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Looking for Jesus according to Matthew

Jesus vs the religious leaders


Matthew 12:

The Pharisees are looking for a way to accuse Jesus so they ask Jesus if it is lawful to cure on the Sabbath!

- So Jesus tells them about a sheep that has fallen into a pit on the Sabbath and he asks them if they are not going to save it!

- And he adds that a man is more valuable than a sheep!

- The problem is that religious leaders are looking for their own interests!

- So they take care of their own sheep!

- But they don’t care about ordinary people!

- So ordinary people can go to destruction, it’s not their problem!

- How easy it is to accuse others!

- But how difficult it is to be positive and to be faithful to Yah.weh!

- Anyone can read the Bible!

- Anyone can discuss with others to look for Yah.weh’s guidance!

- Anyone can ask Yah.weh for help and guidance to find the right answers!

- But of course, it doesn't come from nowhere!

- We have to do our part!

- We have to show that we really care and that we really want to learn and be taught by Yah.weh and Jesus!
 
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Matthew 12:

Jesus speaks about his servant whom he has approved and to whom he has given his spirit and he will bring justice!

- Yah.weh chose his servant, not them!

- Yah.weh approved of him, not them!

- God put his spirit upon him, not upon them!

- He brings justice, they bring injustice!

- He doesn’t quarrel, they quarrel!

- He brings hope, they can only bring disappointment!

- it is everywhere in the Bible!

- But we must keep reading the Bible!

- But we must keep studying the Bible!

- But we must keep learning from the bible!

- But we must keep asking Yah.weh for his help and guidance to improve our own understanding of the Bible!

- But we must never think we know better than the others!

- But we must keep being hungry for learning!

- We will never know enough!
 
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Matthew 12:

- A good tree produces good fruit and a rotten tree produces rotten fruit!

- Jesus calls the Pharisees offspring of vipers!

- He says they can’t say good things because they are wicked!

- And the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks!

- Or is it that people forget what is a fine fruit and get used to rotten fruit?

- Or a mixed fruit?

- Strange!

- Is it like nature when we live in cities: we don’t see it anymore!

- We get used to concrete or artificial life!

- More and more people prefer video games instead of real life!

- Strange!

- We don’t see anymore!

- We don’t hear anymore!

- We don’t touch anymore!

- We don’t taste anymore!

- We don’t smell anymore!

- And we are supposed to be superior animals, aren’t we?

- Do we know anything?

- Are we already dead!

- How can we live forever?

- How can we do our best to be able to live forever?

- By being active or inactive?

- By demonstrating our faith to Yah.weh or not?
 
Veijo huotari spoke about the war in Ukraine. It brings back bad memories in Finland and in all the countries that border Russia.

- My answer:

- When Jesus came to earth, the Jews were waiting for a liberator who would free them from the Romans!

- Once again, we can see the difference between the Word of Yah.weh and human tradition!

- Jesus came to tell them about the Kingdom of Yah.weh!

- The majority wanted something else, and immediately!

- Many rose up, promising to free them from the Romans!

- The most interesting thing is what happened in 70 AD!

- The Romans besieged the city!

- Then they had to leave, as Jesus had said!

- So those who were fighting the Romans chased them and returned to Jerusalem in triumph!

- Before his death, Jesus had warned his disciples!

- It was a sign to flee to the mountains!

- Some listened to Jesus' words and fled to the mountains!

- They survived!

- The others followed the example of Lot's wife, they stayed!

- Those who chased the Romans also stayed!

- As Jesus had said, the Roman armies would return!

- And this time, they wouldn't leave!

- The siege of Jerusalem was terrible; death and slavery awaited those who remained!

- After the destruction of Jerusalem, others rose up against the Romans!

- They were swept away, and everyone knows the story of the Jews who were scattered throughout the Roman world!

- This also recalls what happened to the Jews after the Exodus from Egypt!

- They constantly rebelled against Yah.weh and Moses!

- They died in the desert and did not enter the Promised Land!

- When Jesus intervenes to cleanse human society, things will be no different!

- Even after a thousand years, the situation will repeat itself!

- The majority will never understand!

- They only understand war!
 
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Matthew 12:

- The Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign!

- But he tells them they will only get the sign of Jonah the prophet!

