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LIQUIDTHINKING IS: Stephen Zedler Jimmy Doyle Andy Mullins Current Sountrack
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Tuesday, April 27, 2004
A Gospel Reading With A Personal Addendum When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to those in need, and everything will be clean for you. "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tithe of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice for the poor and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. "Woe to you Pharisees, because you're so full of youself...you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over by accident. Making themselves unclean without even knowing it just by coming into contact with you." One of the experts in the law answered him, "Teacher, don't you know that when you say these things, you insult us also." Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry--burdens of your rules and interpretations of the law, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.' Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. "Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering by claiming you hold the key." When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say. Addendum:Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were deeply troubled by this. "Doesn't Jesus know how influential he is?" they said. They decided to tell the other disciples how upset they were that Jesus would talk in such generalities. "Look," Nicodemus said plainly, "I'm a Pharisee. I know that a lot of people look down on us already...I think all Jesus has done is make us look even worse. He's made us a laughing stock! We're not all like that." "Exactly," replied Joseph, "I felt very uncomfortable. My friends were giving me those smart-looking smiles while he was talking...like, "he's talking about you". I felt like everyone was looking at me. I myself have done a lot for those in poverty...both on a personal level and in terms of our city. I think the real issue is that Jesus doesn't understand what it means to be a Pharisee and a leader of the people these days. I mean, I provided the funding for several of the prophets' tombs...Should we not honor those great men? What am I supposed to do as a leader of the people? Should we not have parks and memorials? Should we not attend meetings with influential people? How else do things get done? I think he's really gone too far. What has he really done for the people anyway?" "Does it seem like all Jesus does is point out the problems with the people who are really trying to do what's right and follow God? Why doesn't he rail against those people who are screwing around and drinking all the time?" Nicodemus paused and thought quietly for a moment, then said, "I understand what he's trying to do...I just think he's wrong to lump us all together like that. I'm not like what he said." John said, "You're making too big of thing out of this." "No we're not!" retorted Joseph. Then he said to John, "You know he was talking about you, too, don't you? Your whole family is full of the kinds of people Jesus is criticizing. Doesn't that bother you?" "So, go talk to Jesus about it." Peter said with a smile. But Joseph and Nicodemus didn't say anything to Jesus. They thought in their hearts, "He wouldn't understand. "
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Jimmy Doyle is a dad, husband,
teacher, friend, and other things. Currently he's just trying to figure out what it means to follow Christ and be in community with others. He enjoys having conversations with fellow pilgrims on the journey.
Stephen Zedler has a wife and three kids who he loves very much. He has been called by God to study and teach history, particularly U.S.
history. He also believes that God has called him to reform the way children are educated in America.