St Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 13b, The agreement.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 19.

We have been talking about the laborers in the vineyard and how their minds and their hearts were changed when it came time for payment for the services rendered.  Christ told this parable to his disciples in comparing this tale to the kingdom of heaven.  He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a house-holder who went out to the market place seeking workers for his vineyard. 

Christ was seeking workers here on earth to do the work for his father, the house-holder.  The labor was needed here on earth to carry the message to the people.  Christ would not be here and he needed someone to carryon his work to lead the people and to speak with them about the Father.  He needed followers.  But he wanted those followers to know what he was asking them to do.  And he needed them to understand the reward that was being offered them.  For once the agreement was made then outside influences would enter and seek to change the minds of the laborers just as it did in the parable.  In the parable the question becomes:  "Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?"

Agree with me.  Let us have an understanding.  Let us come to know each other and then we will have an agreement.  The laborers agreed to the compensation but later wanted to change the contract.  They became angered, and bitter and disgruntled about what they had agreed to and this was the central issue.  They saw that others got more for less work.  They saw that others who came after them received the same amount as they for less work.  They agreed to the amount from the beginning but later wanted more than what they had agreed.

Christ wants his disciples to understand that they needed to have an understanding.  They needed to agree with him on what was needed, what had to be done.  For the work was plentiful but the laborers were few.  And then came the outside influences that would seek to change them, seek to turn them around, seek to change the agreement, change the understanding that they have.  And by influencing the change in the understanding then the door is open to bring forth another mind different from the mind that made the agreement.

The agreement is a symbol of who we are in Christ.  Know thyself.  We are in him and not apart from him.  He is with us and we are not alone.  His love transforms and brings us to the knowledge of who we are.  For we were created in the image and likeness of God our Father.  And Christ is his only begotten son.  And through the passion and the sacrifice of Christ our Lord and Savior we have been restored to life.  Yet the life that we have is not known.  The life we have is not seen.  The life we have is not believed by many and that allows the influence of the outside to come in and seek to change that which is given to us. 

Seek to know thyself.  In that knowledge you will find the truth of who you are in Christ.  We are more than the physical and yet it is the physical that binds us, that holds us, that limits us to not comprehend who we are.  Death has been conquered.  It does not hold us.  It only frees us from the physical and transforms us to our true selves in Christ.  Close the door to the outside.  Open the door to the inside.  And within what is within you will see the truth of who you are in Christ.  For Christ came as a light to the world.  And he left that you may become his light.  Open your heart and see the light that is within you and Christ will send the Advocate to be with you forever.

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: 13a, No Injustice.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 18.

The last laborers who were first to be hired felt that they were not treated fairly.  They felt that they deserved more.  They felt that they had worked the whole day and deserved more than what the others received.  They saw the others come into the vineyard.  They saw how little work that completed.  They saw the amount that they received for the work that was completed.  And they believed that they did more work than the others.  This is why they believed that they deserved more.

Yet they agreed to work for a denarius.  They thought that to work for that amount was fair.  They believed that a denarius was a fair wage for a days work, so they agreed to do the work.  Yet when others came and when others did less work and when others received the same amount, they were dissatisfied, they grumbled, they murmured, they were angry.  And when they spoke to the house-holder about this perceived injustice, the house-holder did not agree with their perception.  "But answering one of them, he said, 'Friend, I do thee no injustice."  

Where did it all start?  Where did the concept of injustice begin?  Who brought up the thought?  Who spoke of the idea?  How did it enter the minds of the laborers as they worked in the vineyard?  Was there some outside influence that they did not know about?  Was there some outside idea that came to them as they worked that made them think that they should receive more than they agreed to? 

Here we are today living in the world seeking to be who we are.  What are we?  Who are we?  What do we believe?  Our thoughts and ideas come to us from outside ourselves fed by the electronic media that we live by today.  Who decides what that media will say?  Who decides what that media will do?  Who makes the decisions as to what is sent through that media and what is not sent, what we see and what we do not see, what we perceive and what we do not perceive?  We accept what is given us.  Some is discarded and some is retained.  Some is stored for future use and some is used immediately.  Do we filter?  Do we reject?  Do we block out all that comes in?  Yet the media continues to come and we continue to perceive.

Even when the media is off we continue to perceive.  We continue to think about what is given us as we seek to utilize the functions of our brains to sort through all that is given us.  What was given the laborers?  They did not have the media of today.  They did not have others making decisions and sending out thoughts and ideas and facts, and all kinds of information for them to take in.  Where did their thoughts come from that they would consider themselves done an injustice.  Did it come from the air?  Did it come from space?  Did it come from the netherworld?

We are imperfect beings trying to live in a world not our own.  How do we live, how do we survive, how do we protect ourselves in such an environment.  Christ said:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  His saying is contradictory to what we live by today.  We are given to be rich.  Our every being our every desire is influenced by the thought that we want to be rich and not poor.  And yet the riches of this world that we seek do not satisfy, they do not complete, they do not fulfill.  What is there that will complete us?  What is there that will fulfill us?  What is it that our hearts desire that will gives us lasting joy, lasting happiness, lasting peace?  Knock and it shall be opened to you, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given to you. 

These are the words that come from our heavenly Father through Christ Jesus.  If you seek peace then ask.  If you seek joy then look.  If you want happiness then open the door to your heart and it will come to you who want to know eternal happiness in him who completes all.  Be satisfied.  Be content.  Be knowledgeable in who you are through the spirit that is within you.  All you have to do is look within.  The path has been prepared for you.  All you have to do is walk it. 

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.