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Friday, July 6, 2012

Matthew 15:1-10 (NKJV)


Matthew 15:1-10 (NKJV):
15 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; [a] and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’[b] But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— then he need not honor his father or mother.’[c] Thus you have made the commandment[d] of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And[e] honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’[f]
10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

I started reading the book of Matthew this past evening during my slow times at work and just came across this passage! (In this passage, Jesus was addressing the scribes and Pharisees.) And God caused it to strike me how the scribes and Pharisees of that time really resemble the Catholic church of today.  I can easily see the Catholic church saying these exact words to Jesus.  The Catholic church considers tradition just as authoritive as the word of God.   The verse that struck me the most was Matthew 15:8-9: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And[e] honor Me with their lips,But their heart is far from Me.And in vain they worship Me,Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' ".

So what do you think?  In what ways are the Catholics similar to the Jews
?

2 comments:

  1. A lot of people in our area are Catholics. I always wondered why they weren't allowed to eat certain foods around a certain time of year. I also wondered why Jews couldn't eat certain foods either, but I know that they still follow The Law. Catholics are similar to Jews in the way that they have relationships with God but also follow traditions and show people their love for God by the things they do.

    But it's an easy thing for anyone to fall into. Sometimes we focus on what we do rather than Jesus himself. At my old church, someone told Ava "if you don't jump around and worship God, that means you don't love Him!" If that was the case, wouldn't she be jumping up for the people at church to look at, rather than express her love for God?

    Oh and to answer your question, Tofu tastes kind of plain! It's often a substitute for other foods if you're on a certain diet. It's very adaptable. They make chicken, turkey (tofurkey) and I think eggs too! Well substitutes, I mean haha. It' an acquired taste, I'd say. I was raised on it and I really love exotic foods, especially Asian. A lot of their recipes have tofu :)

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  2. P.S. your blog about grace inspired part of my latest entry =P haha. You helped me understand God's love a little better :)

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