Zionist Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Mega Church in Dallas. Left image source. Right image source.
by Brian Shilhavy
Editor, Health Impact News
I have frequently shown over the years that the Christian religion is a cult, and that its concept is found nowhere in the New Testament writings of the Bible. See:
Fact Check: “Christianity” and the Christian Religion is NOT Found in the Bible – The Person Jesus Christ Is
One of the false teachings of Christianity that gives the religion so much power and influence, is the teaching and practice of authoritative Christian leaders, such as priests and pastors.
It might surprise people to learn that the teachings of Jesus in the Bible made it very clear that he replaced all of these authoritative religious leaders, and called his disciples to follow him and serve him as the only authority.
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying:
“The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and comply with it all, but do not do as they do; for they say things and do not do them.
And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger.
And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by the people.
But as for you, do not be called Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.
And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ.
But the greatest of you shall be your servant. (Matthew 23:1-11)
So important was this teaching to Jesus, that he used three different terms for leaders of his day, seemingly to imply that this teaching applied to ALL human leaders, who were to be replaced among his disciples, by himself, and himself ONLY.
The first term is specifically Jewish: “Rabbi,” which is a title of honor meaning “master” or “teacher.”
The second term is “father”, πατήρ (patēr) in the original Greek language the New Testament was written in, and meant paternal fathers including grandparents and ancestors.
Yes, Jesus claimed authority even over his disciples’ earthy fathers and relatives. See:
Jesus’s Teaching on Family vs. Christian Teaching on Family – Polar Opposites
The third term he used is “leader”, καθηγητής (kathēgētēs) in the Greek, and usually translated either as “master”, “teacher”, or “leader” depending on which English translation you are reading.
Jesus refers to these religious leaders collectively as “Pharisees and Scribes”, as they were the authority figures of his culture, and made up the judiciary branch of local government in Jerusalem called “The Sanhedrin.”
Interestingly, on another occasion recorded in the New Testament, Jesus reinforced this same teaching among his followers by referring to the secular, Gentile/Roman authority structure.
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
And he said to them,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
And they said to him,
“Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
Jesus said to them,
“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
And they said to him, “We are able.”
And Jesus said to them,
“The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
And Jesus called them to him and said to them,
“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
But it shall not be so among you.
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(Mark 10:35-45)
I don’t know how this teaching of Jesus could be more clear??
And yet, Christians who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus in the Bible do the exact opposite! Pretty much every single Christian church has an elaborate leadership structure with great authority in their organizations, whether it is a Catholic church or a non-Catholic church (Protestant, Mormon, Baptist, etc.).
Getting back to what Jesus said and taught in Matthew 23, he did not simply state that it was wrong to have other leaders besides himself, he said it was EVIL.
But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (Matthew 23:13-15)
The Jewish leaders of Jesus’s day considered themselves the ultimate authority on earth representing God, and they used the Law of Moses to justify their superiority.
Jesus acknowledged that the Law given to Moses was authoritative, but NOT those who claimed to represent it:
“The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and comply with it all, but do not do as they do; for they say things and do not do them.” (Matthew 23:2-3)
Jesus said that these religious “authorities” were evil, and did not practice what they preached. When they converted a “pagan” (Gentile) to their Jewish religion and forced them to start obeying the Law of Moses, they made these converts “twice as much a child of hell” as they themselves were.
It is one thing to be honest and say something like: “I don’t believe your religious crap and I am not going to comply with your rules and regulations!”, and then go on living the same way they have been living.
But is another thing, and FAR more evil, for someone to say: “Oh I am converted! I am born again!“, and then go on living the same way they always have, but in secret, to pretend to be “righteous” so they can continue belonging to their religious organization.
To these hypocrites who pretended to be “righteous” Jesus said:
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? (Matthew 23:33)
“Serpents” and “vipers” of course are reptile images used throughout the Bible to refer to Satan and his demons.
The Pharisees of Today
Are not the things Jesus taught about titles of authority and how evil they were the EXACT SAME things that are happening today in the Western Christian religion?
I know this is a hard teaching for many Christians to believe, that their priest or pastor is actually demonic. But the fact is that this is what Jesus taught.
Continuing on in Matthew 23 Jesus said:
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. (Matthew 23:33-35)
The people who do not follow the evil religious leaders, but instead follow Jesus Christ, would NOT have large crowds and mega churches according to Jesus. No, they would be persecuted, flogged, and even killed.
Jesus did use one word in this verse that is the same word he used of the evil Jewish authorities: “scribes.”
The word in the Greek texts is γραμματεύς (grammateus).
1) a clerk, scribe, especially a public servant, secretary, recorder, whose office and influence differed in different states
2) in the Bible, a man learned in the Mosaic law and in the sacred writings, an interpreter, teacher. Scribes examined the more difficult and subtle questions of the law; added to the Mosaic law decisions of various kinds thought to elucidate its meaning and scope, and did this to the detriment of religion. Since the advice of men skilled in the law was needed in the examination in the causes and the solution of the difficult questions, they were enrolled in the Sanhedrin; and are mentioned in connection with the priests and elders of the people. (Thayer’s Greek Definitions)
So who were the “scribes” that Jesus said he was going send?
They were his disciples, specifically Galilean fishermen, working class people who learned directly from Jesus.
And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired,
“By what power or by what name did you do this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
“Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished.
And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:1-13)
The men who followed Jesus for three years, listening to his teaching, and participating in his ministry by healing people and casting out demons, became experts in the Old Testament teachings of Moses and the rest of the prophets.
Jesus was their authority, not the religious Jewish leaders.
Not much has changed over the centuries. Today, the religious authorities still control the culture, the “Judeo/Christian” culture that defines Western Christianity, and these authorities are just as evil as their predecessors, the Pharisees.
They are anti-christs, false prophets, and wolves in sheep clothing – the same group of people who followed Satan during Jesus’s day, pretending to be religious and serving God.
Jesus told a parable that compared the false religious Jews who claimed to know God, and those among the common people who were considered “filthy”, or “sinners”, but believed in Jesus, because he offered them something, grace and salvation, that the Jewish religious authorities would not.
“What do you think? A man had two sons.
And he went to the first and said,
‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.
And he went to the other son and said the same.
And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.
Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said to them,
“Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him.
And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” (Matthew 21:28-32)
Christianity is an evil religion. I know there are still good and sincere people who are part of it, as I was also for many years.
But everything is coming to a head now, and if you follow your favorite Christian leaders today, many of whom are pedophiles, BOTH in the Catholic Church and in the Evangelical Protestant churches, they might just lead you straight to hell along with the rest of your church.
Christianity is NOT the way. Jesus Christ is.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
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