CHAPTER 8 JESUS AND TRADITION

Beware of false teachers
The story of the wicked tenants
Jesus at the Temple
Jesus, teaching at the Temple
Disagreement among the authorities
What about the Messiah?
Giving to God and the government
Jesus and the Sabbath Law
God as Jesus’ Father
Honoring the Father and the Son
The authority of the Son
Jesus consults the Father
The evidence of John the Baptist
The evidence of miracles and the Father
The evidence of the Scriptures
The honor that comes from God
Jesus, Master of the Sabbath
Jesus’ teaching on divorce
A woman caught in adultery
Jesus and Jewish rituals
Jesus, Bread from Heaven, Bread of Life
Eternal Life within you
The Holy Spirit gives eternal life
God’s laws and tradition
Eating, thinking and speaking
The thought life pollutes
Demand for another miracle
Beware of wrong teaching
Jesus, the Light of the world
You cannot come where I am going
Jesus criticizes religious leaders
The plotting of Jesus’ death
Beware of the teachers of religion
Jesus warns against following the religious leaders
Jesus condemns the religious leaders
Giving to God
The response of the people

Beware of false teachers
Matthew 7:15-20
“Beware of (and avoid) false teachers who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are wolves and will tear you apart. You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes, or figs with thistles. Different kinds of fruit trees can quickly be identified by examining their fruit. A variety that produces delicious fruit never produces an inedible kind. And a tree producing an inedible kind can’t produce what is good. So the trees having the inedible fruit are chopped down and thrown on the fire. Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit produced.”
Luke 6:43-45
“A tree from good stock doesn’t produce wild fruit nor do trees from poor stock produce choice fruit. A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thorns, or grapes on bramble bushes! A good man produces good deeds from a good heart. And an evil man produces evil deeds from his hidden wickedness. Whatever is in the heart overflows into speech.”

The story of the wicked tenants
Matthew 21:33-46
“Now listen to this story: A certain land-owner planted a vineyard with a hedge around it, and built a platform for the watchman, then leased the vineyard to some farmers on a crop-sharing basis, and went away to live in another country.”
“At the time of the grape harvest he sent his agents to the farmers to collect his share. But the farmers attacked his men, beat one, killed one and stoned another.”
“Then he sent a larger group of his men to collect for him, but the results were the same. Finally the owner sent his son, thinking they would surely respect him.”
“But when these farmers saw the son coming they said among themselves, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate; come on, let’s kill him and get it for ourselves!’ So they dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him.”
“When the owner returns, what do you think he will do to those farmers?” The Jewish leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death, and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him promptly.”
Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone rejected by the builders has been made the honored cornerstone. How remarkable! What an amazing thing the Lord has done.’?
“What I mean is that the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation that will give God his share of the crop. All who stumble on this rock of truth shall be broken, but those it falls on will be scattered as dust.”

When the chief priests and other Jewish leaders realized that Jesus was talking about them – that they were the farmers in his story – they wanted to get rid of him, but were afraid to try because of the crowds, for they accepted Jesus as a prophet.
Mark 12:1-12
“A man planted a vineyard and built a wall around it and dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a watchman’s tower. Then he leased the farm to tenant farmers and went on a trip to a distant land. At harvest time he sent one of his men to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers beat up the man and sent him back empty handed.”
“The owner then sent another of his men, who received the same treatment, only worse, for his head was seriously injured. The next man he sent was killed; and later, others were either beaten or killed, until there was only one left – his only son. He finally sent him, thinking they would surely give him their full respect.”
“But when the farmers saw him coming they said, ‘He will own the farm when his father dies. Come on, let’s kill him – and then the farm will be ours!’ So they caught him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard.”
“What do you suppose the owner will do when he hears what happened? He will come and kill them all, and lease the vineyard to others. Don’t you remember reading this verse in the Scriptures? ‘The Cornerstone – the most honored stone in the building – is a stone the builders threw away! This is the Lord’s doing and it is an amazing thing to see.’”
The Jewish leaders wanted to arrest him then and there for using this illustration, for they knew he was pointing at them – they were the wicked farmers in his story. But they were afraid to touch him for fear of a mob. So they left him and went away.
Luke 20:9-19
Now he turned to the people and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to some farmers, and went away to a distant land to live for several years. When the harvest time came, he sent one of his men to the farm to collect his share of the crops. But the tenants beat him up and sent him back empty-handed. Then he sent another, but the same thing happened; he was beaten up and insulted and sent away without collecting. A third man was sent and the same thing happened. He, too, was wounded and chased away.”
“‘What shall I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished (my dear) son. Surely they will show respect for him.’”
“But when the tenants saw his son, they said, ‘This is our chance! This fellow will inherit all the land when his father dies. Come on. Let’s kill him, and then it will be ours.’ So they dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him.”
“What do you think the owner will do? I’ll tell you – he will come and kill them and rent the vineyard to others.”
“But they would never do a thing like that,” his listeners protested.
Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does the Scripture mean where it says, ‘The Stone rejected by the builders was made the cornerstone’?” And he added, “Whoever stumbles over that stone shall be broken; and those on whom it falls will be crushed to dust.”
When the chief priests and religious leaders heard about this story he had told, they wanted him arrested immediately, for they realized that he was talking about them. They were the wicked tenants in his story. But they were afraid that if they themselves arrested him, there would be a riot. So they tried to get him to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor as a reason for arresting him.

