St. Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 18b-19a, Betrayal: The Mockery, Dishonor, and Horror.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The third prediction of the passion) Part 3. 

Christ has spoken to his disciples and tells them of what he faces as he travels onward to Jerusalem.  They do not know.  They do not understand but they continue to follow and believe in him.  They continue to see the miracles that he performs, the message that he provides, and the hope that he gives to them and to the people around him.

He is the Messiah.  He is the Chosen One.  He is the Son of Man and the Son of God.  Yet he walks toward death.  He walks toward betrayal.  He walks toward mockery, dishonor, and the shear horror of crucifixion.  The disciples know what has happened to the prophets.  They know what has happened to those that transgress the will of the high priest.  And Christ has treated them unkindly.  He has scorned them, and told them of their sins even in the presence of the public.  And he tells his disciples:  "And they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified." 

And he will be mocked, and scourged, and crucified.  These are the words that come from the Christ, the Chosen One, the Messiah.  And the disciples understand scourging, and crucifixion and mockery.  They have seen these things.  They know of mockery.  They shudder at the thought of crucifixion.  For they live daily in the real knowledge of these words.  Yet they cannot believe that one would willingly accept such fate.  But this is the will of the Christ.  This is the will of the Father.  This is what must be done.

We can look back on these happenings and try to understand what they understood.  We can look back on these events and try to feel what they felt.  We can look back on this journey and attempt to believe what happened in that time and place.  Or we can reject the message as simply a story that was told many years ago and continue to live blindly in the world today.  The choice is ours to make.  The belief is ours to believe.  The knowledge is ours to have if we choose.

In making our choice we must live with the consequences.  And that is also the choice that we make.  I pray that we will have the opportunity to reconsider all the choices that we make in this world.  I pray that we will have the opportunity to understand the consequences of our choices.  I pray that the love and mercy of God our Father will continue to follow us that we may not fall from his grace.  For had it not been for his mercy and grace I would not be here.  Had it not been for his love and forgiveness, I would suffer the consequences of the choices that I made in life.  Had it not been for the passion of his son, Christ Jesus, I would not have the life that I have today.

Today I understand.  Today I know.  Today I believe.  Today I trust.  Today I see the miracles that happen in my life on a daily basis.  And today I know that I am loved by my Father.  And today that knowledge and his love is overwhelming.  Today that knowledge is fulfilling.  Today that knowledge protects and provides for my every need.  Today I know that there is nothing in this world that can equal the love that comes from the Father.  Today I know that the only thing that I strive for and live for is to be with him.  You too can know!  You too can see!  You too can understand the truth of who you are in his sight!  Come!  Seek that which is yours that is freely given, his love. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 18b, Betrayal: The Prediction of Death.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The third prediction of the passion) Part 2. 

Christ has taken his disciples aside and told them of his future.  He is going up to Jerusalem where he will face death.  He is going on a suicide mission because he knows that he is going to die as a result of his trip to Jerusalem.  He clearly understands his mission.  He knows what is at stake.  He has given himself up to the outcome of his journey.  He follows the will of his Father.  And it is that will which he has accepted that will lead to his death.

Christ tells his disciples the details of how his death will happen.  He knows and his disciples know that the powers that be are out to end his teachings and his popularity with the people.  The rulers do not like what he is doing, they do not like his teachings, they do not like his criticism of how they control the people of Israel.  And yet he proceeds to Jerusalem knowing that his life is in danger.  He tells his disciples:  "And the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the Scribes; and they will condemn him to death." 

And they will condemn him to death.  How many of us today would do the same?  How many of us today would do something that we knew would lead to our death?  Quite the contrary most of us would run from death.  Most of us would do anything that would take us out of harms way and preserve the life that we have.  This is only human nature.  This is our natural instinct to protect ourselves, to keep us from harm, to preserve the life that we have.  We are not the Messiah.  We are not the chosen one.  We are not the Christ.  But we are Christ like.

Our father created us in his image and likeness.  He gave us the same life spirit that he himself has.  He took of himself and gave to us.  We are spiritual and physical.  We are flesh, body and spirit.  Yet we do not recognize that part of ourselves that is spiritual, that part of us that is eternal, that part of ourselves that is real and everlasting.  The spirit does not die.  The body is dying everyday, decaying before our eyes.  We all must face death.  It is inevitable.  It is necessary.  It is a part of who we are, part physical, part spiritual.  Why is it then that we treasure the physical more than we do the spiritual?  Why is it that we do not embrace the spirit within us, acknowledging that there is more than just the physical?

Christ came that we would know the truth of who we are.  He came that we would have an example.  He came to teach us the truth of our Father, our creator.  And he gave us a path to follow, a knowledge to believe, a light to help us in our walk in darkness.  We should have no fear of death.  We should embrace the transition of death for it is but a gateway that leads to our true home in heaven with our Father.  Many await our coming.  Those who have gone before us will rejoice at our coming.  Happy is that day that we go home to the Father.  Happy is that day that we meet our maker.  Happy is that day that we see ourselves as we are seen in heaven.  Happy is the day that we are embraced by the all fulfilling love of our Father.  Christ went up to Jerusalem to face his death but he went up to Jerusalem to go beyond death and to go home to his Father.  Come!  Let us understand that Christ awaits our coming home that he may rejoice with us in heaven.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 17-18a, Behold: The Prediction of Death.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The third prediction of the passion) Part 1. 