- Jesus always fights against religious leaders!

- “wicked and adulterous”: definitely strong words!

- But also a warning for faithful people meaning get away from them if you don’t want to share their destiny!

- When Jesus was on earth, very few accepted to lose their position and believe in him and follow him!

- Yah.weh shows us the way but we must get the signs in the Bible!

- We will never get them by listening to religious leaders!

- They have always worked with those who have the power to control people!

- They don’t care about the signs which are in the Bible!

- They make their own signs, human signs to show people how to go in the wrong direction!

- They are dead and they want people to be dead like them!
 
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Matthew 13:

- Jesus goes back to his home territory!

- He begins to teach them in their synagogues!

- And they are astounded by his wisdom and his powerful works!

- Why? Because he is the carpenter’s son and his mother is called Mary, and his brothers are James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and they also know his sisters!

- They don’t understand anything because they don’t want!

- Moreover, they don’t understand Jesus because he doesn’t belong to their world!

- He is not proud like them!

- He is not selfish like them!

- They do their will, he does his Father’s will!

- Two irreconcilable worlds!

- It is as if Jesus is speaking a foreign language to them!

- And they don’t want to learn it!

- They are too lazy!

- And you can’t be lazy if you want to do Yah.weh’s work!

- We must learn Yah.weh’s language!

- It must get inside our minds and bodies!

- We must eat it, drink it, breathe it, smell it, touch it, taste it, see it, hear it!

- He must become a close friend, someone we know personally, someone we always want to know better!
 
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Matthew 15:

- Some Pharisees and scribes come from Jerusalem to see Jesus!

- They don’t understand why his disciples overstep man’s tradition of former times!

- That is they don’t wash their hands (the arms to be exact) when about to eat a meal!

- It is never enough for the Pharisees!

- And Jesus asks them the same question but about the commandment of God because of their tradition!

- Man’s tradition is an illusion!

- It goes against God’s word!

- It is made to divert people from God’s word!

- The religious leaders have been working well to change the words from God’s word into empty words!

- It is up to us to look for the roots!

- The original is always better than the copy!

- With the copy you never find the way through darkness!

- People may prefer to stay blind and deaf!

- But reality always comes back and shutting one’s eyes and ears is useless!

- Everywhere in the Bible you see how man’s tradition has corrupted Yah.weh’s word!

- And it starts right at the beginning when the devil tells Eve that men won’t die but will become like gods!

- Through the Bible, we see how the Hebrews left Yah.weh’s way for man’s tradition!

- As a consequence, Yah.weh abandoned them!

- And mankind has followed exactly the same way!

- Or I should say it has developed its skills to eradicate life!

- Men are going nowhere!

- They are just on a run to destroy everything!

- Fortunately, Yah.weh will send Jesus to stop them brutally because it is the only way they understand!

-They will be reduced to dust!

- Then it will be possible to revive our planet and turn it into a paradise men can’t even dream about!
 
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Matthew 15:

- Jesus calls Pharisees hypocrites quoting Isaiah’s words prophesying about them as people honoring God with their lips but not with their hearts and worshiping God in vain and teaching commands of men as doctrines.

- Here we go again: man’s tradition vs Yah.weh’s Word!

- Who teaches man’s tradition opposes Yah.weh’s word!

- There is only one option!

- The rest is empty words!

- Think about faithful servants of Yah.weh!

- What did Job do with man’s tradition?

- What did Daniel do with man’s tradition?

- What did Samuel do with man’s tradition?

- What did Moses do with man’s tradition?

- What did Abraham do with man’s tradition?

- What did Paul do with man’s tradition?

- They had only one reference and it was Yah.weh and Yah.weh’s Word!

- Nothing else!

- Of course, man usually chooses the easiest way, which is death!

- The Hebrews did it, mankind did it, the majority will always do it!

- Don’t do it!

- Learn how to choose the right way!

- It doesn’t mean you will get the truth!

- You never get it but you keep looking for it!
 
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Matthew 15:

- The disciples tell Jesus that the Pharisees are stumbling at his saying!

- But Jesus calls the Pharisees blind guides adding that when a blind man guides a blind man they both will fall into a pit!

- WOW! WHAT WORDS!