Jesus at the Temple
John 2:13-22
Then it was time for the annual Jewish Passover celebration, and Jesus went to Jerusalem.
In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep and doves for sacrifices, and money changers behind their counters. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out, and drove out the sheep and oxen, scattering the money changers’ coins over the floor and turning over their tables. Then, going over to the men selling doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here! Don’t turn my Father’s House into a market!”
Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Concern for God’s House will be my undoing.”
“What right have you to order them out?” the Jewish leaders demanded. “If you have this authority from God, show us a miracle to prove it.”
“All right,” Jesus replied, “this is the miracle I will do for you: Destroy this sanctuary and in three days I will raise it up.”
“What!” they exclaimed. “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can do it in three days?” But by “this sanctuary” he meant his body. After he came back to life again, the disciples remembered that he had said this and realized that what he had quoted from the Scripture really did refer to him and had all come true.

Jesus, teaching at the Temple
Matthew 21:23-27

When Jesus had returned to the Temple and was teaching, the chief priests and the other Jewish leaders came up to him and demanded to know by whose authority he had thrown out the merchants the day before.
“I’ll tell you if you answer one question first,” Jesus replied. “Was John the Baptist sent from God, or not?”
They talked it over among themselves. “If we say, ‘From God,’” they said, “then he will ask why we didn’t believe what John said. And if we deny that God sent him, we’ll be mobbed, for this crowd all think he was a prophet.” So they finally replied, “We don’t know!”
And Jesus said, “Then I won’t answer your question either.”
Mark 11:26-33
By this time they had arrived in Jerusalem again, and as Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the chief priests and other Jewish leaders came up to him demanding, “What’s going on here? Who gave you the authority to drive out the merchants?”
Jesus replied, “I’ll tell you if you answer one question. What about John the Baptist? Was he sent by God, or not? Answer me!”
They talked it over among themselves. “If we reply that God sent him, then he will say, ‘All right, why didn’t you accept him?’ But if we say God didn’t send him, then the people will start a riot.” (For the people all believed strongly that John the Baptist was a prophet). So they said, “We can’t answer. We don’t know.”
To which Jesus replied, “Then I won’t answer your question either!”
Luke 20:1-7
On one of those days when Jesus was teaching and preaching the Good News in the Temple, he was confronted by the chief priests and other religious leaders and councilors. They demanded to know by what authority he had driven out the merchants from the Temple.
“I’ll ask you a question before I answer,” he replied. “Was John sent by God, or was he merely acting under his own authority?”
They talked it over among themselves. “If we say his message was from heaven, then we are trapped because he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say John (the Baptist) was not sent from God, the people will mob us, for they are convinced that he was a prophet.” Finally they replied, “We do not know.”
And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t answer your question either.”

Disagreement among the authorities
John 7:45-52
The Temple police who had been sent to arrest him returned to the chief priests and Pharisees. “Why didn’t you bring him in?” they demanded.
“He says such wonderful things!” they mumbled. “We’ve never heard anything like it.”
“So you also have been led astray?” the Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us Jewish rulers or Pharisees who believes he is the Messiah? These stupid crowds do, yes; but what do they know about it? A curse upon them anyway!”
Then Nicodemus spoke up. (Remember him? He was the Jewish leader who came secretly to interview Jesus.) “Is it legal to convict a man before he is even tried?” he asked.
They replied, “Are you a wretched Galilean too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself – no prophets will come from Galilee!”

What about the Messiah
Matthew 22:41-46
Surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: “What about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
“Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, call him ‘Lord’?” Jesus asked. “For David said, ‘God said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet.’ Since David called him “Lord,’ how can he be merely his son?”
They had no answer. And after that no one dared ask him any more questions.
Mark 12:35-37
Later as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple area, he asked them this question:
“Why do your religious teachers claim that the Messiah must be a descendant of King David? For David himself said – and the Holy Spirit was speaking through him when he said it – ‘God said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ Since David called him his Lord, how can he be his son?”
This sort of reasoning delighted the crowd as they listened to him with great interest.
Luke 20:41-44
Then Jesus presented them with a question. “Why is it,” he asked, “that Christ, the Messiah, is said to be a descendant of King David? For David himself wrote in the book of Psalms: ‘God said to my Lord, the Messiah, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies beneath your feet.”’ How can the Messiah be both David’s son and David’s God at the same time?”

