Let’s do a baptism by fire on this holy Thursday!
Matthew 23
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Let’s take it to where it all started before the Romans coopted faith and turned it into a religion:
ማቴዎስ ወንጌል ምዕራፍ 23
ከዚያም ኢየሱስ ለሕዝቡና ለደቀ መዛሙርቱ እንዲህ አለ፦ “የሕግ መምህራንና ፈሪሳውያን በሙሴ ወንበር ተቀምጠዋል። ስለዚህ የሚነግሯችሁን ሁሉ በጥንቃቄ አድርጉ። የሚሰሩትን ግን አትሥሩ፤ የሚያስተምሩትን በተግባር አያውሉምና። ለመሸከም የሚያስቸግር ከባድ ሸክም አስረው በሌሎች ሰዎች ትከሻ ላይ ይጭናሉ፤ እነርሱ ራሳቸው ግን ሸክሙን ለማንቀሳቀስ አንዲት ጣት እንኳ ለማንሳት ፈቃደኞች አይደሉም።
“የሚሠሩትን ሁሉ ሰዎች እንዲያዩላቸው ነው። የጸሎት ሣጥኖቻቸውን ያሰፋሉ፣ የልብሳቸውን ዘርፎችም ያረዝማሉ። በግብዣዎች የክብር ቦታ፣ በምኩራቦችም ዋና ዋና መቀመጫዎችን ይወዳሉ። በገበያ ቦታዎች በክብር ሰላምታ ሲቀርብላቸውና ሰዎች ‘ረቢ’ ብለው ሲጠሯቸው ይወዳሉ።
“እናንተ ግን ‘ረቢ’ ተብላችሁ አትጠሩ፤ መምህራችሁ አንድ ነውና፣ እናንተም ሁላችሁ ወንድማማቾች ናችሁ። በምድር ላይ ማንንም ‘አባት’ ብላችሁ አትጥሩ፤ አባታችሁ አንድ ነው፣ እርሱም በሰማይ ነው። ‘አስተማሪዎች’ ተብላችሁም አትጠሩ፤ አስተማሪያችሁ አንድ ነው፣ እርሱም መሲሑ ነው። ከእናንተ ታላቁ አገልጋያችሁ ይሁን። ራሳቸውን ከፍ የሚያደርጉ ዝቅ ይደረጋሉ፣ ራሳቸውን ዝቅ የሚያደርጉ ደግሞ ከፍ ይደረጋሉ።
በሕግ መምህራንና በፈሪሳውያን ላይ የተነገሩት ሰባት ወዮታዎች
“እናንተ ግብዞች፣ የሕግ መምህራንና ፈሪሳውያን፣ ወዮላችሁ! የሰማያትን መንግሥት በር በሰዎች ፊት ትዘጋላችሁ። እናንተ ራሳችሁ አትገቡም፤ ለመግባት የሚጥሩትንም አታስገቡም።
“እናንተ ግብዞች፣ የሕግ መምህራንና ፈሪሳውያን፣ ወዮላችሁ! አንድ ሰው ወደ እምነታችሁ ለመመለስ ባሕርና የብስ ታቋርጣላችሁ። ሲሳካላችሁም ከእናንተ ሁለት እጥፍ የገሃነም ልጅ ታደርጉታላችሁ።
“እናንተ ዕውሮች መሪዎች፣ ወዮላችሁ! ‘ማንም በቤተ መቅደሱ ቢምል መሐላው ዋጋ የለውም፤ በቤተ መቅደሱ ወርቅ የሚምል ሰው ግን በመሐላው ይገደዳል’ ትላላችሁ። እናንተ ዕውሮች ሞኞች! የሚበልጠው የቱ ነው? ወርቁ ወይስ ወርቁን የሚቀድሰው ቤተ መቅደስ? ደግሞም ‘ማንም በመሠዊያው ቢምል መሐላው ዋጋ የለውም፤ በመሠዊያው ላይ ባለው መባ የሚምል ሰው ግን በመሐላው ይገደዳል’ ትላላችሁ። እናንተ ዕውሮች! የሚበልጠው የቱ ነው? መባው ወይስ መባውን የሚቀድሰው መሠዊያ? እንግዲህ በመሠዊያው የሚምል በመሠዊያውና በላዩ ባለው ሁሉ ይምላል። በቤተ መቅደሱ የሚምልም በቤተ መቅደሱና በውስጡ በሚኖረው ይምላል። በሰማይ የሚምልም በእግዚአብሔር ዙፋንና በላዩ በተቀመጠው ይምላል።
“እናንተ ግብዞች፣ የሕግ መምህራንና ፈሪሳውያን፣ ወዮላችሁ! ከቅመሞቻችሁ፣ ከናና፣ ከእንስላልና ከከሙን፣ አሥራት ትሰጣላችሁ። ይበልጥ አስፈላጊ የሆኑትን የሕጉን ጉዳዮች ግን፣ ፍትሕን፣ ምሕረትንና ታማኝነትን፣ ችላ ብላችኋል። አሥራትን ችላ ሳትሉ እነዚህንም በተግባር ማዋል ይገባችሁ ነበር። እናንተ ዕውሮች መሪዎች! ትንኝን አጣርታችሁ ታወጣላችሁ፣ ግመልን ግን ትውጣላችሁ።
