33 Bible Verses about Law, Jesus Christ's Attitude To

So the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law asked Jesus this question--"How is it that your disciples do not follow the traditions of our ancestors, but eat their food with defiled hands?"

"How is it that your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? For they do not wash their hands when they eat food."

His answer was: "It was well said by Isaiah when he prophesied about you hypocrites in the words--'This is a people that honor me with their lips, While their hearts are far removed from me; But vainly do they worship me, For they teach but the precepts of men.' You neglect God's commandments and hold to the traditions of men.

Hypocrites! It was well said by Isaiah when he prophesied about you-- 'This is a people that honor me with their lips, While their hearts are far removed from me; But vainly do they worship me, For they teach but the precepts of men.'"

For while Moses said 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' and 'Let him who reviles his father or mother suffer death,' You say 'If a man says to his father or mother "Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is Korban"' (which means 'Given to God')-- Why, then you do not allow him to do anything further for his father or mother!read more.
In this way you nullify the words of God by your traditions, which you hand down; and you do many similar things."

His reply was: "How is it that you on your side break God's commandments out of respect for your own traditions? For God said--'Honor thy father and mother,' and 'Let him who reviles his father or mother suffer death,' But you say 'Whenever any one says to his father or mother "Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is 'Given to God,'"read more.
He is in no way bound to honor his father.' In this way you have nullified the words of God on account of your traditions.

Then Jesus speaking to the crowds and to his disciples, said: "The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees now occupy the chair of Moses. Therefore practice and lay to heart everything that they tell preach but do not practice.read more.
While they make up heavy loads and pile them on other men's shoulder's they decline, themselves, to lift a finger to move them. All their actions are done to attract attention. They widen their phylacteries, and increase the size of their tassels, and like to have the place of honor at dinner, and the best seats in the Synagogues, and to be greeted in the markets with respect, and to be called 'Rabbi' for everybody. But do not allow yourselves to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Father, the heavenly Father. And do not call any one Father, the heavenly Father. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called 'Leaders,' for you have only one Leader, the Christ. The man who would be the greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever shall exalt himself will be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself will be exalted. But alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You turn the key of the Kingdom of Heaven in men's faces. For you do not go in yourselves, nor yet allow those who try to go in to do so. Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You destroy widow's houses, even while pretending to make long prayers; therefore you shall receive greater condemnation. Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when he is gained, you make him twice as deserving of the Pit as you are yourselves. Alas for you, you blind guides! You say 'if any answer by the Temple, his oath counts for nothing; but, if any one swears by the gold of the Temple, his oath is binding him'! Fools that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the Temple which has given sacredness to the gold? You say, too, 'If any one swears by the altar, his oath counts for nothing, but, if any one swears by the offering placed on it, his oath is binding on him'! Blind indeed! Which is the more important? The offering? or the altar which gives sacredness to the offering? Therefore a man, swearing by the altar, swears by it and by all that is on it, and a man, swearing by the Temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it, while a man, swearing by Heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it. Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law--justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first. You blind guides, to strain out a gnat and to swallow a camel! Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are filled with the results of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed look fair outside, while inside they are filled with dead men's bones and all kinds of filth. It is the same with you. Outwardly, and to others, you have the look of religious men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and sin. Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You build the tombs of the Prophets, and decorate the monuments of religious men, and say 'Had we been living in the days of our ancestors, we should have taken part in their murder of the Prophets! By doing this you are furnishing evidence against yourselves that you are true children of the men who murdered the Prophets. Fill up the measure of your ancestor's guilt. You serpents and brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to the Pit? That is why I send you Prophets, wise men, and Teachers of the Law, some of whom you will crucify and kill, and some of whom you will scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute from town to town; in order that upon your heads may fall every drop of innocent 'blood split on earth,' from the blood of innocent Abel down to that of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. All this, I tell you, will come home to the present generation.

In the course of his teaching, Jesus said: "See that you are on your guard against the Teachers of the Law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and to be greeted in the streets with respect, And to have the best seats in the Synagogues, and places of honor at dinner.

While all the people were listening, Jesus said to the disciples: "Be on your guard against the Teachers of the Law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and like to be greeted in the streets with respect, and to have the best seats in the Synagogues, and places of honor at dinner.

One Sabbath, as Jesus was walking through the cornfields, his disciples began to pick the ears of wheat as they went along. "Look!" the Pharisees said to him, "why are they doing what is not allowed on the Sabbath?"

About the same time Jesus walked through the corn-fields one Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and began to pick some ears of wheat and eat them. But, when the Pharisees saw this, they said: "Look! your disciples are doing what it is not allowable to do on a Sabbath!"

One Sabbath Jesus was walking through cornfields, and hi disciples were picking the ears of wheat, and rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. "Why are you doing what it is not allowable to do on the Sabbath?" asked some of the Pharisees.

For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." Passing on, Jesus went into their Synagogue, And there he saw a man with a withered hand. Some people asked Jesus whether it was allowable to work a cure on the Sabbath- -so that they might have a charge to bring against him.

Then Jesus added: "The Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath." On another Sabbath Jesus went into the Synagogue and taught; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely, to see if he would work cures on the Sabbath, so that they might find a charge to bring against him.

And to the people he said: "Is it allowable to do good on the Sabbath--or harm? to save a life, or destroy it?"

And Jesus said to them: "I ask you, is it allowable to do good on the Sabbath--or harm? to save a life, or let it perish?"

But Jesus said to them: "Which of you, if he had only one sheep, and that sheep fell into a pit on the Sabbath, would not lay hold of it and pull it out? And how much more precious a man is than a sheep! Therefore it is allowable to do good on the Sabbath."

