Shalom, I agree with your point in Matthew 16:12.
And I remember the previous exchanges between you and others and JF.
But in his msg to you he hadn't gotten around to spreading any of his
own doctrine, he just quoted a couple of scriptures without giving
their addresses.
Taking a little effort to look up the passages that JF referred to,
I find that he may have misquoted them, though he didn't use any
quotation marks... Where JF said, (and I quote/copy/paste), ">>Beware
of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them;
otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven."
That can only be referring to Matthew 6:1, which reads: "Take
heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise
ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." I will give him
the benefit of a doubt about misquoting - there are other versions
besides the KJV.
And where JF wrote (again without quotation marks):">>And when you pray,
you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and
pray on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly, I say to
you, they have their reward in full." The version I use has it, "And
when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily, I say unto you, They
have their reward." (Matthew 6:5)
My only disappointment in JF's post was that the context of the verses
he referred to is full of nourishment that seems to have been
overlooked. Also, knowing how JF likes to focus on meaning of words
in an exact manner, I thought it was interesting that he was less than
the exact self he has shown himself to be, by not actually quoting the
verses or giving the references. But then, that could be
attributed to the "poetic license" he was exercising in his effort
to write in stylized sci-fi.
If JF was making an attempt to bless us with humor, then I wouldn't want to quench that. Matthew 12:20 is relevant.
John |
