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NASB | Matthew 15:18 "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 15:18 "But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man. |
Subject: danger of small sins lead to larger sins |
Bible Note: Greetings Doc, It's ironic you bring up John 19, because I taught a lesson from that passage just this morning in church. Let me ask you this. Is Jesus referring to the severity of the sin or the quantity of sin? Think on this a moment before you answer and look at the context. Jesus spoke those words to Pilate after Pilate informed him of his authority to release Jesus. When you look at the triad of debates between Pilate, Jesus, and the Jews, you see that Pilate was really only guilty of one thing: cowardice. One could also make a strong case of murder in addition to cowardice since he pronounced Jesus innocent three times, but still sentenced him to death due to peer pressure from the Jews. Now, look at the Jews. Not only did they try to murder Jesus on more than one occasion, but they fabricated evidence, lied about his true message on several occasions, they allowed their pride and religious fanaticism cloud their judgment, and they did this in the hypocritical belief that they were following God's law which they were really breaking. Do you see where I'm coming from, Doc? I hope so. Pilate was one man in one place at one time. His sin was inconsequential in comparison to the multitude of sins of the Jews who handed Jesus over to him. So, I see this passage as referring to "greater" in terms of quantity rather than quality or severity. Jalek |