon without knowing it." At this, one of the experts in the Law said to him, "Master, when you say that, you affront us too." But he said, "Yes, alas for you experts in the Law too! For you load men with burdens they can hardly carry, and you will not touch them yourselves with a single finger. Alas for you! For you build monuments for the prophets, whom your forefathers killed. So you testify to what your fathers did and approve it, for they killed them and you build their monuments. This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send prophets and apostles to them, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute'??50 so that this age may be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the creation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you! This age will be charged with it all! Alas for you experts in the Law! For you have taken the key to the door of knowledge, but you have not entered it yourselves, and you have kept out those who tried to enter." After he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began to watch him closely and to try to draw him out on many subjects, plotting to entrap him in something he might say.