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Matthew 7:1-6; Judging Others (Rhetorical Influences)
By
Mike Nappa
It would’ve been hard to be a Pharisee sitting in the audience of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Again and again Christ seemed to deliberately antagonize any religious leaders listening to his teaching—singling them out, calling them unflattering names, and mocking them with increasingly absurd insults. Matthew 7:3-5 records another example of this kind of…
Matthew 5:17-20; The Fulfillment of the Law (Theological Commentary)
By
Mike Nappa
In the time when Jesus walked the Earth, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were regarded by Jewish society as easily the most righteous of all people. They spent day and night studying and codifying Scripture for themselves and others (much like today’s pastors, theologians and Bible Study Nerds…!). Yet Jesus demanded even more,…
Matthew 3:1-12; John the Baptist Prepares the Way (Cultural Commentary)
By
Mike Nappa
It is significant that John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers,” which basically meant he viewed them as poisonous children of snakes. In the ancient world this was an especially contemptuous insult because of a common belief regarding the circumstances of viper births. Many thought that some breeds of viper…
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