Pages 921-922 … Like you & yours (the Pharisees)
“The Pharisees were the ones who liked to show off and come up with a different religion.”
This statement is essentially true as well, my Friend, and it is well worth noting that the Pharisees were the ones – unlike Jesus Christ (and very much like you & yours) who were in favor of publicly condemning sinners. In fact, it is actually quite ironic that you would mention the Pharisees at all in this conversation, seeing as how you & yours are actually taking the side that they would take were they to enter our little debate!
Yes, there were some Pharisees back in the day who would have supported Jesus’ call to love and humility in this discussion (see Luke 13:30-31, Luke 14:1-15, as well as the verses that show Nicodemus to be an atypically humble Pharisee – John 3:1-21, John 7:50 & John 19:38) … That having been said, Jesus was clearly no fan of the Pharisees in general (see Matthew 15:12-14, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 23:1-36 et al), and he repeatedly denounced their self-righteous judgments of others, as well as their words & actions that were so often so hypocritical (sound familiar? ) …
Please consider the following facts that illustrate this truth:
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees were strict legalists and stood for rigidly observing and strictly obeying the laws of the Old Testament; laws that Jesus came to radically amend and in some cases fully abolish! Again, see pages 709-713 herein for a thorough exposé of the 60+ times Jesus expanded those regulations, the 39+ times he severely limited them, and the 38+ times he actually discarded them altogether in the Gospel of Matthew alone!
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees were so focused on traditional, conservative interpretations of the law (in the case at hand, your application of Leviticus 18:22 & Leviticus 20:13 to all homosexuals) that they thereby disobeyed God’s far greater commandment to Love others actively & without condition (see John 13:34-35 & John 15:8-12) … “And why do you break the commandment of your God for the sake of your tradition?” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 15:3)
*Like you & yours (at least in this thread), the Pharisees took offense whenever their theological errors were exposed (see Matthew 15:12-14).
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees were hypocritical in their condemnations – “tying up heavy burdens and laying them on the shoulders of others” (in our current case, demanding that homosexuals rid themselves of their natural same-sex desires) while simultaneously being “unwilling to lift a finger to remove them” (see Matthew 23:1-4).
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees made their piousness public with regards to the Scriptures, and arrogantly championed their own interpretations as the only ones that were correct or honorable (see Matthew 23:5-8).
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees honored others – including each other – as their teachers, when they should have humbled themselves and honored primarily the teachings of Jesus Christ (see Matthew 23:9-12).
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees condemned others for their sins – in effect “locking them out of the Kingdom of Heaven” (see Matthew 23:14-15); a choice that ironically prevented those others (just like it is currently preventing you & yours) from entering that same Kingdom (see Luke 17:20-21 + Matthew 18:3-4)!
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees acted “appropriately” when it came to the conventions of their religion, and yet ignored the far more important matters of Justice for the persecuted, Mercy for the sinful, and Faith in the Way of Jesus Christ (see Matthew 23:23-24).
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees behaved correctly and appeared to be devout worshippers, “and yet inside were filled with greed [in your case, for personal salvation at the expense of loving others] and self-indulgence [in your case, an unbridled belief that you profess the only correct way to deal with sexual sin]” (see Matthew 23:25-28).
*Like you & yours, the Pharisees honored prophets and “decorated the graves of the righteous” [in your case, Paul and the author of Revelation] while simultaneously contributing to the death of those prophets’ descendants [in your case, the teachings of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ] (see Matthew 23:29-35).
*And like you & yours (at least with regards to your treatment of homosexuals), the Pharisees might have honored the Divine with their lips, but their hearts were indeed quite far therefrom (see Matthew 15:8).
“When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out, and beware the yeast of the Pharisees.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because we have brought no bread.’ And hearing this response, Jesus said, ‘Ye of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered thereafter as well? How could you fail to comprehend that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees!’ And it was then that they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but rather of the teaching of the Pharisees.” ~ Matthew 16:5-12
P.S. Note as well that the modern-day Christian church is actually founded almost exclusively on the teachings of the “apostle” Paul (with 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 3:22-26 & Romans 10:9 comprising a concise summation thereof) – and that this is the same Paul who was a self-professed Pharisee (Acts 23:6); the very same Pharisees whose “yeast” Jesus warned us against!
“When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.’” ~ Acts 23:6
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