“እናንተ ግብዞች፣ የሕግ መምህራንና ፈሪሳውያን፣ ወዮላችሁ! የጽዋውንና የወጭቱን ውጫዊ ክፍል ታጸዳላችሁ፤ ውስጣቸው ግን በስግብግብነትና በልቅ ፍላጎት የተሞላ ነው። ዕውር ፈሪሳዊ! መጀመሪያ የጽዋውንና የወጭቱን ውስጥ አጽዳ፤ ከዚያም ውጫቸውም ንጹሕ ይሆናል።
“እናንተ ግብዞች፣ የሕግ መምህራንና ፈሪሳውያን፣ ወዮላችሁ! በኖራ እንደተለሰኑ መቃብሮች ናችሁ። ከውጭ ያምራሉ፤ በውስጣቸው ግን የሙታን አጥንትና የተለያየ ርኩሰት ሞልቶባቸዋል። እናንተም እንዲሁ በውጫችሁ ለሰዎች ጻድቃን ትመስላላችሁ፤ በውስጣችሁ ግን በግብዝነትና በክፋት ተሞልታችኋል።
“እናንተ ግብዞች፣ የሕግ መምህራንና ፈሪሳውያን፣ ወዮላችሁ! የነቢያትን መቃብሮች ትሠራላችሁ፣ የጻድቃንንም መቃብሮች ታስውባላችሁ። ‘በአባቶቻችን ዘመን ብንኖር ኖሮ፣ የነቢያትን ደም በማፍሰስ ከእነርሱ ጋር ባልተባበርን ነበር’ ትላላችሁ። በዚህም ነቢያትን የገደሉት ሰዎች ዘሮች መሆናችሁን በራሳችሁ ላይ ትመሰክራላችሁ። እንግዲህ ቀጥሉ፤ አባቶቻችሁ የጀመሩትን ጨርሱ!
“እናንተ እባቦች! የእፉኝት ልጆች! ከገሃነም ፍርድ እንዴት ታመልጣላችሁ? ስለዚህ ነቢያትን፣ ጠቢባንንና መምህራንን ወደ እናንተ እልካለሁ። ከእነርሱ አንዳንዶቹን ትገድላላችሁ፣ ትሰቅላላችሁም፤ ሌሎቹን ደግሞ በምኩራቦቻችሁ ትገርፋላችሁ፣ ከከተማ ወደ ከተማም ታሳድዳላችሁ። ስለዚህ ከጻድቁ ከአቤል ደም ጀምሮ እስከ ቤተ መቅደሱና መሠዊያው መካከል እስከ ገደላችሁት እስከ በራክያ ልጅ እስከ ዘካርያስ ደም ድረስ፣ በምድር ላይ የፈሰሰው የጻድቃን ደም ሁሉ በእናንተ ላይ ይመጣል። እውነት እላችኋለሁ፤ ይህ ሁሉ በዚህ ትውልድ ላይ ይመጣል።
“ኢየሩሳሌም፣ ኢየሩሳሌም፣ ነቢያትን የምትገድዪ፣ ወደ አንቺም የተላኩትን በድንጋይ የምትወግሪ! ዶሮ ጫጩቶቿን ከክንፎቿ በታች እንደምትሰበስብ፣ ልጆችሽን ለመሰብሰብ ስንት ጊዜ ተመኘሁ! እናንተ ግን አልፈቀዳችሁም። እነሆ፣ ቤታችሁ ባዶ ሆኖ ይቀርላችኋል። እላችኋለሁ፣ ‘በጌታ ስም የሚመጣው የተባረከ ነው’ እስክትሉ ድረስ ዳግመኛ አታዩኝም።”
Now let’s end it with water which is Fikre (My Love):
I ask my Father in Heaven for forgiveness for turning to fire, I wish I could only be Fikre (my love) but I too have been hurt, I am not God, I just hope I am his good servant. Thank you for my son Yohannes (John) for baptizing me and saving a lost soul, thank you for sending me your son who saved a sinner like me, it was Yohannes who empowered me to send this message.
Most importantly, it was you, Egzihabier, who created me to not follow authority if authority doesn’t justify its existence. I claim no credit, I am no one, just your messenger who is currently broke, but I’ve never felt so whole and rich in my life as I do at this moment.
“He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, for ever and ever.” ~ Psalm 21:4
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