Scribes and Pharisees

[Sister]

Matthew 23:13   But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
 

What do you think this means?

 

[Ezra]

Matthew 23:13   But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

What do you think this means?

1. When a woe is pronounced, it means severe and painful judgement from God.

2. The Kingdom of Heaven is only entered by faith and humility, not by works of righteousness which we have done. Their rejection of Christ proved that they were devoid of faith and humility.

3. The scribes and Pharisees were attempting to establish their own righteousness through a minute observation of the Law, while forgetting the more important aspects of mercy and justice, and love for neighbor and God.  Therefore they would not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

4. But they were also preventing others from entering the Kingdom by their false doctrine of salvation by works. Therefore they would be subject to severe judgments.

[gdemoss]

Matthew 23:13   But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
 

What do you think this means?

 

This is what I expeienced when I went to dead church services.  People who retard the true progress of spiritual growth in others.  Jesus even pointed out that John the baptist had not entered into the kingdom of heaven yet.  Beware of those who would prevent you from living in the Kingdom of Heaven while your hear on earth.  It is about transcendance.  We need to rise above.  I was a Pharisee in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church until God saved me from their dead ways.  Today I gather with the sick and poor who are downtrodden.  Those who are ignorant of God but open to truth when they both hear it spoken and see it done.  One of the marks of a Pharisee is that they will continually affirm that you cannot actually be like Christ for they cannot so they will be damned if they will allow you too.  They traded in their long gowns for suits though just to keep up with the times. Oh how they love to look good in the outside!!!

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Sister

       I think Ezra has answered your question quite well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the Pharisees thought very highly of themselves,they desired Glory for themselves ,they talked the talk but did not walk the walk,,,,,,,as Ezra said"But they were also preventing others from entering the Kingdom by their false doctrine of salvation by works"...................

King James Bible
Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
                                                                                                                                          Luke 11:43

 

[gdemoss]

Modern day Pharisee tend to preach works do nothing for you which is a lie.

[Sister]

Matthew 23:13   But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
 

What do you think this means?

 

This is what I expeienced when I went to dead church services.  People who retard the true progress of spiritual growth in others.  Jesus even pointed out that John the baptist had not entered into the kingdom of heaven yet.  Beware of those who would prevent you from living in the Kingdom of Heaven while your hear on earth.  It is about transcendance.  We need to rise above.  I was a Pharisee in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church until God saved me from their dead ways.  Today I gather with the sick and poor who are downtrodden.  Those who are ignorant of God but open to truth when they both hear it spoken and see it done.  One of the marks of a Pharisee is that they will continually affirm that you cannot actually be like Christ for they cannot so they will be damned if they will allow you too.  They traded in their long gowns for suits though just to keep up with the times. Oh how they love to look good in the outside!!!

Thanks gdemoss

You are so tuned in!

My next question was going to be;

The NT was not just for them, but for us in our day and age also.  Are there modern day scribes and pharisees now?  I'm not talking about Jews, but us, modern day scribes and pharisees.  The pharisees of the old days were very strict in making sure everyone observed the law, the old teachings.  They were superior and in charge. Could it be possible we who are in leadership today are doing the same thing?  Blocking the truth from the sheep.  If someone comes with a different point of view not popular, do we persecute them in such a way, by shutting them out in order to protect the sheep? 

An example, JW's are only allowed to fellowship with JW's.  If they have the truth, what are they afraid of?  Why can't they have any other Christian friends from different denominations? We are supposed to defend with the truth, it's our weapon and every one learns from it, what kind of questions that could arise and how to answer, but they are scared they are going to lose members for doctrine sake.  Now what's more important, quantity or quality?  I'm just giving them as an example and I can see in most denominations there are scribes and pharisees in today's world who are not Jews, but doing the same thing Jesus warned against, only it's not so obvious.

 

 

[Sister]

Matthew 23:13   But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

What do you think this means?

1. When a woe is pronounced, it means severe and painful judgement from God.

2. The Kingdom of Heaven is only entered by faith and humility, not by works of righteousness which we have done. Their rejection of Christ proved that they were devoid of faith and humility.

3. The scribes and Pharisees were attempting to establish their own righteousness through a minute observation of the Law, while forgetting the more important aspects of mercy and justice, and love for neighbor and God.  Therefore they would not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

4. But they were also preventing others from entering the Kingdom by their false doctrine of salvation by works. Therefore they would be subject to severe judgments.

Thanks Ezra.  Yes that's exactly what they did back then.  What about now?

[Sister]

Blessings Sister

       I think Ezra has answered your question quite well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the Pharisees thought very highly of themselves,they desired Glory for themselves ,they talked the talk but did not walk the walk,,,,,,,as Ezra said"But they were also preventing others from entering the Kingdom by their false doctrine of salvation by works"...................

King James Bible
Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
                                                                                                                                          Luke 11:43

 

Yes Kwikphilly

Works of the law.  We are not under the works of the law now, but of the spirit.

Matthew 16:27   For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

[Guest]

I think that the Pharisees and Scribes, who had it all wrong, were teaching error and keeping those who earnestly sought to obey the Law and sacrifices from doing so properly, Christ was warning them that they would face dire consequences for their actions. The same is true today for those in authority who teach error and inhibit true faith within the Congregation. I'm not talking about, say, those of us here on this forum who participate in discussions on their understanding of scripture, but of those who come here professing a special/unique understanding of Scriptural teachings and try to "teach" them as fact. You can tell those types of individuals because they contend against and attack those who disagree with their brand of "understanding."

[Guest]

What you say is technically true. They did teach that the way that they (Pharisees/Scribes) performed the rituals was the "only correct way." But, I think what Christ was saying was that it was not the ritual that mattered, but the focus on the coming Redeemer. That is what was lost. The leaders were actually keeping the people away from GOD. They taught that you had to be right to come to HIM, while GOD taught that you had to come to HIM to get right.