From the second to the third Passover festival 1 study
The last week before the arrest 2 studies
Contradictions 1 study
From the second to the third Passover festival
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PER089
The Sermon on the Mount (5), the Messiah Jesus' relationship with the law
The fifth part of the Sermon on the Mount, this article analyses Jesus' relationship with Mosaic law on the basis of Matthew 5:17–20. Jesus states that he came to fulfil the law fully according to God's original purpose rather than abolish it. He distinguishes Moses' authentic law from the religious traditions added by scribes and Pharisees and warns that their institutionalised righteousness does not lead to the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5.17-20 (King James Version) :Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
The last week before the arrest
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PER286
Daily Teaching in the Temple
Pericope 286 describes Jesus’ daily teaching in the Temple of Jerusalem during Passover week (Monday, March 28, AD 33). Based mainly on Luke 19,47-48, it presents the growing opposition between the admiring crowds and the hostile religious authorities — scribes, chief priests, Sadducees and Pharisees — who seek to silence Jesus, whose message of the Kingdom of God threatens their established power.
Luke 19.47-48 (King James Version) :And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org -
PER298
Indictment Against the Religious Leaders
In the courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem, on the Wednesday before his Passion, Jesus delivers a severe indictment against the scribes and the Pharisees. Through eight proclamations of ‘Woe to you!’, he denounces their hypocrisy, their pride and their outward show of religion, while expressing deep sorrow over Jerusalem. He calls his disciples to a genuine, humble faith that serves others.
Matthew 23.1-39 (King James Version) :Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.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.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
Contradictions
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CTD063
The Pharisees or the Scribes
This article addresses an apparent biblical contradiction involving the Pharisees and scribes in the Gospels, explaining how these differences reflect the biblical authors' distinct but complementary perspectives on opposition to Jesus.
Luke 11.14-16 (King James Version) :And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
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ANN046
Technical Requirements of Publishing in the First Century
This appendix explores the technical constraints of first-century publishing that explain certain omissions in the Gospels. Writing on costly papyrus, the Egyptian monopoly…