- And the disciples miss the point!

- How is it possible not to understand that?

- But they needed hard training again and again!

- Is it the same for us?

- Do we study enough?

- Do we read the Bible enough?

- Do we think about the Bible enough?

- Mistakes are not a problem!

- Not thinking about them is a problem!

- Is it possible to stumble because of a word?

- Is that humility?

- Is that the search for Yah.weh’s WORD?

- Is that how it works to stop being BLIND?

- Jesus shows the same patience as his Father!

- And he will show such patience till his death!

- What humility!

- His disciples don’t know anything!

- They think they know better than him!

- Who do they think they are?

- Worse, just after that Jesus meets a Canaanite woman and he is astounded by her faith!

- Such a difference!

- It shows the importance of humility!

- We must never think we are better than the others!

- If we don’t have humility we are nothing!
 
Jesus vs the religious leaders

Matthew 15:

- A Phoenician woman asks Jesus to cure her possessed daughter!

- Jesus doesn’t answer her because she is not a Jewish woman!

- Then his disciples tell Jesus to send her away.

- They have so much to learn!

- Once again it reminds me that Jesus chose Paul to become the apostle of the nations and not the other apostles!

- It shows that they needed to keep learning to understand the basics!

- What about us?

- Are we like the apostles or like Paul?

- When he was corrected by Jesus, he went straight away, he never went on the left or on the right!

- In fact, he has been sent to the Jews but he finally listens to her and cures her daughter.

- That’s another big difference between Jesus and the religious leaders!

- He is human and he sincerely listens to people!

- He will need the humanqualities he could develop when he was on earth!

- And he definitely cares about people!

- But he will also come as a warrior!

- We must not forget that point!
 
Jay said:

What does it mean that to be “present with the Lord” when we are absent from the body?

What is the meaning of 2 Corinthians 5:8?

- First let’s have a look at 2 Corinthians 5/

2 Corinthians 5 NIV


1For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7For we live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
 
- When we look at revelation chapter 7, we are told about two groups of people, a limited one and an unlimited one!

- The second one is about people who come out of the great tribulation!

- and the Lamb will be their shepherd!
 
Revelation 7:4

4And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:


Revelation 7:9,10


9After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb!”


Revelation 7:13-17


13Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?”

14“Sir,” I answered, “you know.”

So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason,

they are before the throne of God

and serve Him day and night in His temple;

and the One seated on the throne

will spread His tabernacle over them.

16‘Never again will they hunger,

and never will they thirst;

nor will the sun beat down upon them,

nor any scorching heat.’a

17For the Lamb in the center of the throne

will be their shepherd.b

‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’c

and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’d
 
- Right at the beginning of chapter 14, we are told that the Lamb will stand on mount Zion with the limited group!

- We are also told that they have been redeemed from the earth!

- They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the lamb!

- If there are firstfruits, it also means there are other fruits!
 
- Then in Revelation chapter 20, we are told about those who are going to be priests of Christ and they are going to reign with him for a thousand years on his subjects who will live on the earth!

- At the end of the 1,000 years, the devil will be released and will deceive the nations of the four corners of the earth!

- He will assemble them for battle!

- It is said that as usual their number is like the sand of the seashore!

- They will try to destroy those who are faithful to Yah.weh!

- But they will be destroyed and so will be the devil!

- And the book of life will be opened and people will be judged!

- The faithful ones will live and the others will die!

- And after no more people will die!
 
- As usual I have to add a text giving figures about the New Jerusalem to show that it has nothing to do with the Jerusalem in Israel!


  • Revelation chapter 21: we are told about the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven out of God!
  • It has nothing to do with the Jerusalem on earth!
  • it shines with the glory of God!
  • Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal!
  • The dimensions of this celestial Jerusalem are equal in length and width and height!
  • Hence, 12,000 stadia = @ 1,500 miles. “A city this size would occupy the entire Mediterranean world from Jerusalem to Spain” (Phillips, 644). You may recall that the Holy of Holies inside the tabernacle was a perfect cube as well (1 Kings 6:20).
  • The city's wall is 144 cubits thick, which is about 216 feet or almost 66 meters. Generally, a wall is constructed to provide security and/or privacy. But most walls are only a foot (30 cm) or less thick. The massive size of these walls not only implies strength, it suggests the enormous scale of the rest of the city.
  • The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone:
The first foundation was jasper,

the second sapphire,

the third chalcedony,

the fourth emerald,

20the fifth sardonyx,

the sixth carnelian,

the seventh chrysolite,

the eighth beryl,

the ninth topaz,

the tenth chrysoprase,

the eleventh jacinth,

and the twelfth amethyst.