Giving to God and the government
Matthew 22:15-22
Then the Pharisees met together to try to think of some way to trap Jesus into saying something for which they could arrest him. They decided to send some of their men along with the Herodians to ask him this question: “Sir, we know you are very honest and teach the truth regardless of the consequences, without fear or favor. Now tell us, is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?”
But Jesus saw what they were after. “You hypocrites!” he exclaimed, “who are you trying to fool with your trick questions? Here, show me a coin.” And they handed him a penny.
“Whose picture is stamped on it?” he asked them. “And whose name is this beneath the picture?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
“Well, then,” he said, “give it to Caesar if it is his, and give God everything that belongs to God.”
His reply surprised and baffled (and confused) them and they went away.
Mark 12:13-17
But they sent other religious and political leaders too talk with Jesus and try to trap him into saying something he could be arrested for.
“Teacher,” these spies said, “we know you fearlessly tell the truth! You aren’t influenced by the opinions and desires of men, but sincerely teach the ways of God. Now tell us, is it right to pay taxes to Rome or not?”
Jesus saw their trick and said, “Show me a coin and I’ll tell you.” When they handed it to him he asked, “Whose picture and title is this on the coin?” They replied, “The emperor’s.”
“All right,” he said, “if it is his, give it to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God!” And they scratched their heads in bafflement (in confusion) at his reply.
Luke 20:20-26
Watching their opportunity, they sent secret agents pretending to be honest men. They said to Jesus, “Sir, we know what an honest teacher you are. You always tell the truth and don’t budge an inch in the face of what others think, but teach the ways of God. Now tell us – is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?”
He saw through their trickery and said, “Show me a coin. Whose portrait is this on it? And whose name?” They replied, “Caesar’s – the Roman emperor’s”
He said, “Then give the emperor all that is his – and give to God all that is his!”
Thus their attempt to outwit him before the people failed; and marveling at his answer, they were silent.

Jesus and the Sabbath Law
John 5:15-17
Then the man went to find the Jewish leaders and told them it was Jesus who had healed him.
So they began harassing Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker. But Jesus replied, “My Father constantly does good, and I am following his example.”

God as Jesus’ Father
John 5:18
Then the Jewish leaders were all the more eager to kill him, because in addition to disobeying their Sabbath laws, he had spoken of God as his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

Honoring the Father and the Son
John 5:19-23
Jesus replied, “The Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing, and in the same way. For the Father loves the Son, and tells him everything he is doing; and the Son will do far more awesome miracles than this man’s healing. He will even raise from the dead anyone he wants to, just as the Father does. And the Father leaves all judgment of sin to his Son, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. But if you refuse to honor God’s Son, whom he sent to you, then you are certainly not honoring the Father.”

The authority of the Son
John 5:24-29
Jesus says, “I say emphatically that anyone who listens to my message and believes in God who sent me has eternal life, and will never be damned for his sins (his thoughts, speech and actions against the laws of God), but has already passed out of death into life. And I solemnly declare that the time is coming, in fact it is here, when the dead shall hear my voice – the voice of the Son of God – and those who listen shall live. The Father has life in himself, and has granted his Son to have life in himself and to judge the sins of all mankind because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised. Indeed the time is coming when all the dead in their graves shall hear the voice of God’s Son, and shall rise again – those who have done good, to eternal life; and those who have continued in evil (disobeying God’s laws), to judgment.”

Jesus consults the Father
John 5:30
Jesus says, “But I pass no judgment without consulting the Father. I judge as I am told. And my judgment is absolutely fair and just, for it is according to the will of God who sent me and is not merely my own.”

The evidence of John the Baptist
John 5:31-35
Jesus says, “When I make claims about myself they aren’t believed, but someone else, yes, John the Baptist, is making these claims for me too. You have gone out to listen to his preaching, and I can assure you that all he says about me is true. But the truest witness I have is not from a man, though I have reminded you about John’s witness so that you will believe in me and be saved. John shone brightly for a while, and you benefited and rejoiced.”

The evidence of miracles and the Father
John 5:36-37
Jesus says, “But I have a greater witness than John (the Baptist). I refer to the miracles I do; these have been assigned me by the Father, and they prove that the Father has sent me. And the Father himself has also testified about me, though not appearing to you personally, or speaking to you directly.

The evidence of the Scriptures
John 5:38-40
Jesus says, “But you are not listening to him, for you refuse to believe me – the one sent to you with God’s message.”
“You search the Scriptures, for you believe they give you eternal life. And the Scriptures point to me. Yet you won’t come to me so that I can give you this life eternal.”