We now begin a new paragraph topic where Christ speaks to his disciples about the future.  He has told them many things in confidence over the past years.  But now he speaks to them about what is going to happen in the future.  He wants them to know.  He wants them to understand.  He wants them to see the plan of the Father.  But they do not understand because they have not yet received the Advocate that will open their eyes to all that he has spoken.

The disciples are followers.  Soon they will become leaders after all that they have learned from Christ.  His journey is coming to an end and theirs is about to begin.  So Christ is preparing his disciples for what is about to happen.  They will be shocked.  They will be terrified at what will happen.  But for now they are being told of the future to come.  And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them,  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem." 

Behold we are going up to the place where things will happen.  They were going up to the place where all will be revealed, where all will take place, where the end will happen and the beginning will be revealed.  He wanted them to know.  He wanted them to understand what will transpire so that they will understand and not fear.  Christ has taught his disciples through the years.  He has performed miracles, healed the sick, cast out demons, made the lame walk, the blind see, brought back those who were dead.  He completed all these miracles to demonstrate to his disciples that the power of God his Father was with him and that he was the Messiah.

They followed him because they believed.  They knew that he was the Chosen One who had come to save the people.  Yet they did not know how he would save them.  They did not know what had to be done.  They did not know that he would have to die to complete his mission.  And they did not know that he would come back to them from the dead after having been crucified on the cross.

But this was their legacy.  This was their proof.  This was their evidence of who they believed him to be.  We read about this in the witness that has been left for us in the Bible.  We were not witnesses as they were.  We were not there to see with out own eyes, to feel with our own hearts and hands.  Yet we are given this legacy from those who were there, from those who did see, from those who were a part of the truth.  Can we believe?  Can we know?  Can we become a part of their witness, today? 

The truth lies within you.  The proof of who we are has been given us through the legacy left behind by those who were there.  And the witness is that which will come to reside within us.  The Spirit will testify.  The Spirit will enlighten us.  The Spirit will guide, light the way, protect, provide and fill us with the love that comes from the Father.  We are all created in his likeness.  We are all his children.  We all belong to him, if we choose.  We have a choice.  We can choose.  But the proof lies within us if we seek to know.  The truth lies within us if we desire to find.  The truth lies within us if we knock and open the door to the all fulfilling love of the Father.  We are going up to Jerusalem.  Will you come and see?

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 16b, Those that are called and those that are chosen.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 25. 

We started this chapter with Christ teaching his disciples about the kingdom of heaven.  He uses parables to get his message across to those who have ears to hear, those who have open minds, those who have not been influenced.  This particular parable is about laborers.  It is about the need for workers.  It is about agreements, and wages or rewards.  It is about generosity, and rights, about influence and anger and disagreements with the one who has the right to make a decision.

God made man and decided to be generous with his grace.  He created the angels and the principalities first before man.  Man does not have the same power and majesty as the angels but God our Father still loves us as he does all his creations.  Christ told his disciples that the kingdom of heaven is like a house-holder who went out to hire laborers to work in his vineyard.  He had a right to do so.  He had a need to do so.  He has the resources to do so.  Yet at the end of the day others decided that he was wrong in the way that he dispensed his generosity.  As the parable ends Christ says that:  "For many are called, but few are chosen."

What does it mean to be chosen?  Who are they who are called and for what?  Does God have a special purpose for each of us?  What is his plan and who are the participants?  These are questions that may come to mind as we think about this parable.  For the words of Christ are living words that have meaning and purpose.  They are written for our direction, for our understanding, for our knowledge and our wisdom.  If we seek to know, to understand, to believe, to trust then we must seek the meanings of these words.  Those meanings will not come from outside.  They will not come from others.  They will only come from the light Christ has given us within the will guide us and teach us on a daily basis.

For we are the children of the living God.  He gave each of us life.  At some point in each of our lives we have contemplated why we are here.  We have asked the question: "Why was I born?"  And we have sought to give meaning to that question that we may live our lives.  For we were born out of love.  We were given life out of grace.  And we were restore to life out of passion.  And yet we live not know the inner self, the inner life, the inner light that comes from the Father.  He is our purpose.  He is our passion.  He is our meaning of life.

And life has no meaning without him.  We can strive for all physical life has to offer.  We can reach the mountain top and live high above all the rest.  We can achieve lofty goals in life only to find that nothing has meaning in the physical.  And if we choose not to recognize, not to understand, we choose to die without meaning, without purpose, without love.  For it is the love of the Father that overcomes all.  It is the love of the Father that fulfills all.  It is the love of the Father that is all to the life that we have.  And without that love nothing has meaning. 

We live and we die and darkness takes the rest.  But with the Father, life continues.  With the Father, love abides.  With the Father, physical life is but a shell that is shed upon death and the doors to the kingdom are open that we may know ourselves as we truly are known, spiritual beings who belong to the Father.  Awaken to the truth of who you are within.  Christ has given us the key.  He has told us how to see.  All we have to do is open our eyes and behold what is within us.  The joy, the peace, the love awaits your awakening.  Come!  Open your eye and see!

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.