Quote:
Originally Posted by John
Several on this thread have mightily resisted being lumped together in a bucket. They seem to insist that it’s not fair.
I asked Jesus about this whole situation, and remembered these words: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Matthew fills an entire chapter with a scathing rebuke by Jesus. Jesus lumped all the experts in the law and the Pharisees into one bucket.
The other thing that Jesus reminded me is that Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews. Early on, Nicodemus went to Jesus at night to find out more about Him. He later tried to influence other Pharisees to listen to Jesus before judging Him, and, finally, he went secretly to help prepare the body of Jesus for burial.
To my mind, maybe Nicodemus didn’t deserve to be in the same bucket with the rest of the scribes and Pharisees. I’m sure that there were many different kinds of people in that bucket with many different experiences and individual heart conditions. Jesus rebuked them all with the same “Woe!”
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John, I appreciate the example. It even may be fitting, but not over the whole system as a whole. I see it possibly fitting those with functional responsibility. There may be those who individually are like a Nicodemus, but collectively wish to remain in one accord. Elders or deacons like a Nicodemus can only speak for themselves, but not for others. Perhaps the deputy authority teaching is partly the cause of no Acts type of fellowship?
Terry