The honor that comes from God
John 5:41-47
Jesus says, “Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me, for as I know so well you don’t have God’s love within you. I know, because I have come to you representing my Father and you refuse to welcome me, though you readily enough receive those who aren’t sent from him, but represent only themselves. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the only God!”
“Yet it is not I who will accuse you of this to the Father – Moses will! Moses, on whose laws you set your hopes of heaven. For you have refused to believe Moses. He wrote about me, but you refuse to believe him. And since you don’t believe what he wrote, no wonder you don’t believe me either.”

Jesus, Master of the Sabbath
Matthew 12:1-8
About that time, Jesus was walking one day through some grain-fields with his disciples. It was on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of worship, and his disciples were hungry; so they began breaking off heads of wheat and eating the grain.
But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Your disciples are breaking the law. They are harvesting on the Sabbath.”
But Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what King David did when he and his friends were hungry? He went into the Temple and they ate the special bread permitted to the priests alone. That was breaking the law too. And haven’t you ever read in the law of Moses how the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? And truly, one is here who is greater than the Temple! But if you had known the meaning of this Scripture verse, ‘I want you to be merciful more than I want your offerings,’ you would not have condemned those who aren’t guilty. For I the Son of Mankind, am master even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:23-28
Another time, on a Sabbath day as Jesus and his disciples were walking through the fields, the disciples were breaking off heads of wheat and eating the grain.
Some of the Jewish religious leaders said to Jesus, “They shouldn’t be doing that! It’s against our laws to harvest grain on the Sabbath.”
But Jesus replied, “Didn’t you ever hear about the time King David and his companions were hungry, and he went into the house of God – Abiathar was high priest then – and they ate the special bread only priests were allowed to eat? That was against the law too. But the Sabbath was made to benefit man, and not man to benefit the Sabbath. And I, the Man from Heaven, have authority even to decide what men can do on Sabbath days.”
Luke 6:1-5
One Sabbath as Jesus and his disciples were walking through some grain- fields; they were breaking off the heads of wheat, rubbing off the husks in their hands and eating the grain.
But some Pharisees said, “That’s illegal! Your disciples are harvesting grain, and it’s against the Jewish law to work on the Sabbath.”
Jesus replied, “Don’t you read the Scriptures? Haven’t you ever read what King David did when he and his men were hungry? He went into the Temple and took the shew-bread, the special bread that was placed before the Lord, and ate it – illegal as this was – and shared it with others.” And Jesus added, “I am master even of the Sabbath.”
John 7:21-24
Jesus says, “I worked on the Sabbath by healing a man, and you were surprised. But you work on the Sabbath, too, whenever you obey Moses’ law of circumcision (actually, however, this tradition of circumcision is older than the Mosaic law); for if the correct time for circumcising your children falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it, as you should. So why should I be condemned for making a man completely well on the Sabbath? Think this through and you will see that I am right.”
Matthew 19:1-2
Jesus left Galilee and circled back to Judea from across the river Jordan. Vast crowds followed him, and he healed those who were sick.
Mark 10:1
(Then Jesus left Capernaum) and went southward to the Judean borders and into the area east of the river Jordan. And as always there were the crowds; and as usual he taught them.

Jesus’ teaching on divorce
Matthew 19:3-6
Some Pharisees came to interview Jesus, and tried to trap him into saying something that would ruin him.
“Do you permit divorce?” they asked.
“Don’t you read the Scriptures?” he replied. “In them it is written that at the beginning God created man and woman, and that a man should leave his father and mother, and be forever united to his wife. The two shall become one – no longer two but one. No man may divorce what God has joined together.”
Mark 10:2-9
Some Pharisees came and asked Jesus, “Do you permit divorce?” Of course they were trying to trap him.
“What did Moses say about divorce?” Jesus asked them.
“He said it was all right,” they replied. “He said that all a man has to do is write his wife a letter of dismissal.”
“And why did he say that?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you why – it was a concession to your hard-heartedness (your unfeelingness). But it certainly isn’t God’s way. For from the very first he made man and woman to be joined together permanently in marriage; therefore a man is to leave his father and mother, and he and his wife are united so that they are no longer two, but one. And no man may separate what God has joined together.”
Matthew 19:7-9
“Then why,” they asked, “did Moses say a man may divorce his wife by merely writing her a letter of dismissal?”
Jesus replied, “Moses did that in recognition of your hard and evil hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, that anyone who divorces his wife, except for fornication (sexual intercourse between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman) and marries another, commits adultery.”
Mark 10:10-12
Later, when Jesus was alone with his disciples in the house, they brought up the subject (of divorce) again.
He told them, “When a man divorces his wife to marry someone else, he commits adultery against her. And if a wife divorces her husband and remarries, she, too, commits adultery.”
Matthew 19:10-12
Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If that is how it is it is better not to marry!”
“Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps. Some are born without the ability to marry, and some are disabled men, and some refuse to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone who can, accept my statement.”
John 7:53
Then the meeting broke up and everybody went home.

