Short and Sweet

A week and a half ago I was riding my motorcycle to work when the car in front of me stopped suddenly.  i applied my brakes but my bike kept sliding. I crashed right into the back of the car.  For the car it was less than a minor accident.  For a rider on a motorcycle i don't think there are minor accidents.  Some are real bad and some you get to walk away.  Or in my case stumble away.  I bruised/popped my ribs and broke the bone that goes from the wrist to the base of the thumb on my right hand.  My motorcycle was drivable but the assessor counted it a total loss due to a bend in the front frame.

It just so happens I am right handed and received surgery this past Friday to insert a plate to hold the bone together.  You might be wondering who is typing my blog.  I am with just my left hand.  It is very slow going thus the title of  this blog entry "short and sweet".

The next blog entry we will be looking at a passage in Luke where we will meet some folks that are new.  The Pharisees and the teachers of the law (or scribes) were not good buddies with Jesus.  I had already had some notes on these two groups to include in this blog for background I will just cut and paste that in with the Bible verses that we will discuss next time.

Though I am banged up and not able to do a lot at this time, God has granted me his grace to draw closer to him and know that no matter what He is in control.  Praise God.

Pharisees - a religious party or school among the Jews at the time of Christ, so called from perishin , the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word perushim , "separated."

While it was the aim of Jesus to call men to the law of God itself as the supreme guide of life, the Pharisees, upon the Pretence of maintaining it intact, multiplied minute precepts and distinctions to such an extent that the whole life of the Israelite was hemmed in and burdened on every side by instructions so numerous and trifling that the law was almost if not wholly lost sight of.

The Pharisees at an early day secured the popular favor and thereby acquired considerable political influence. This influence was greatly increased by the extension of the Pharisees over the whole land and the majority which they obtained in the Sanhedrin.

Teachers of the Law (scribes) -  The priests were therefore also in the first instance the scholars and the guardians of the Law; but in the course of time this was changed. The more highly esteemed the Law became in the eyes of the people, the more its study and interpretation became a lifework by itself, and thus there developed a class of scholars who, though not priests, devoted themselves assiduously to the Law. These became known as the scribes, that is, the professional students of the Law. During the Hellenistic period, the priests, especially those of the upper class, became tainted with the Hellenism of the age and frequently turned their attention to paganistic culture, thus neglecting the Law of their fathers more or less and arousing the scribes to opposition. Thus, the scribes and not the priests were now the zealous defenders of the Law, and hence, were the true teachers of the people.

^{Luke 5:17}One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. ¹⁸Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
 ²⁰When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
 ²¹The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
 ²²Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ²⁴But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." ²⁵Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. ²⁶Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."