Pastor Sullivan's Blog

Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Most everyone today thinks they are righteous. They wouldn’t use that word. They would use the word ‘good.’ And externally, many people are ‘good’ to a certain degree. They don’t murder or steal. They don’t commit adultery or perjure themselves in court. They don’t complain out loud. On top of all that they don’t do, they’re nice folk who work hard and for the most part mind their own business, at least in comparison to others. This is what passes for “good” and “righteous” in our day. The same mentality passed for righteousness in Jesus’ day. The scribes and the Pharisees thought they were righteous as long as they kept God’s Law externally. They didn’t murder or steal. They didn’t commit adultery or perjure themselves. They didn’t complain out loud. They were pious folk who stood on the street corners praying. They tithed a tenth of all their possessions. They went to the Temple as often as they cou...

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 1)         “ Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted .” These words are the summary of what Jesus has just taught the Pharisees. Christ “ went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath .” On this occasion, as they gather to dine together, they watch Him closely, for the Pharisees are always looking for an opportunity to entrap Jesus and discredit Him. They want to catch Him in His words and deeds to prove that He is not the Christ. To that end, they bring in a man who is terribly afflicted with dropsy, what we call edema today. The man is in a painful condition, retaining fluid in his body. The Pharisee had placed the man at his table, not to honor him, but to see what Jesus would do. They don’t bring this man to Jesus because they love him and want Jesus to heal him. The Pharisees...