A woman caught in adultery
John 8:1-11
Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and talked to them. As he was speaking, the Jewish leaders and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and placed her out in front of the staring crowd.
“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. Moses’ law says we should kill her. What about it?”
They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, stone her to death – but only a man who has never sinned may throw the first stone.”
Then he stooped down again and went on writing in the dust. And the Jewish leaders slipped away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until only Jesus was left in front of the crowd with the woman.
Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, sir,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin (that is; disobey God’s laws) no more.”
John 7:1
After this Jesus went to Galilee, going from village to village, for he wanted to stay out of Judea where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death.
Matthew 15:1
Some of the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders now arrived from Jerusalem to interview Jesus.

Jesus and Jewish rituals
Mark 7:1-4
One day some Jewish leaders arrived from Jerusalem to investigate him. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the usual Jewish rituals before eating. (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, will never eat until they have sprinkled their arms to the elbows, as required by their ancient traditions. When they come home from the market they must always sprinkle themselves in this way before touching any food. This is but one of many examples of laws and regulations they have clung to for centuries, and still follow, such as their ceremony of cleansing for pots, pans and dishes.)

Jesus, Bread from Heaven, Bread of Life
John 6:41-52
Then the Jews began to murmur against Jesus because he claimed to be the Bread from heaven.
“What!” they exclaimed. “Why, he is merely Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. What is this he is saying, that he came down from heaven?”
But Jesus replied, “Don’t murmur among yourselves about my saying that. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me, and at the last Day I will bring all such back to life. As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They shall all be taught of God.’ Those the Father speaks to, who learn the truth from him, will be attracted to me. (Not that anyone actually sees the Father, for only I have seen him.)”

“How earnestly I tell you this – anyone who believes in me already has eternal life! Yes, I am the Bread of Life! There was no real life in that bread from the skies, which was given to your fathers in the wilderness, for they all died. But there is such a thing as Bread from heaven giving eternal life to everyone who eats it. And I am that Living Bread that came down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will live for ever; my flesh is this Bread given to redeem humanity.”
Then the Jews began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.

Eternal Life within you
John 6:53-59
So Jesus said it again, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you eat the flesh of the Man of Glory and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him at the Last Day. For my flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. Everyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood is in me, and I in him. I live by the power of the living Father who sent me, and in the same way those who partake of me shall live because of me. I am the true bread from heaven; and anyone who eats this Bread shall live forever, and not die as your fathers did – though they ate bread from heaven. (Jesus preached the above sermon in the synagogue at Capernaum.)

The Holy Spirit gives eternal life
John 6:60-64
Even Jesus’ disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. Who can tell what he means?”
Jesus knew within himself that his disciples were complaining and said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what will you think if you see me, the Son of Mankind, return to heaven again? Only the Holy Spirit gives eternal life. Those born only once with physical birth will never receive this gift. But now I have told you how to get this true spiritual life. But some of you don’t believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who didn’t believe and knew the one who would betray him.)

God’s laws and tradition
Matthew 15:2-11
Some Pharisees and other Jewish leaders now arrived from Jerusalem to interview Jesus.
“Why do your disciples disobey the ancient Jewish traditions?” they demanded. “For they ignore our ritual of ceremonial hand-washing before they eat.” Jesus replied, “And why do your traditions violate the direct commandments of God? For instance, God’s law is ‘Honor your father and mother; anyone who reviles his parents must die.’ But you say, ‘Even if your parents are in need, you may give their support money to the church instead.’ And so, by your man-made rule, you nullify the direct command of God to honor and care for your parents. You hypocrites! (You Pretenders!) Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, ‘These people say they honor me, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is worthless, for they teach their man-made laws instead of those from God.’”
Then Jesus called to the crowds and said, “Listen to what I say and try to understand: You aren’t made unholy by eating non-kosher food! (Note: kosher food means “satisfying the requirements of Jewish law with regards to the preparation of food”) It is what you say and think that makes you unclean.”

