Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....December 11, 2017
Over the next few weeks, in preparation for our Bible Study on the various religions that call themselves Christian, I want to discuss some of the issues I have with them.
I would like to begin this teaching with a definition of the term occult. I designate anything as belonging to the occult that involves dealings with the world of spirits or of super-normal forces which (dealings) are not oriented on Jesus as he is revealed in the Bible. With this definition I am assuming the reality of a spirit world and of mysterious super-normal forces. I am assuming that the church makes a grave mistake when it says that super-natural phenomena are restricted to another age or that only godly people can work miracles. Such a mistake lays the church open to the power of evil precisely because it refuses to recognize the presence of that power.
The definition is also intentionally very broad. I mean to include everything from the most blatant Satan worship to the most commonly accepted use of horoscopes. As examples I would mention séance's, necromancy, and all forms of communicating with the dead, PSI, ESP, and all forms of supra-natural psychic phenomena, real magic (as opposed to simple sleight-of-hand tricks), fortune telling, the casting of spells, wearing of charms, the use of ouija boards, astrology, etc., etc. What I would like to show this week is first, that the Scripture forbids God's people to be involved in these practices, second, why this is so, and third, what our positive alternative should be.
Scripture Condemns the Occult
First, let me lay before you the Word of God which clearly bans the occult from the life of his people. We begin with the text which assembles more terms for the occult than any other single biblical text, Deuteronomy 18:9–12. Moses addresses the people just before they cross the Jordan River to enter the promised land and drive out the pagan nations. He says:
When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur (that is, an enchanter, one who looks for and uses omens), or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord; and because of these abominable practices the Lord your God is driving them out before you.
Moses mentions eight spiritist activities: divination, soothsaying, augury, sorcery, the use of charms, mediums, wizardry, or necromancy. These are not clearly distinct activities; they overlap and are sometimes used interchangeably. What they have in common is that they all involve efforts to obtain knowledge which is ordinarily hidden, and the means of attaining it is through dealings with the spirit world or with mysterious supra-natural forces. Supra-natural is defined as "beyond what is natural; supernatural."
There is something else these eight activities have in common. The knowledge sought is not out of idle curiosity but out of a desire to exert some power over people or events. This is clearest in the term "charmer" in verse 11. The word means "one who binds a spell." This is the use of psychic or spiritual forces to control another person or the course of events. This is the goal, more or less, for all the other activities as well.
For example, when the king of Moab sent to Balaam money for divination, as it says in Numbers 22:7, his aim was not merely to find out if Israel was going to conquer his land; his aim was to have Balaam pronounce a curse on Israel by his magic arts. But Balaam says, finally, in Numbers 23:23, "There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel." Divination is for the purpose of gaining power over destiny, and for controlling people and events to your liking. (But God frustrates it when directed against his people.) So these eight occult activities mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:10, 11 are meant to illustrate all those activities by which people deal with the world of spirits or forces in order to get secret knowledge and have power over people and circumstances.
Now what does Moses say about such activities? First, in verse 9, he calls them "abominations." This means that God regards them as detestable, abhorrent, loathsome. It is a very strong word. We will do well to ask ourselves whether some seemingly innocent activity we are engaged in may be an abomination in the eyes of God. Second, according to verse 12, the persons who do such things are an abomination to the Lord. Not merely the activity but also the persons become abominable in God's eyes. It is an unbiblical sentiment which says, "God only hates the sin, never the sinner."
When a person gives himself over to will, to delight in, and to follow abominable practices, he makes himself abominable in the eyes of God. Of course, this does not put a person beyond the reach of God's love. The glory of divine love is that it reaches out to justify and to sanctify precisely those whom God abominates because of their sin. Third, according to verse 10, activities of the occult are ranked alongside infanticide, the burning of children as sacrifices. This particular sin is probably mentioned in this context because we all feel in our stomachs that such a thing is loathsome. The point is, then: view charms, horoscopes, ouija boards, fortune telling, magic, and PSI with just as much loathing.