21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.

22But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.f 25Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.
 
- Then if we go to Revelation 22:14, we are told again about the second group:

14Blessed are those who wash their robes,c so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
 
After

Μετὰ (Meta)

Preposition

Strong's 3326: (a) gen: with, in company with, (b) acc: (1) behind, beyond, after, of place, (2) after, of time, with nouns, neut. of adjectives.


this

ταῦτα (tauta)

Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Plural

Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.


I looked

εἶδον (eidon)

Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular

Strong's 3708: Properly, to stare at, i.e. to discern clearly; by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear.


and

καὶ (kai)

Conjunction

Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.


saw

ἰδοὺ (idou)

Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular

Strong's 2400: See! Lo! Behold! Look! Second person singular imperative middle voice of eido; used as imperative lo!


a multitude

ὄχλος (ochlos)

Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular

Strong's 3793: From a derivative of echo; a throng; by implication, the rabble; by extension, a class of people; figuratively, a riot.


too large

πολύς (polys)

Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular

Strong's 4183: Much, many; often.


to count,

ἀριθμῆσαι (arithmēsai)

Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active

Strong's 705: To number, count. From arithmos; to enumerate or count.


from

ἐκ (ek)

Preposition

Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.


every

παντὸς (pantos)

Adjective - Genitive Neuter Singular

Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.


nation

ἔθνους (ethnous)

Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular

Strong's 1484: Probably from etho; a race, i.e. A tribe; specially, a foreign one.


and

καὶ (kai)

Conjunction

Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.


tribe

φυλῶν (phylōn)

Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural

Strong's 5443: A tribe or race of people. From phuo; an offshoot, i.e. Race or clan.


and

καὶ (kai)

Conjunction

Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.


people

λαῶν (laōn)

Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural

Strong's 2992: Apparently a primary word; a people.


and

καὶ (kai)

Conjunction

Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.


tongue,

γλωσσῶν (glōssōn)

Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural

Strong's 1100: The tongue; by implication, a language.


standing

ἑστῶτες (hestōtes)

Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural

Strong's 2476: A prolonged form of a primary stao stah'-o; to stand, used in various applications.


before

ἐνώπιον (enōpion)

Preposition

Strong's 1799: Neuter of a compound of en and a derivative of optanomai; in the face of.


the

τοῦ (tou)

Article - Genitive Masculine Singular

Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.


throne

θρόνου (thronou)

Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular

Strong's 2362: From thrao; a stately seat; by implication, power or a potentate.


and

καὶ (kai)

Conjunction

Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.


before

ἐνώπιον (enōpion)

Preposition

Strong's 1799: Neuter of a compound of en and a derivative of optanomai; in the face of.


the

τοῦ (tou)

Article - Genitive Neuter Singular

Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.


Lamb.

Ἀρνίου (Arniou)

Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular

Strong's 721: (originally: a little lamb, but diminutive force was lost), a lamb. Diminutive from aren; a lambkin.


[They were] wearing

περιβεβλημένους (peribeblēmenous)

Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Plural

Strong's 4016: From peri and ballo; to throw all around, i.e. Invest.


white

λευκάς (leukas)

Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural

Strong's 3022: White, bright, brilliant. From luke; white.


robes

στολὰς (stolas)

Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural

Strong's 4749: A long robe, worn by the upper classes in the East. From stello; equipment, i.e., a 'stole' or long-fitting gown.


and [were holding]

καὶ (kai)

Conjunction

Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.


palm branches

φοίνικες (phoinikes)

Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural

Strong's 5404: A palm tree, the date-palm. Of uncertain derivation; a palm-tree.


in

ἐν (en)

Preposition

Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.


their

αὐτῶν (autōn)

Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural

Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.


hands.

χερσὶν (chersin)

Noun - Dative Feminine Plural

Strong's 5495: A hand.
 
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