Matthew 6

More of Jesus' teachings.  I'll just hit the highlights, but you should read it for yourself.  Suffice to say hypocrites and rich folks seem to irk Jesus.  Some good things in there that those that thump the Bible the hardest seem to miss.

Don't make a big show of your piety.  If you do, your reward is on Earth, not in Heaven.

Same for your charity.  Do it in secret, God will see and that's the important part.

Same with praying.  Making a big production of your prayers earns your reward here and now.  God won't reward it.  There's a lot I could say about this from many Christians I've witnessed, but going to try to keep this even.  Suffice to say, this is one those verses that Cafeteria Christians seem to miss.

Being overly verbose in your prayers is unnecessary.  Jesus says this is something the Gentiles do.  I don't think he meant that as a compliment.

Forgive others for the wrongs they do you and God (called "Father") will forgive your wrongs against Him.

Don't make a Hollywood production when fasting like the hypocrites do.  Act normal and fast in secret.

Don't accumulate material wealth.  Accumulate treasures in Heaven.

Finally, he goes on quite a bit about anxiety regarding food and clothes.  I don't recall us ever covering this part of Jesus' teachings in the church I grew up in.  It's obviously an important issue to Jesus, because he goes on about it. So I wonder what was the issue at that time he was trying to get at.  Maybe the clothes thing is an extension of the not making a show of accumulated wealth?  In any event, Jesus counsels to not be anxious about the food you eat and  the clothes you wear.  Doing so will not extend your life.

As for Asimov, he's still on genealogy from Matthew 1.  If I ever finish this I'll condense these, but for now, I'm sticking with one Bible chapter, one Asimov section per day.

In any event, Asimov points out that in the third group of fourteen generations, there are only thirteen.  He speculates that in copying the source works a name dropped out and was lost to history.  Take this with the three missing Hebrew kings I discussed in the Matthew 5 entry, and we don't have three groups of fourteen generations from Abraham to Jesus.

Instead, there are fourteen generations from Abraham to David.  There are eighteen generations from David to the Babylonian exile.  And finally, there are thirteen generations from the Exile to Jesus.  So there's another bit to chew on, those that contend the Bible is literally true.