Fourth, according to verse 12, the Lord dispossesses and destroys those who practice these things. That is, they eventually fall under his judgment, as the nations did who were driven out by Israel because of these abominations. Fifth, according to verse 9, it follows that God would command, "You shall not learn to follow these abominable practices." This is very strong. Not only, "Don't do them," but also, "Don't even learn to do them. Don't equip yourself to do them; don't prepare in any way to be a part of them; do not experiment with them." Where the deed is evil, every inclination to the deed is evil. This is the heart of my first main point, namely, that the Scripture forbids God's people from any participation in the occult. Sixth, according to verse 10, no one who practices these activities is to be allowed to stay among God's people.
Both in the Old Testament people of God and in the New Testament church provision was made for excluding from the fellowship persons who willfully continued in abominable practices. Moses impresses on our minds the seriousness of the occult by saying that those who practice it are not to be found among God's people.
Clearly then, from Deuteronomy 18, it is contrary to God's will that his people engage in any activities of the occult. But it may strengthen our admonition if we show that this teaching has a broader base in Scripture than just Deuteronomy. The word "Deuteronomy" means "second law." It is a restatement and expansion of what had been laid down by God at Mount Sinai. So it is no surprise to find in Leviticus commands like these: "You shall not practice augury or soothsaying" (19:26), "Do not turn to mediums or wizards; do not seek them out, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (19:31), "If a person turns to mediums and wizards, playing the harlot after them, I will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people" (20:6).
Later on in the history of Israel among the sins that brought on the judgment of God were activities of the occult. For example, 2 Kings 17:16, 17 says that Judah and Israel "forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God . . . And they burned their sons and daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery." The evils of Judah probably reached their worst under king Manasseh. 2 Kings 21:6 says, "He burned his son as an offering, and practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger."
Isaiah was one of the prophets God sent to Judah to warn the nation of the coming judgment if it did not turn from its sin to God. You can see his attitude toward omens and divination in 44:24–26:
Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord who made all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, who spread out the earth—Who was with me?—who frustrates the omens of liars, and makes fools of diviners . . . who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers."God frustrates omens and makes fools of diviners, but he confirms the word of his chosen spokesmen. Then in 47:12, 13 Isaiah uses biting irony to point out the folly of looking to the occult for help.
Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed, perhaps you may inspire terror. You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at new moon predict what shall befall you. Woe to those who dabble in astrology and look for guidance to their horoscope, and strive to know what the day will bring. The judgment of God will fall on such people, as Isaiah says in 2:6:
For thou has rejected thy people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of diviners from the east and of soothsayers like the Philistines.
If we turn to the New Testament we find nothing to change this divine rejection of the occult. On the contrary the rejection is confirmed. For example, in Acts 19:18 the results of Paul's evangelistic endeavor in Ephesus is described like this:
Many of those who were now believers came confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all . . . So the word of the Lord grew and prevailed mightily. When the word of Christ captures a person's mind and heart, all involvement with magical arts goes. It is Jesus versus the occult; you cannot have both. Besides this illustration in Acts, Galatians 5:20 lists sorcery as one of the works of the flesh, and Revelation 21:8 lists it along with murder (just like Deuteronomy 18:10) and fornication and idolatry as grounds for condemnation.
Therefore, it seems to me to be a clear teaching of Scripture that God's people should not be involved in any practices of the occult—practices which involve dealings with the world of spirits or supra-normal forces which are not oriented on Jesus as he is revealed in the Bible.
Belittling God and Exalting Man
The second thing I want to show from Scripture is why God is so opposed to our participation in the occult.
