Hey everyone!
The Game is On! You’ve been invited to the stadium! You are NOT gonna want to miss this one! It’s the Super Bowl! And the teams are JESUS, a team of ONE, and HYPOCRISY, a team of many fat religious men who altogether weigh a ton! Come on. Fill right in! Jesus is expecting the biggest crowd He has ever had! The game starts with the coin toss. Both teams offer a question that pisses each other off. Listen in. Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together and tested Jesus with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ALL THE LAW and THE PROPHETS hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 Instead of drawing closer, and asking Jesus to explain what He meant, the Pharisees gathered together, in defensive support. They huddled in together and whispered, “No Offensive Word is going to break through this heart!” But Jesus tried. He took the ball and started to run as hard as he could. This is the question that He asked. “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son do you think he is? “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” If then David calls him ‘Lord, how can he be his son?” The Pharisees were stunned. They all stood silent. No one could say a word. They had no answer to give! And from that day on no one dared to ask Jesus a question” Matthew 22:34-46 But Jesus did not stop there. He had more important things to share! There were so many people watching the game, He continued to run, gaining yards for the touchdown! Jesus looked up at his disciples, and to the crowds and said, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat” (meaning the legal seat of authority) “So you must be careful to do everything they tell you” (There were major consequences for breaking the law - he didn’t want their freedom to be taken away). "But do not do what they do, for they do NOT practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on OTHER people’s shoulders, but they themselves are NOT willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people 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; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others. “BUT YOU ARE NOT TO BE CALLED ‘Rabbi’ (TEACHER) for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.“ “AND DO NOT CALL ANYONE ON EARTH ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. “ “NOR ARE YOU TO BE CALLED instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.” By the way, I must say, I absolutely love this proof! We just had this conversation in our women’s group - NO HUMAN should be given the authority of Teacher, Instructor or Father when it comes to God! In my opinion, and according to Jesus, God is the only Father and Jesus is the only teacher to instruct - because he alone is God! Anyway, Jesus tells them, “The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” It is the HUMBLE who shall inherit the earth! “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” And the crowds shout, GO JESUS! He is showing the Pharisees they don’t know how to love! They don’t even know what love is! “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” The disciples shout, GO JESUS! They know who they are! They have been transformed by the Holy Spirit. “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 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 anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.” Hey crowd - what oath are you holding onto to? Have you come to the alter? Have you come to the Temple of God? Or are you still holding onto the gold? “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.” GO JESUS! The crowds are standing! Hebrews 11 is coming alive! The TRUTH is So Offensive! He is about to make a touchdown! Listen to that MARANATHA CRY! “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.” Oh the hypocrisy! The Law and its instruction had become so darkened! Humans are so full of sin! They did not understand - The Law was just a mirror for them. Instead of it being a true reflection, and changing their hearts to conform to God’s Holy Spirit - they darkened it! Imagine the layers of filth, the layers of darkness that now covers men. “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 the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." “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 ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started! “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” GO JESUS! THIS IS LOVE! Sharing the Sword of the Spirit “Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 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. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. “Jerusalem, 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, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:1-39 TOUCHDOWN! JESUS SCORED! Is your spirit going wild? Or are you just totally confused? Take a minute - Think about it. Because this is a good indicator about whose team you are on! You see, Jesus won with the coin toss. He did not have to prove himself! But Jesus chose to play the game for the great crowd of witnesses, in the stands. The great cloud of witnesses get excited when they see FAITH IN ACTION being played out! Jesus did not waste His Words on Hypocrites. Instead, He looked at the crowds and His disciples and He spoke to them! Not only did He show them the errors in the religious men, but He explained what is needed for Him to come again! What team are you on? What team do you shout for? Me - I’m on Team Jesus!
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