In Matthews 23:13-36 the seven woes against the Pharisees and religious leaders are described. In my paper, I will focus on Matthews 23:16-24, which describe the third and fourth woes. In the third woe Jesus admonishes the scribes and Pharisees for their desire of worldly objects. In the fourth woe Jesus states that that they do not display kindness and mercy. For analysis of the verses I will be consulting The Gospel of Matthew by Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri. The main point that Mitch and Sri made about the passage is that Jesus was accusing the Pharisees and scribes of being blind and not seeing the bigger picture about religion. The Seven Woes are criticisms that Jesus had against the scribes and the Pharisees. The Woes happen after …show more content…
He states that the Pharisees and scribes are hypocrites and that they neglect important parts of the bible while placing an importance on practices of the temple. I did not understand what the bible meant when it states that the Pharisees and scribes only give a tenth of their spices. However, Mitch and Sri state that the “scribes and Pharisees are careful to offer a tenth of their annual harvest to the lord” (296). The bible states that they should have placed an importance on being merciful and fair rather than providing correct amount of offering. The commentators also, in agreeance to the bible, state that Jesus says that it is “gravely wrong to treat what is central as though it were peripheral” (296). The scribes and Pharisees pay attention to small aspects of Jewish law, which is good, however, they should not neglect the central aspects of Jewish law either. Jesus compares what the scribes and Pharisees are doing to the act of filtering insects from wine. The scribes and Pharisees try their best to avoid an oversite but “they end up defiled by their negligence of the Torah’s most important demands” (296). This idea of the scribes and Pharisees spending so much time focusing on the minuscule aspects of rituals while overlooking the main aspect of the religion is a recurring idea in the chapter of the seven
Although I wish to assume Barbara Brown Taylor’s intentions here are admirable, I find A Tale of Two Heretics adds to the anti-Jewish negativity rather than detracts from it. Throughout the rest of her sermon, she seemingly presents the Pharisees as legalizers who are incapable of witnessing God’s covenantal plan. Firstly, she does so by presenting the Pharisees as callous individuals who are less concerned with the healing of the blind man and more concerned with the blind man’s potential sin. Taylor juxtaposes the Pharisees inquisition with the blind man’s miraculous healings with the result being the blind man’s expulsion from the community. Taylor represents the Pharisees as arrogant, blind leaders who deem the former blind man to be a
... wickedness of their situation. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Douglass 77). Douglass’ words are meant for the master, the mistress, the auctioneer, the slaveholding preacher, the government: the hypocrite, but mostly for his brothers and sisters in manacles.
One day, Jesus led an immense crowd along with His twelve disciples up a mountainside to teach Christian ethics for believers and non believers. His teachings, or His sermon, are appropriately named the Sermon on the Mount. While the multitude of people stood in front, Matthew and the other disciples stood beside Jesus on the mountainside. In Matthew chapters 5-7, Matthew documented Jesus’ teachings that encapsulate His guidance about living a life that is dedicated to God and abundant in grace, love, and discernment. However, the life that is pleasing to God must also be free from hypocrisy. In Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus specifically speaks about the topic of those who feel superiority over others in terms of condemning, and ultimately judging,
S: Well, as followers of Jesus we should fulfill the Jewish law; we should even take it as far and fulfill it better than the Pharisees and scribes. In my opinion, the Gospel of Matthew does not tell to abandon the Jewish law; it in fact, says the opposite. Jesus fulfills this Law and prophecy!
Silva, Moisés. Philippians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
Collins, John J. A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007.
The book consists of three parts. The first part has five chapters of which focuses on explaining what the key questions are and why we find them difficult to answer. The second part has nine chapters explaining in detail what N.T. Wright considers Jesus’ public career and the approach he had in first century Palestine. The third part of the book, the last chapter, challenges readers to wrestle with the questions of Jesus’ life and ministry.
...pse." In Current Issues in New Testament Interpretation, edited by W. Klaasen and G.F. Snyder, 23-37. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1962.
The book of Hebrews is a unique portion of the Bible because it is written as though it were a letter, directed at people the writer may have known. However, the book targets a seemingly broad audience of those without faith and also those that could be described as believers that have experienced persecution. A salient message within Hebrews is that people must persevere when they feel persecuted because Jesus Christ is their salvation, regardless of anything else that is happening in the people’s lives. An emphasis on the greatness of Jesus and his role as a mediator between God and those on Earth is dominant throughout the chapters and verses.
He tells the people to do what they say but to not view them as examples since they are not practicing what they brutally enforce. He accuses the officials and Pharisees of forcing the people to endure unbearable religious demands despite themselves falsely living lives not aligned with these demands. Moreover, they grant more attention to giving the tenths of spices but neglecting withholding the essential matters of the law that include justice, mercy, and faithfulness. In verse 37 of this chapter, Jesus proclaims how he longed to show them justice, mercy, and faithfulness by protecting them from the evils like a hen does to her newly hatched chicks.
The three parables contained in chapter fifteen of the Gospel of Luke are a tightly woven trio anchored on either side by closely related teachings. The preceding chapter gives instruction on humility and hospitality, telling the reader to open the invitation to one’s meal table to all, including the poor, the sick, and the unclean. In the following chapter the reader finds instructions for how to use wealth to benefit those same people. In the middle of these we find chapter fifteen, containing the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal and his brother. As a part of the triplet, the parable of the lost sheep challenges the reader to not only invite the poor into one’s community, but to receive them as family with joy and celebration.
Idolatry, Social Injustice, and Religious Ritualism Name: Deanna Martin Date: 5/6/2017 In the Old Testament, Prophets are used in many cases especially when God wanted to condemn a great sin or to warn people. Among many other Prophets that were used include Ezekiel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and Micah among others who addressed issues like idolatry, social injustice, and religious ritualism. They discussed this issue and relayed the Gods intentions and meaning with respect to what people needed to know. In this paper, these sins are discussed in the way the prophets spoke about them.
Arragel, Moses, A. Paz Y Meliá, Julián Paz, and Alba, Jacobo Stuart Fitz-James Y Falcó. Bible (Old Testament). Madrid: Priv. Print. for Presentation to the Members of the Roxburghe Club, 1918. Print.
Carson, D.A., and Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005.