I will describe what I think the basic reason is and then illustrate it from several texts. God opposes our involvement in the occult because it belittles God and exalts man. Or to put it another way, the occult is simply a continuation of the ancient satanic deception in Genesis 3:5: "Go beyond what God has appointed, and you shall become like God." All forms of the occult present us with a similar temptation:
Will we act like humble children of the heavenly Father and submit to God's wisdom in limiting our knowledge and power, or will we, like Adam and Eve, hanker for the fruit that can make us "wise" and for the power that belongs to God? Will we belittle God and exalt ourselves, or will we humble ourselves and exalt God by being content with his revelation and his use of power on our behalf?
Let's begin again with our text in Deuteronomy 18. In verses 15–19 God promises to raise up a prophet from among the people like Moses. The apostles saw the final and decisive fulfillment of this prophecy in Jesus Christ (Acts 3:22–23). He was the final great prophet like Moses. The point of this prophecy in Deuteronomy 18 is that God has appointed a Revealer, the Holy Spirit, of his will, and no other medium of revelation should be sought. In verse 14 Moses says, "These nations, which you are about to dispossess, give heed to soothsayers and to diviners." Then in verse 15 he gives God's alternative: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet . . . Him you shall heed." Then he adds in verse 19, "Whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him." God has appointed for himself a Revealer of that which he desires to be known, and when we turn from or go beyond that Revealer and consult other mediums, we belittle God and exalt ourselves. We devalue the revelation of Jesus Christ and take to ourselves the prerogatives of deity. No one who loves Jesus Christ and orients all of his life around the revelation of Jesus can turn to the occult for knowledge or power.
Isaiah shows us in one place how incongruous it is for people who claim to rely on God to seek wisdom in the occult. He says in 8:19, "When they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter,' should not a people consult their God?" It is unthinkable to the prophet Isaiah that a person who knows God and has his teaching and testimony (v. 20) in Scripture should consult mediums. But someone may say, "God has not said enough. God is silent where I need knowledge.'' So it was with king Saul in 1 Samuel 28. The Lord closed his mouth against Saul and would not answer him about the approaching Philistines. So instead of humbling himself for his earlier disobedience and waiting patiently for the Lord, Saul goes to the witch of Endor and asks her to do what he knows is unlawful—to call up from the dead the spirit of Samuel who will tell him what he shall do (v. 15). When the death of Saul is later recounted in 1 Chronicles 10:13, this sin is mentioned:
So Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance, and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord slew him and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. Consulting mediums, tea leaves, fortune cookies, horoscopes, crystal balls, palmists, or any other oracles beyond God's Word is wrong because it belittles God as an inadequate revealer of mysteries. It says that God is either unable or unwilling to tell me all that is good for me to know. Therefore, he lacks the power or the goodness to help me, and so I will take matters into my own hands. Therefore, people who really love God and trust his goodness and depend on his sovereign power shun all practices of the occult.
Earlier in his life Saul had disobeyed the command of God in another situation. God had commanded him to destroy the Amalekites and their spoil. But Saul took the best animals to offer for a sacrifice to God. Samuel approaches Saul with God's rebuke and says:
Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of ram. For rebellion is as the sin of divination. Rebellion is as the sin of divination. That is no accidental comparison. Divination means having dealings with supra-normal spirits or forces to get knowledge and power. And Samuel says that is the same as rebellion against God. Man in the occult is man in rebellion. Whether he realizes it clearly or not, he is involved in a seditious effort to throw off the absoluteness of the yoke of God's sovereignty and position himself at a higher level in the government of the universe.
The whole field of the occult is Satan's seed-bed of pride. Every activity offers man the opportunity to shed his finitude and take on the wisdom and power that belongs to God. "Eat this fruit and you will become like God." Simon the magician typifies where the occult is leading. He is described in Acts 8:9–11:
"There was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the nation of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all gave heed to him from the least to the greatest saying, "This man is that power of God which is called Great." And they gave heed to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. No matter how innocent the practices of the occult seem at first, they are all dimensions of the one rebellion that has been underway since the Garden of Eden: the aim to avoid at all costs childlike submission to the limitations and provisions of a sovereign God, and to get instead a power which can be called great. Man in the occult is man in rebellion.