Eating, thinking and speaking
Mark 7:5-16
The religious leaders asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old customs? For they eat without first performing the washing ceremony.”
Jesus replied, “You bunch of hypocrites! (pretenders!) Isaiah the prophet described you very well when he said, ‘These people speak very smoothly about the Lord but they have no love for him at all. Their worship is a farce, (an absurd event) for they claim that God commands the people to obey their petty rules.’ How right Isaiah was! For you ignore God’s specific orders and substitute your own traditions. You are simply rejecting God’s laws and trampling them under your feet for the sake (honor and interests) of tradition.
“For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother.’ And he said that anyone who speaks against his father or mother must die. But you say it is perfectly all right for a man to disregard his needy parents, telling them, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you! For I have given to God what I could have given to you.’ And so you break the law of God in order to protect your man-made tradition. And this is only one example. There are many, many others.”
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. You aren’t harmed by what you eat, but by what you think and say.”
Matthew 15:12-20
Then the disciples came and told him, “You offended the Pharisees by that remark.”
Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my Father shall be rooted up, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and both will fall into a ditch.”
Then Peter asked Jesus to explain what he meant when he said that people are not defiled by non-kosher food.
“Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked him. “Don’t you see that anything you eat passes through the digestive tract and out again? But evil words come from an evil heart, and defile the man who says them. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, lying and slander. These are what defile (pollute and make unclean); but there is no spiritual defilement from eating without first going through the ritual of ceremonial handwashing!”
Mark 7:17
Then he went into a house to get away from the crowds, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the statement he had just made.

The thought life pollutes
Mark 7:18-23
“Don’t you understand either?” Jesus asked. “Can’t you see that what you eat won’t harm you? For food doesn’t come in contact with your heart, but only passes through the digestive system.” (By saying this he showed that every kind of food is “clean.”)
And then Jesus added, “It is the thought-life that pollutes. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts of lust, theft, murder, adultery. Wanting what belongs to others, wickedness, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride and all other folly. All these vile things come from within; they are what pollute (and corrupt) you and make you unfit for God.” (Note: a corrupt person is willing to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain)
Matthew 15:39
Jesus got into the boat and crossed to Magadan.

Demand for another miracle
Matthew 16:1-4
One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus’ claim of being the Messiah by asking him to show them some great demonstration in the skies.
Jesus replied, “You are good at reading the weather signs of the skies – red sky tonight means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day – but you can’t read the obvious signs of the times. This evil unbelieving nation is asking for some strange sign in the heavens, but no further proof will be given except the kind given to Jonah.”
Mark 8:10-12
Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha. When the local Jewish leaders learned of his arrival they came to argue with him.
“Do a miracle for us,” they said. “Make something happen in the sky. Then we will believe in you.”
His heart fell when he heard this and he said, “Certainly not. How many more miracles do you people need?”

Beware of wrong teaching
Matthew 16:4-12
Then Jesus walked out on them. Arriving across the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any food.
“Watch out!” Jesus warned them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They thought he was saying this because they had forgotten to bring bread.
Jesus knew what they were thinking and told them, “O men of little faith! Why are you so worried about having no food? Won’t you ever understand? Don’t you remember at all the five thousand I fed with five loaves, and the basketsful left over? Don’t you remember the four thousand I fed, and all that was left? How could you even think I was talking about food? But again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”
Then at last they understood that by “yeast” he meant the wrong teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Mark 8:13-21
So Jesus got back into the boat and left them, and crossed to the other side of the lake. But the disciples had forgotten to stock up on food before they left, and had only one loaf of bread in the boat.
As they were crossing, Jesus said to them very solemnly, “Beware of the yeast of King Herod and of the Pharisees.”
“What does he mean?” the disciples asked each other. They finally decided that he must be talking about their forgetting to bring bread.
Jesus realized what they were discussing and said, “No, that isn’t it at all! Can’t you understand? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? As Isaiah declared, ‘Your eyes are to see with - why don’t you look? Why don’t you open your ears and listen?’ Don’t you remember anything at all?
“What about the five thousand men I fed with five loaves of bread? How many basketsful of scraps did you pick up afterwards?”
“Twelve,” they said.
“And when I fed the four thousand with seven loaves, how much was left?”
“Seven basketsful,” they said.
“And yet you think I am worried that we have no bread?”

Jesus, the Light of the world
John 8:12-20
Later in one of his talks, Jesus said to the people, “I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.”
The Pharisees replied, “You are boasting – and lying!”
Jesus told them, “These claims are true even though I make them concerning myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. You pass judgment on me without knowing the facts. I am not judging you now; but if I were, it would be an absolutely correct judgment in every respect, for I have with me the Father who sent me. Your laws say that if two men agree on something that has happened, their witness is accepted as fact. Well, I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.”
“Where is your father?” they asked.
Jesus answered, “You don’t know who I am, so you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, then you would know him too.”
Jesus made these statements while in the section of the Temple known as the Treasury. But he was not arrested, for his time had not yet run out.

