Date: 28 January 2009 D – 14 Days
Events:
Yesterday morning, I woke up early to read, write and play with Sadie before heading to Fort Hood. I listened to the most recent White Horse Inn and a couple really good episodes of Renewing Your Mind on my way. I stopped on my way into base at Clothing Sales and bought the Items from the packing list that I was missing, got some dog tags made and had my rank sowed onto my soft cap and boney cap. Arrived at the clinic to a couple patients waiting, nothing very interesting mostly administrative stuff. I had a great weight work out and run yesterday evening before heading to temple for the night. John and Gracie (the couple I stay with in temple) just returned from Israel so we spent the evening talking about their trip. It sounded amazing. I would love to go.
Bible (NT/OT):
Matt 23
Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 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.'"
ESV
Ps 24:3-5
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Bible Thoughts:
Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 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.'"
ESV
Ps 24:3-5
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Bible Thoughts:
1. 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. At face value, it is true that the scribes and Pharisees were the most externally devout Jews. We often forget that these Pharisees that Jesus criticize most aggressively are the most well educated and “spiritual” Jews of the day. When the laity had a question about religious practice, they asked the Pharisees and as long as the Pharisees responded from their knowledge of the scriptures, they were to be followed. The same applies to our pastors and priests to this day. When a pastor or priest (even the Pope) speaks in accordance with scripture, they are to be heeded. Jesus does not criticize their knowledge, teaching or observance of the scripture; what Jesus questions is their motive and tradition. As we have seen above, Jesus is about to launch into an assault on both their external piety and their legalism. In order to be highly esteemed the Pharisees had inter-mixed many rules of man with the Laws of God. Apparently many of the rules are still in place today; John, just back from Israel, told me that on the Sabbath devout Jews are not allowed to push a button in the elevator. They are forced to wait for a Christian or Muslim to help them. What an unnecessary “heavy burden.” This is not the heart or the letter of the Old Testament Law.
2. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, I rotated with a Family Practitioner during medical school who was a devout Jew. Every morning we would go to his temple and he would strap a Phylacteries (little box) tightly around his head and a strap around his left arm. The “fringes” around his arm were to be as tight as possible both to remind him of how tightly bound to the Jewish law and tradition he was and to leave a visible mark for the world to see the rest of the day.
3. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. The problem was not with the words teacher, rabbi or father but the adoration they were seeking in the title. The motive behind accepting my title, Dr. Smith and demanding that everyone address me as Dr. Smith is entirely different.
4. 13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” In the next 23 verses it will become very clear that Jesus despises hypocrisy. When religion is based on an individual’s works, hypocrisy will necessarily follow. This was true of Judiasm in Jesus day and it is true of Liberal Christianity today. By far the most common charge leveled against the church today is that it is full of hypocrites, is it not? No one likes a hypocrite, not Christ and not the unbelieving world. I can understand how the outside world can feel this way as I too have stood on the outside and looked in; however, with correct theology this should never be. Contrary to true Christianity, Pelagianism (works based religion) fundamentally relies on a list of ‘to do’s’ that will inevitably breed spiritual pride which invariably deteriorates into hypocrisy. A Pelagian (ex. liberal Christian--all good people go to heaven type) or even a Semi-pelagian (Methodist—in my free will I made a good decision type), believes his salvation to be based on something that he has done. What separates the Pelagian from his neighbor is that he is not as dirty and sinful; he is better, above his neighbor. Further, his dirty neighbor should not be participating in such utterly despicable acts and he’s going to walk over and tell him. What’s worse is the semi-pelagian who feels that he is not simply better than his neighbor in action but smarter/more righteous than his neighbor because he was wise or righteous enough to freely make the right decision and “accept Christ.” These two “Christians” are rightly charged with hypocrisy as, in pride, they hold themselves above their neighbor whether by action or intellect. The neighbor watches with an eagle eye for any inconsistency, any flaw because such pride is so intolerable. And when the flaw comes, the neighbor is redeemed and happily (rightly) accuses the “Christian” of hypocrisy. But the neighbor is not all this “Christian” has to worry about because Matthew 23 echo’s from heaven. Compared to Christ’s righteousness what righteousness do we have? Compared to Christ’s wisdom, what wisdom do we have? Compared to Christ’s majesty, what majesty to we have? How can we as creatures stand on earth in our fallen, despicable sinfulness and in pride stand ourselves up above our neighbor? No, with even the simplest theology, the Christian should realize that he is in no way superior to his neighbor. “But for the Grace of God go I.” A Christian should…must realize that it was nothing good within him that led to his salvation; in fact it was the utter depravity in his soul that led to his salvation. That he could not “do” his way to heaven, nor could he “will” his way to heaven but that all he brought and brings to the equation is the wretched mess of a desperately fallen life. And once the believer is a true Christian the prognosis is no better; although we have now been enlightened to the truth of sinfulness and depravity, our flesh almost irresistibly craves the sin. Prior to being a Christian, all we could do was sin but after our rebirth we now have the free choice to follow the path of righteousness or the path of destruction and, having been given the gift of the holy spirit how much more contemptible is it to follow the path of destruction. But this is the inner war that rages inside the Christian at all times, this is the war that when we are honest and transparent with our neighbor can never breed the charge of hypocrisy. Christians must realize that any and all good that lives inside is the imputed (given) righteousness of Christ not any earned or inherited good of our own. When I get a tattoo, it will include the inscription, “Simul Justus et Peccator” meaning simultaneously righteous and sinner. Any and all good that lives within me is solely Christ, I am nothing but a dirty wretch and my works are nothing but rags. Thereby, I realize that I am no better than my neighbor in fact I am much worse because given the ability to follow Christ, instead again and again I sin. When I have no platform to judge my neighbor from, no pride in my own action how then can I go to my neighbor as anything more than a humble, struggling servant? I cannot. When we have correct theology and the confidence (in God’s love) to be transparent with neighbor in our struggles, doubts and sins, far from our neighbor’s charge of hypocrisy we may find needed help and support. We Christians are a broken and sinful people.
