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A Parable of Prayer
By peace | July 2, 2008
As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and cried,”Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” And when he saw them, he said to them,”Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And it came to pass that as they went they were healed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
And Jesus said,”Were there not ten healed? But where are the nine? Only this stranger has returned to give glory to God.” And he said to him,”Arise, go your way; your faith has made you whole.”
A Parable Of Prayer
Jesus spoke this parable to certain men who were proud of their own righteousness and looked down upon others,”Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a tax gatherer. The Pharisee stood and prayed by himself in these words: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, greedy, unjust, indulgent, or like this tax gatherer! I fast twice in the week and I give a tenth of all I own to charity.’ But the publican, standing far off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but beat upon his breast, saying,”God be merciful on me, a sinner.”
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.”
Taxes and Tithes
There were hundreds of different taxes and duties to be paid in Jesus’ time. Tax collectors made a good profit by charging as much as they dared and pocketing the extra. Jews hated the foreign taxes and looked down on those who collected them. Every Jew paid an annual temple tax, to help towards the upkeep and running of the temple. He also gave a tithe, or tenth, of all his goods or money, as a sign of thankfulness to God. Tithes were paid to the Levites, for their salary. They themselves tithed these gifts and that tithe went to support the priests.
Priests, High Priest
Priests were descended from Aaron, the first priest, part of the tribe or clan of Levi. There were so many of them in Jesus’ day that they took turns to serve in the temple, offering sacrifices and burning incense. The leading priests and the High Priest himself were Sadducees, and had most of the political power in Israel.
Levites
Levites belonged to the priests’ tribe of Levi, but were not descended from Aaron’s family. They helped the priests in their duties.
Sadducees
The Sadducees belonged to the priestly families and were usually wealthy and aristocratic. They were powerful and managed to get on with their Roman masters. They accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament as Scripture. They did not believe in a life after death.
Topics: Parables, View All Post, bible |