You cannot come where I am going
John 8:21-31
Later Jesus said to them again, “I am going away; and you will search for me, and die in your sins. And you cannot come where I am going.”
The Jews asked, “Is he planning suicide? What does he mean, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?”
Then Jesus said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am the Messiah, the Son of God, you will die in your sins.”
“Tell us who you are,” they demanded.
Jesus replied, “I am the one I have always claimed to be. I could condemn you for much and teach you much, but I won’t, for I say only what I am told to by the one who sent me; and he is Truth.” But they still didn’t understand that he was talking to them about God.
So Jesus said, “When you have killed the Man of Glory, then you will realize that I am he and that I have not been telling you my own ideas, but have spoken what the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me – he has not deserted me – for I always do those things that are pleasing to him.”
Then many of the Jewish leaders who heard him say these things began believing him to be the Messiah.

Jesus criticizes religious leaders
Luke 11:37-54
As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees asked him home for a meal. When Jesus arrived, he sat down to eat without first performing the ceremonial washing required by Jewish custom. This greatly surprised his host.
Then Jesus said to him, “You Pharisees wash the outside, but inside you are still dirty – full of greed and wickedness. Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? Purity is best demonstrated by generosity.” (Moral goodness is clearly shown by kindness towards others.)
“But woe (distress, sorrow and suffering) to you Pharisees! For though you are careful to tithe even the smallest part of your income, you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave these other things undone.” (A tithe is a religious tax of one tenth of annual produce or earnings)
“Woe (distress, sorrow and suffering) to you Pharisees! For how you love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the respectful greetings from everyone as you walk through the markets! Yes, awesome judgment is awaiting you. For you are like hidden graves in a field. Men go by you with no knowledge of the corruption they are passing.”
“Sir,” said an expert in religious law who was standing there, “you have insulted my profession, too, in what you just said.”
“Yes,” said Jesus, “the same horrors await you! For you crush men beneath impossible religious demands – demands that you yourselves would never think of trying to keep. Woe to you! For you are exactly like your ancestors who killed the prophets long ago. Murderers! You agree with your fathers that what they did was right – you would have done the same yourselves.”
“This is what God says about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to you, and you will kill some of them and chase away the others.’”
“And you of this generation will be held responsible for the murder of God’s servants from the founding of the world – from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will surely be charged against you.”
“Woe to you experts in religion! For you hide the truth from the people. You won’t accept it for yourselves, and you prevent others from having a chance to believe it.”
The Pharisees and legal experts were furious; and from that time on they plied him (directed him) fiercely with a host of questions, trying to trap him into saying something for which they could have him arrested.
John 10:19-21
When Jesus said these things, the Jewish leaders were again divided in their opinions about him. Some of them said, “He has a demon or else is crazy. Why listen to a man like that?”
Others said, “This doesn’t sound to us like a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of blind men?”
Luke 15:1-2
Dishonest tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus’ sermons. But this caused complaints from the Jewish religious leaders and the experts on Jewish law because he was associating with such despicable people – even eating with them!

The plotting of Jesus’ death
John 11:47-57
Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council to discuss the situation.
“What are we going to do?” they asked each other, “for this man certainly does miracles. If we let him alone the whole nation will follow him – and then the Roman army will come and kill us and take over the Jewish government.”
And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “You stupid idiots – let this one man die for the people – why should the whole nation perish?”
This prophecy that Jesus should die for the entire nation came from Caiaphas in his position as High Priest – he didn’t think of it by himself, but was inspired to say it. It was a prediction that Jesus’ death would not be for Israel only, but for all the children of God scattered around the world. So from that time on the Jewish leaders began plotting Jesus’ death.
Jesus now stopped his public ministry and left Jerusalem; he went to the edge of the desert, to the village of Ephraim and stayed there with his disciples.
The Passover, a Jewish holy day, was near, and many country people arrived in Jerusalem several days early so that they could go through the cleansing ceremony before the Passover began. They wanted to see Jesus, and as they gossiped in the Temple, they asked each other, “What do you think? Will he come for the Passover?” Meanwhile the chief priests and Pharisees had publicly announced that anyone seeing Jesus must report him immediately so that they could arrest him.

Beware of the teachers of religion
Mark 12:38-40
Here are some of the other things Jesus taught them at this time:
“Beware of the teachers of religion! For they love to wear the robes of the rich and scholarly, and to have everyone bow to them as they walk through the markets. They love to sit in the best seats in the synagogues, and at the places of honor at banquets – but they shamelessly cheat widows out of their homes and then, to cover up the kind of men they really are, they pretend to be pious (very religious) by praying long prayers in public. Because of this their punishment will be greater.”
Luke 20:45-47
Then, with the crowds listening, Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “Beware of these experts in religion, for they love to parade in dignified robes and to be bowed to by the people as they walk along the street. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and at religious festivals! But even while they are praying long prayers with great outward piety (deep respect); they are planning to cheat widows out of their property. Therefore God’s heaviest sentence awaits these men.”