Spiritual Harlotry
Another way of revealing the evil of involvement in the occult is to say that man in the occult is man in harlotry. Leviticus 20:6 says, "If a person turns to mediums and wizards, playing the harlot after them, I will set my face against that person." Consulting mediums is like committing adultery against God. Jesus Christ is the husband of the church. He is God's fullest revelation. All that we need to know and all the power which it is good for us to have comes through him and his Word. When we go after other secret oracles and psychic powers, we say in effect that our husband is unsatisfactory and we must seek for lovers elsewhere.
When a Christian peeks at his horoscope, he is treating Jesus the same way a husband treats a wife when he peeks at Playboy to provide the titillation he no longer gets from her. Involvement in the occult is wrong because it is spiritual adultery, it is rebellion against the sovereignty of God, and it belittles his revelation while exalting human pride.
Therefore, in conclusion, what is the positive Christian alternative to the occult? The answer is one and the same everywhere in the New Testament: This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Over against all the allurements of the occult stands Jesus Christ, the embodiment of all God's revelation. Faith takes its stand on the sufficiency of this revelation and seeks no other secret knowledge. Faith lays itself open to the power of God through Jesus Christ alone and seeks no other psychic or spiritual power. Faith cleaves to Jesus, loves Jesus, adores Jesus, trusts Jesus, extols the all-sufficiency of Jesus, and shuns, in all her many garments, the temptress of the occult.
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
This is a wonderful story of not letting up in your life. Thank you, Annie for sharing with our Reflections ohana.
I'm feeling inspired to write a post today as the cold Toronto winter is slowly trickling in. Since the Holidays are fast approaching, I think it's important we take the time to reflect on our selves, on our year, our accomplishments as well as our challenges, as we look towards 2018.
I think sometimes we get caught up in the fast life where we're constantly being pressured to perform better, compete with others and trying to live up to impossible expectations. Sometimes we forget about the things that make up happy, the passion and pure love we have for them because we unfortunately live in a society where greed, criticism and hatred thrives. It's that vicious cycle of low self-esteem, lack of motivation and inspiration, self-doubt and failures. Sometimes it feels like it's impossible to even see any success out of constant set backs and so what a lot of us do, is we run. We quit because we can't handle the pressure. We think quiting is the only option.
But... what if I told you that quitting isn't the only option? What if I told you that perverseness and hard-work can get you anywhere you dream and you'll one day be truly happy? Would you believe me?
The thing about that is it's also a quite naive idea because nothing in life comes easy. Nothing in life is ever linear. We're trained and educated to think linearly. But that's not reality.
In truth our lives and the world we live in is so nonlinear it sometimes feel we're being thrown in different directions.
The past two years of my life have definitely been the hardest but my outlook on life has completely changed, and for the better.
After losing my dad to stage four lung cancer, I've met and heard stories from people alike and people different all with different perspectives, experiences and ideas. But what made every single story and person so empowering was the idea that in spite of tragedy, loss or hardship, the power of the human spirit and the inner strength and resilience that can be built amazed me. I no longer looked at myself as a lost cause. As someone not worthy of love or happiness. Grief didn't define or control my life. I didn't have to be ashamed of who I am.
My dad died when I was in middle school. I was going through puberty and experiencing so many new and overwhelming things for the first time in my life and that combined with his death, made me very fragile and vulnerable. I struggled with wanting so bad to be normal but trying to grasp that this was reality and the hard challenge of coping with this loss.
My dad was my best friend. Whenever I was unsure or sad, he always reassured me. He never let me give up. He was always by my side, supporting and believing in whatever I did.
After he died, I no longer had someone to reassure me. To wipe away my tears. To push me to keep going. And so I stopped. I stopped believing in myself and eventually I didn't want to be alive. I was stuck in a vicious cycle of fear, pain, anger, sadness and isolation. My anxiety and depression began to eat me alive. I couldn't get out of bed in the morning. I couldn't sleep at night. I picked away at every thought and every emotion, so overwhelmed I went numb. I was scared. Everything at home was different. My family slowly fell apart. We all lost a little bit of ourselves.