Jesus was teaching on a Sabbath in one of the Synagogues, And he saw before him a woman who for eighteen years had suffered from weakness owing to her having an evil spirit in her. She was bent double, and was wholly unable to raise herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said: "Woman, you are released from your weakness."read more.
He placed his hands on her, and she was instantly made straight, and began to praise God. But the President of the Synagogue, indignant that Jesus had worked the cure on the Sabbath, interposed and said to the people: "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come to be cured on one of those, and not on the Sabbath." "You hypocrites!" the Master answered him. "Does not every one of you let his ox or his ass loose from its manger, and take it out to drink, on the Sabbath? But this woman, a daughter of Abraham, who has been kept in bondage by Satan for now eighteen years, ought not she to have been released from her bondage on the Sabbath?" As he said this, his opponents all felt ashamed; but all the people rejoiced to see all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to do away with them, but to complete them.

You have heard that it was said--'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' I, however, say to you that any one who looks at a woman with an impure intention has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

For I tell you, until the heavens and the earth disappear, not even the smallest letter, nor one stroke of a letter, shall disappear from the Law until all is done. Whoever, therefore, breaks one of these commandments, even the least of them, and teaches others to do so, will be the least- esteemed in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever keeps them, and teaches others to do so, will be esteemed great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Just then a Student of the Law came forward to test Jesus further. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do if I am to 'gain Immortal Life'?" "What is said in the Law?" answered Jesus. "What do you read there?" His reply was--"'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thou dost thyself.'"read more.
"You have answered right," said Jesus; "do that, and you shall live."

His answer was: "'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' This is the great first commandment. The second, which is like it, is this--'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thou dost thyself.'

"The first," answered Jesus, "is--'Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is the one Lord; And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.' The second is this--'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thou dost love thyself.' There is no commandment greater than these."read more.
"Wisely answered, Teacher!" exclaimed the Teacher of the Law. "It is true, as you say, that 'there is one God,' and that 'there is no other besides him'; And to 'love him with all one's heart, and with all one's understanding, and with all one's strength,' and to 'love one's neighbor as one loves oneself' is far beyond all 'burnt-offerings and sacrifices.'" Seeing that he had answered with discernment, Jesus said to him: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." After that no one ventured to question him further.

But the man, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus: "And who is my neighbor?" To which Jesus replied: "A man was once going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him of everything, and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. As it chanced, a priest was going down by that road. He saw the man, but passed by on the opposite side.read more.
A Levite, too, did the same; he came up to the spot, but, when he saw the man, passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan, traveling that way, came upon the man, and, when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, dressing them with oil and wine, and then put him on his own mule, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out four shillings and gave them to the inn-keeper. 'Take care of him,' he said, 'and whatever more you may spend I will myself repay you on my way back.' Now which, do you think, of these three men," asked Jesus, "proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" "The one that took pity on him," was the answer; on which Jesus said: "Go and do the same yourself."

The Law and the Prophets sufficed until the time of John. Since then the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been told, and everybody has been forcing his way into it.

Every year the child's parents used to go to Jerusalem at the Passover Festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they went according to custom to Jerusalem, And had finished their visit; but, when they started to return, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, without their knowing it.read more.
Thinking that he was with their fellow-travelers, they went one day's journey before searching for him among their relations and acquaintances; And then, as they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching everywhere for him. It was not till the third day that they found him in the Temple Courts, sitting among the Teachers, now listening to them, now asking them questions. All who listened to him marveled at his intelligence and his answers. His parents were amazed when they saw him, and his mother said to him: "My child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been searching for you in great distress." "What made you search for me?" he answered. "Did not you know that I must be in my Father's House?" His parents did not understand what he meant. However he went down with them to Nazareth, and submitted himself to their control; and his mother treasured all that was said in her heart.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent him. "It is I," he said, "who need to be baptized by you; why then do you come to me?" "Let it be so for the present," Jesus answered, "since it is fitting for us thus to satisfy every claim of religion." Upon this, John consented.

On returning from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the power of the Spirit through the Wilderness for forty days, tempted by the Devil. All that time he ate nothing; and, when it was over, he became hungry. So the Devil said to him: "If you are God's Son, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread."read more.
And Jesus answered him: "Scripture says--'It is not on bread alone that man is to live.'" And the Devil led Jesus up, and showing him in a single moment all the kingdoms of the earth, said to him: "I will give you all this power, and the splendor of them; for it has been given into my hands and I give it to whom I wish. If you, therefore, will do homage before me, it shall all be yours." And Jesus answered him: "Scripture says--'Thou shalt do homage to the Lord thy God, and worship him only.'" The Devil next led him into Jerusalem, and, placing him on the parapet of the Temple, said: "If you are God's Son throw yourself down from here, For Scripture says--'He will give his angels commands about thee, to guard thee safely,' And 'On their hands they will upbear thee, Lest ever thou shouldst strike thy foot against a stone.'" But Jesus answered him: "It is said--'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.'" When he had tried every kind of temptation, the Devil left Jesus, till another opportunity.

When the day of the Festival of the Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lambs had to be killed, Jesus sent forward Peter and John, saying to them: "Go and make preparations for our eating the Passover."

Going on a little further, he threw himself on his face in prayer. "My Father," he said, "if it is possible, let me be spared this cup; only, not as I will, but as thou willest."

Going on a little further, he threw himself on the ground, and began to pray that, if it were possible, he might be spared that hour. "Abba, Father," he said, "all things are possible to thee; take away this cup from me; yet, not what I will, but what thou willest."

Then he withdrew about a stone's throw, and knelt down and began to pray. "Father," he said, "if it is thy pleasure, spare me this cup; only, not my will but thine be done."