Jesus warns against following the religious leaders
Matthew 23:1-12
Then Jesus said to the crowds, and to his disciples, “You would think these Jewish leaders and these Pharisees were Moses, the way they keep making up so many laws! And of course you should obey their every whim (an unexpected change of mind)! It may be all right to do what they say, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t do themselves what they tell you to do. They load you with impossible demands that they themselves don’t even try to keep.
“Everything they do is done for show. They make themselves look holy by wearing on their arms large prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and by lengthening the memorial fringes of their robes. And how they love to sit at the head table at banquets, and in the reserved pews in the synagogue. How they enjoy the deference paid them on the streets, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Master.’ Don’t ever let anyone call you that. For only God is your Rabbi and all of you are on the same level, as brothers. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven should be addressed like that. And don’t be called “Master,’ for only one is your master, even the Messiah.”
“The more lowly your service to others, the greater you are. To be the greatest, be a servant. But those who think themselves great shall be disappointed and humbled; and those who humble themselves shall be exalted (raised high).”

Jesus condemns the religious leaders
Matthew 23:13-39
“Woe (distress, sorrow and suffering) to you Pharisees, and you other religious leaders. Hypocrites! (Pretenders!) For you won’t let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and won’t go in yourselves. And you pretend to be holy, with all your long, public prayers in the streets, while you are evicting widows from their homes. Hypocrites! Yes, woe upon you hypocrites. For you go to tremendous lengths to make one convert, and then turn him into twice the son of hell you are yourselves. Blind guides! Woe upon you! For your rule is that to swear ‘By God’s Temple’ means nothing – you can break that oath, but to swear ‘By the gold in the Temple’ is binding! Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold? And you say that an oath ‘by the altar’ can be broken, but to swear ‘By the gifts on the altar’ is binding! Blind fools! For which is greater, the gift on the altar, or the altar itself that sanctifies the gift? When you swear “By the altar’ you are swearing by it and everything on it, and when you swear ‘By the Temple’ you are swearing by it, and by God who lives in it. And when you swear ‘By heavens’ you are swearing by the Throne of God and by God himself.”
“Yes, woe upon you Pharisees, and you other religious leaders – hypocrites! For you tithe down to the last mint leaf in your garden, but ignore the important things – justice and mercy and faith. Yes, you should tithe, (pay one tenth of annual produce or earnings as a religious tax) but you shouldn’t leave the more important things undone. Blind guides! You strain out a gnat (a fly out of your drink) and swallow a camel.”
“Woe to you Pharisees, and you religious leaders – Hypocrites! You are so careful to polish the outside of the cup, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed. Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup, and then the whole cup will be clean.”
“Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders! You are like beautiful mausoleums – full of dead men’s bones, and of foulness and corruption. You try to look like saintly men, but underneath those pious robes of yours are hearts besmirched (soiled) with every sort of hypocrisy and sin.”
“Yes, woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders – hypocrites! For you build monuments to the prophets killed by your fathers and lay flowers on the graves of the godly men they destroyed, and say, ‘We certainly would never have acted as our fathers did.’”
“In saying that, you are accusing yourselves of being the sons of wicked men. And you are following in their steps, filling up the full measure of their evil. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How shall you escape the judgment of hell?”
“I will send you prophets, and Spirit-filled men, and inspired writers, and you will kill some by crucifixion, and rip open the backs of others with whips in your synagogues, and hound them from city to city, so that you will become guilty of all the blood of murdered godly men from righteous Abel to Zechariah (son of Barachiah), slain by you in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries shall break upon the heads of this very generation.”
“”O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets, and stones all those God sends to her! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you are ready to welcome the one sent to you from God.”

Giving to God
Mark 12:41-44
Jesus went over to the collection boxes in the temple and sat and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Some who were rich put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two pennies.
Jesus called his disciples to him and remarked, “That poor widow has given more than all those rich men put together! For they gave a little of their surplus, while she gave up her last penny.”
Luke 21:1-4
As Jesus stood in the temple, he was watching the rich tossing their gifts into the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small copper coins.
“Really,” Jesus remarked, “this poor widow had given more than all the rest of them combined. For they have given a little of what they didn’t need, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”

The response of the people
John 12:37-43
But despite all the miracles Jesus had done, most of the people would not believe he was the Messiah.
This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: “Lord, who will believe us? Who will accept God’s mighty miracles as proof?”
But they couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said: “God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts so that they can neither see nor understand nor turn to me to heal them.” Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he made this prediction, for he had seen a vision of the Messiah’s glory.
However, even many of the Jewish leaders believed him to be the Messiah but wouldn’t admit it to anyone because of their fear that the Pharisees would excommunicate them from the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.