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Day 51 Mark 12:35 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? 36 For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’” 37 “Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?” And the common people heard Him gladly. (NKJV) Have you heard something that resonated with your spirit and made you happy? While others questioned everything the person said, finding fault with the person. Jesus taught the people the Word of God in truth and the people gladly received it. Yet those in authority sought to destroy Jesus because He taught the people with authority so they could understand the Scriptures. Many Christians sit in church, listening to their ministers preach sermons about what God requires of them. They accept it because they preach God’s Word. Yet they don’t open their Bibles to read the Scripture themselves. When Christians open their Bibles and read God’s Word, studying it, they will hear what their ministers teach and preach and will either accept it as the authoritative Word of God or reject what they hear because the minister has embellished the Word, making it harder to understand God’s Word. The Pharisees embellished the Law, adding to it and making it difficult for the people to embrace God’s Word. Jesus took out the embellishment, and taught the pure Word of God, and the people understood Him and gladly listened to Him. Jesus told the Pharisees and scribes what kind of people they were and what they did to the people. Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. 16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ 17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ 19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. 21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. 23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Therefore, you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. 33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” Jesus called them out and told them what kind of persons they were and what they did to the people by what they taught them. Therefore, when Jesus taught the people, they heard Him gladly because He taught them the unembellished Word of God. Be careful what you hear. Open your Bibles and read God’s Word for yourselves. If what your teacher or minister preaches is the untarnished Word, believe it. If not, walk away. Let’s pray: Father, thank you for giving me Your Word so that I can read and study it to know what You require of me. Lead me to Your ministers who teach Your Word without embellishment. Then I will be glad to hear Your Word and give You praise. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 3 September 2023 by Valerie Routhieaux The image belongs to me.