…A condensed description by Jesus
In Matthew 23 Jesus called out the spiritual leaders of His day, calling them all kinds of evil:
hypocrites, self-righteous, blind guides, fools, blind men, spiritually blind men, full of extortion, full of robbery, full of self-indulgence (unrestrained greed), full of everything unclean.
Here, quoted excerpts of actual verses: Matthew 23 Amplified Bible (AMP)
“Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying:
“The scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ chair [of authority as teachers….
“do not do as they do; for they preach [things], but do not practice them.
“tie up [a]heavy loads [that are hard to bear] and place them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger [to make them lighter]
“5 They do all their deeds to be seen by men
“6 They love the place of distinction and honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues [those on the platform near the scrolls of the Law, facing the congregation], 7 and to be greeted [with respect] in the market places and public forums, and to have people call them Rabbi.
“you shut off the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are [in the process of] entering to do so.
“you swallow up widows’ houses, and to cover it up you make long prayers
“you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte (convert to Judaism), and when he becomes a convert, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
“you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.
“Woe to you, blind guides
17 “You fools and blind men!
19 “You [spiritually] blind men
“you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others.
24 “You [spiritually] blind guides, who strain out a gnat [consuming yourselves with miniscule matters] and swallow a camel [ignoring and violating God’s precepts]!
“inside they are full of extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed)
“inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean”
FOR MORE:
Needing something more than Jesus – July 11, 2018
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