038: Hypocrisy Kills Heart

KINGDOM 12: RELIGIOUS BS WILL PROVIDE PODCAST INSIGHT 🙂

Matthew 22:23-33
On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Him and questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up an offspring to his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers we knew; and the first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother; so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. And last of all, the woman died. Therefore, in the resurrection whose wife of the seven will she be? For they were all married to her.”

But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are in error, not understanding the Scriptures, or the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together.

Some thoughts for your hopeful heart…
It is astonishing how people who should have known better knew nothing. What an admonishment for me to understand the Word of God, so I can understand the power of God. What a privilege it is to read the Scriptures in a country where I am free (for now) of persecution.  More: John 8:31-32; Matthew 5:17-19

Matthew 23:23-28

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.

But these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”

MORE thoughts for your hopeful heart…
It is inherently human to strain gnats (tiny) and swallow camels (much larger things). This involves confusion about what is essential. Whenever we are distracted from the core things that make the world (and the universe) go around, we become small in our thinking.

The gnats are the preoccupying things – the camels require a huge invasion of our space – when we miss the point about essentials. This encompasses the parts of our lives that are physical, philosophical, and theological. What are the gnats and camels in your journey? How can you avoid both extremes?

More: Micah 6:8; Psalm 51:14-17
HEAVY DUTY.