Prophecy
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The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees
Matthew 16:5-12
v.5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. Be careful, Jesus said to them. Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
v.7 They discussed this among themselves and said, It is because we didnt bring any bread.
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?
v.9 Do you still not understand? Dont you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many basketfuls you gathered?
v.11 How is it you dont understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Seven Woes
Matthew 23:1 39
v.3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on mens shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
v.5 Everything they do is done for men to see; They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;
v.7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them Rabbi.
But you are not to be called Rabbi, for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
v.9 And do not call anyone on earth father, for you have one Father, and He is in heaven. Nor are you to be called teacher, for you have one Teacher, the Christ.
v.11 The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
v.13 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in mens faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
v.15 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
Woe to you, blind guides! You say, If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.
v.17 You blind fools! Which is greater; the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.
v.19 You blind men! Which is greater; the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. v.21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by Gods throne and by the one who sits on it.
v.23 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
v.25 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean everything on it.
v.27 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead mens bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrites and wickedness.
v.29 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them shedding the blood of the prophets.
v.31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
v.33 You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
v.35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth; all this will come upon this generation.
v.37 O Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. v.39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
What does Charles Manson and Barrack Obama have in Common? Psychopathy.
You be the Judge?
Like the violence of adult psychopaths, the aggression of schoolyard bullies also tends to be focused more on personal gain rather than on other motives such as retaliation or self defense (Olweus, 197. In a study of young adolescents boys in Sweden, researchers found that about 5 percent of them were viewed by their teachers and classmates as bullies. These boys were typical cool and deliberate in their bullying, picking targets whom they could easily or seemingly beat in a fight. As Berkowitz (1993a) notes, the aggressiveness of such bullying boys wasnt designed just to injure their victims, but was a tool used to gain others rewards.
Empathy: Feelings of empathy - sharing the emotions of another seem to make aggressive behavior unrewarding (Baumeister & Campbell, 1999; Miller & Eisenberg, 198. If, like most people, you cannot help feeling distressed when you watch someone else in pain you would probably take little pleasure in the life of a henchman for the mob. Highly empathetic people put themselves in the other persons shoes, and are likely to be consumed with guilt over hurting another (Leith & Baumeister, 199. On the other hand, psychopaths, with their general tendency to feel less emotional arousal, and their particular lack of empathy (Harpur, 1993; Williamson et al., 1987), feel less compunction about hurting others spontaneously in their course of committing other crimes.
Debauchery: Excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures: DISSIPATION. Seduction from morality, allegiance, or duty. Taking someones sincere loyalty or partnership for granted for carnal or worldly gains.
Morality: The quality of being in accord with standards of good or right conduct. A system of ideas of right and wrong conduct. Virtuous conduct.
Virtuous: Moral excellence and righteousness: goodness. Chastity, esp. of a girl or woman. Spiritual innocence, purity or essence. A particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial quality: Advantage. Effective force or power. Manly courage: Valor.
Vice: An evil, degrading, or immoral habit or practice. A serious moral failing. Wicked or evil habits or conduct: CORRUPTION.
Reference: 1. Social Psychology: Unraveling the Mystery 2nd Edition; Douglas T. Kenrick, Steven L. Neuberg, Robert B. Cialdini; Ally & Bacon 1999, 2002
2. Websters II New Riverside University Dictonary