Sun Tzu:
“When you do battle, even if you are winning, if you continue for a long time it will dull your forces and blunt your edge; if you besiege a citadel, your strength will be exhausted. If you keep your armies in the field for a long time, your supplies will be insufficient.”
“War is like fire—if you don’t put it out, it will burn itself out”
“Arms are tools of ill omen—to employ them for extended periods of time will bring about calamity. As it is said, “Those who like to fight and so exhaust their military inevitably perish”
Sun Tzu Thoughts:
I like the quote, “Arms are tools of ill omen…” While at first we were seen as liberators, I fear we will soon be seen (if not already) as occupiers. It is a very difficult thing to wage a war in someone’s hometown and still try to appear as the “good guys.” But it is of vital importance.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
In Plato’s (427-347BC) work Phaedo, he presented his Theory of Forms. In considering all of the beautiful thing in the world Plato theorized that there is a “Form” of perfect, eternal beauty that all beautiful physical objects reflected in direct proportion to how externally beautiful the physical object appeared. Individual beautiful things are beautiful by virtue of participating in beauty. Plato thought of participation as imperfect imitation. Thus, individual beautiful things imitate beauty, but only to a point. Plato extended “forms” to include our observation of all physical objects. For example, an object was red only in so much as it approached the “form” redness. In Plato’s theory, before our bodies existed, our souls existed in heaven where we learned these perfect “forms” that we subsequently remember in order to observe the world. Our knowledge on earth is merely a recollection of our initial acquaintance with the “forms” in heaven.
Intel Devo Thoughts: Interesting concept, not sure I buy it. While the bible does support that Christ inhabited heaven before his bodily existence, it does not seem to support that I did. The Mormons would disagree.
Sun Tzu:
“When you do battle, even if you are winning, if you continue for a long time it will dull your forces and blunt your edge; if you besiege a citadel, your strength will be exhausted. If you keep your armies in the field for a long time, your supplies will be insufficient.”
“War is like fire—if you don’t put it out, it will burn itself out”
“Arms are tools of ill omen—to employ them for extended periods of time will bring about calamity. As it is said, “Those who like to fight and so exhaust their military inevitably perish”
Sun Tzu Thoughts:
I like the quote, “Arms are tools of ill omen…” While at first we were seen as liberators, I fear we will soon be seen (if not already) as occupiers. It is a very difficult thing to wage a war in someone’s hometown and still try to appear as the “good guys.” But it is of vital importance.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
In Plato’s (427-347BC) work Phaedo, he presented his Theory of Forms. In considering all of the beautiful thing in the world Plato theorized that there is a “Form” of perfect, eternal beauty that all beautiful physical objects reflected in direct proportion to how externally beautiful the physical object appeared. Individual beautiful things are beautiful by virtue of participating in beauty. Plato thought of participation as imperfect imitation. Thus, individual beautiful things imitate beauty, but only to a point. Plato extended “forms” to include our observation of all physical objects. For example, an object was red only in so much as it approached the “form” redness. In Plato’s theory, before our bodies existed, our souls existed in heaven where we learned these perfect “forms” that we subsequently remember in order to observe the world. Our knowledge on earth is merely a recollection of our initial acquaintance with the “forms” in heaven.
Intel Devo Thoughts: Interesting concept, not sure I buy it. While the bible does support that Christ inhabited heaven before his bodily existence, it does not seem to support that I did. The Mormons would disagree.