And so my journey to healing and self-discovery began. It took so many social workers, counselors, compassionate teachers, friends, a camp and many tears later to realize that I still had a life worth living. The amount of support I received from the community around me helped me to turn my life around.
And trust me it hasn't been easy and I know that I still have so much more to discover and grasp about my loss. But I got a whole lifetime and heck if I learned this much in two years I wonder where I'll be 10 years from now. And yes, if you haven't noticed already I am a dreamer. I am a hopeful and very cliche person but all that I'm sharing is from experience.
Now I have a platform where I share my story publicly and in online posts and articles like these. Sharing my story has given the the power I thought I never had before. Through this, I have been able to connect and inspire so many people who always bring smiles to my face.
And finally, I simply just want to live. Live to finish school, follow my dreams and be apart of change in the world. I want anyone out there who may be struggling, I want you to know that you have a purpose. There is only one of you and your uniqueness is what makes you beautiful. You don't have to conform to society's social norms and stereotypical boxes. You don't have to feel pressured be like anyone else or live up to any standards. You set the standard and the goal for yourself. You know your ability and limitations and don't ever let anything hold you back.
Lastly, remember your story and your voice matters. I'll leave you with this question:
Now, what will your story be?
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
Continuing with the Gospel of Matthew...
Traditions and Commandments
15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
What Defiles a Person
10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Jesus Heals Many
29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
CLEAN AND UNCLEAN
The Pharisees have a careful routine of handwashing before they eat food. For them, clean hands make a pure heart. But Jesus doesn’t worry about such details—and nor do his disciples. It is empty legalism (15:1–20).
Jesus points out that some of the Pharisees’ traditions actually break God’s law. For example, they disobey the fifth commandment (support your elderly parents) by putting their money out of reach, in a special fund for God!
A CANAANITE WOMAN’S FAITH
Jesus and his disciples are taking a break in a Gentile area, away from the pressure of the crowds and the Pharisees.
A Canaanite woman comes to Jesus (15:21–28). She’s a descendant of the pagan people who were Israel’s enemies in the old days. She begs Jesus to deliver her daughter from demon possession—perhaps a form of mental illness or epilepsy.
Jesus ignores the woman at first—and then refuses her request. He explains that his ministry is only for Israelites. She asks him, on her knees, to make her an exception—but he still refuses. He teases her with a racial taunt, that the Israelites are God’s children and the Gentiles mere dogs. And there she has him, for she claims that the dogs may at least have some crumbs from the children’s table!
Jesus is delighted to lose the argument. This woman has a wonderful faith. He gladly heals her daughter.
JESUS FEEDS 4,000 GENTILES
Jesus returns to the Sea of Galilee, to its north-east coast. This is still Gentile territory, known as the Decapolis or ‘ten towns’. Here Jesus heals people among great crowds of Gentiles, and feeds them from a few loaves and fishes (15:29–39).
There is something different about Jesus’ ministry to Gentiles. Matthew doesn’t tell us that Jesus taught them, but only that he gave them the Messiah’s blessings. There is sight for the blind, healing for the lame and speech for the dumb—just as Isaiah once prophesied (Isaiah 35:5–6)
Matthew also conveys a difference from the feeding of 5,000 Jews. He records different numbers of loaves, fishes and people, and a larger kind of basket. But clearly the blessings that the Jews have been receiving are being opened up to Gentiles as well. This is a taste of things to come. The healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter is the start of something big!
The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs
16 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
5 When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 16:24–28). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 16:21–23). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 16:13–20). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 16:5–12). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 16:1–4). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 425). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg..
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 425). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 424). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., pp. 423–424). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 15:29–39). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 15:21–28). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 15:10–20). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 15:1–9). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou