St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse:23b; Christ's authority.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 2. 

Christ was a gentle man.  He was not pretentious or self seeking.  He taught with love and understanding giving the people all they needed to comprehend fully.  His words were filled with the spirit of his father and he wanted the people to know his father as he knew him.  For God our Father is the creator of all things.  He gave life to all the world, all creatures, all things.  His creation is good.

Christ is a spirit of power and majesty.  And yet with all the power of the universe he was humble, quiet, gentle, loving.  His rage, his wrath could have destroyed anyone and everyone that displeased him.  Yet not often did that side of him show.  He performed miracles.  He made the dead rise, cured the lame, cast out demons, made the blind see, the lepers whole, calmed the stormy seas and walked on water.  But little did you see or hear of the awesome power he commanded, used.

And then came the chief priest and the elders, and said, "By what authority dost thou do these things? And who gave thee this authority?" 

They were wise men.  They were leaders and teachers and elders.  They were learned men, men of the world, knowledgeable of all that concerned the Law and the people of Israel.  But they did not know him.  They did not know the Christ.  They did not know from whence he came or from what part of the world he came and they were fearful. 

He brought change.  He brought peace, he brought harmony, he brought love.  He brought a knowledge of something more to life than what the people knew as their daily routine.  He brought knowledge of the kingdom of heaven to a people who knew of their God but did not know of his kingdom, of his plans for them, of his love for them.

We today live in the same world as those of yesteryear.  We eat, work, play, love, cry, search for truth, and die the same as they did thousands of years ago.  We know through our churches that there is a heaven and a kingdom of God.  Yet do we believe this?  Are we sure of this?  Is this a certainty in our lives today?  We are challenged.  We will be questioned of our faith.  We will face the winds of change that seeks to turn us in another direction.  How solid are our feet planted in the belief and truth of the authority of Christ that nothing will turn us away from him.

He is our provider.  He is our protector.  He is our caretaker no matter who rules, who is in office, who calls the shots.  God's will be done and we who believe and know will not be turned away from the gift of life that has been freely given to us through the passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This is the authority upon which we stand.

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 nd 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 21, verse:23a; Christ's teachings.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 1. 

Lesson 1, Christ had given the disciples their lesson on faith and the power within it.  He demonstrated with words and example and he instructed the disciples to do the same without wavering.  Little did they know that what they had seen and heard from him, they would be able to do the same because he had told them so.  Believe and do not waver in your belief and it will be done for you.

The disciples had a lot to learn and little time to grasp all that they needed, to carry on the legacy of Christ.  They followed him because they believed.  They stayed with him because of the miracles that he performed.  They knew that they were being prepared for something special but did not know what.  Even the people who listened to his teachings knew that they were special in the message that he gave.  Even the leaders wanted to know.  And when he had come into the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to him as he was teaching. 

They wanted to know.  They wanted to hear for themselves what he was saying, what he was teaching.  They were the rulers of the people.  They were the teachers of the people, the ones who set down the rules, interpreted the laws of Moses, and enforced the Law.  Christ came and taught something different.  He came and gave something new.  He came and told the people to love one another, to forgive and do not hate, to be at peace.  But the chief priests and the elders did not like that their teachings were being taught by one who did not follow their practices and principles.

What do we have today?  We have fear.  We have chaos.  We have anger and hatred.  We have the uncertainty of the future after all the talk that was given us over the last two years as to what will come.  Upheaval and change stare us in the face.  And we know not how to handle that which is uncertain, that which is unknown. We are anxious.  We forget though that we are children of another and that we are not of this realm.

Christ saved us from damnation.  He is our savior, our king, our protector, our provider.  Our trust is in him.  Our faith is in him.  Our belief for our future is in his hands and not in the hands of those who would lead us today.  God, our Father,  rose Pharaoh up so that he could demonstrate his power and his majesty to all the world that he is the one and only true God.  His will and his purpose is higher than our purpose and it is our trust and faith in him that must carry us through good times and bad.  As Christ demonstrated to his disciples, have faith and do not waver for it shall be done.  Know that your Father in heaven loves each and every one of us and he will see us through.

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 nd 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 21, verse:22; Believing, all things in prayer.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Power of faith) Part 4. 

It is amazing what Christ did for the disciples.  He taught them about the things that come from the kingdom of God.  He demonstrated for them the power of words, his words.  And he told them that they could do the same if they did not waver in their belief.  This was the lesson that they had to learn.  This was the lesson that they had to remember after he had ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of his Father.

They were amazed and astonished at the miracles he performed.  They believed that he was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that he had the power to do many things.  They did not know or believe that they would be able to do the same.  Yet he gave them the instructions that they could follow.  "And all things whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you shall receive." 

What do we pray for?  Is it money?  Is it to pay our bills?  Is it to feed our families?  Is it to keep our home and not be set out in the street?  What is it that we pray to God our Father and ask for?  After we pray do we believe that he will hear us and answer?  Do we believe that he will provide?  If we want it now do we believe that he will provide now?  If he does not provide for us now do we continue to believe or do we waver and give up our hope and belief in him? 

We are humans in nature and do not know how to ask for that which will provide for our future.  We are humans and do not know what will truly make us happy.  We are humans and do not know what will bring us true peace.  If we ask for a snake, do you think that our father would give us a snake?  If we ask for something that he knows will not bring us peace do you think that he would give to us that thing that will create chaos in our lives?

Yet we ask for those things that we know not how they will affect our lives in the future.  We pray not for humility.  We pray not for patience.  We pray not for forgiveness, love, mercy, hope, faith, piety, etc, those things that will help us to be more like him.  We know not.  We only know what is in this world and what we believe, by what has been given us, will satisfy and help us.  He know the truth.  He knows the way.  He knows the love and the peace that we need.  He is our father and he gave us and continues to give us life.  His lesson is seek and you shall find.  Knock and it shall be opened to you.  Ask, in prayer, believing, and it shall be given to you.  Do not give up five minutes before the miracle happens.  Patience is the key.  Belief is the door that will open your heart.

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 nd 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 21, verse:21b; The Knowledge of Faith.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Power of faith) Part 3. 

So this was their instruction, this was their lesson to master, "Have faith and do not waver."  Christ gave them this lesson and he demonstrated the power of faith by commanding the fig tree to wither.  They heard his words.  They saw the results.  And they could not understand how this happened.

Christ told them to believe and to not waver in that belief.  He told them to have faith and know that what they say will happen.  He told them that there is power in their faith, in their belief, in their trust in something that is much more than the physical understanding.  He told them:  "But even if you shall say to this mountain, 'Arise, and hurl thyself into the sea,' it shall be done."  

We believe in what we see or what we know can happen.  And therefore, we understand that something can be done.  We find difficult to believe something that we do not see or do not understand, especially if it is beyond our imagination.  Christ told his disciples that if they spoke to the mountain and said to it to, hurl itself into the sea, it would be done if they did not waver in that belief.

But how can we not waver in something that is beyond our belief?  How can we not waver in something that we do not have an understanding of how that would be possible?  How can we not waver if we believe that that something is impossible to our physical knowledge of what can be done in the world?  This is the dilemma.  In the physical realm and in the realm of the physical thought processes of the mind, what we believe is impossible, cannot be done.

Yet in the spiritual realm of belief and understanding, Christ is telling us and the disciples that faith is the key to opening up the impossible realm of belief and knowledge in the unwavering impossibility and will make it happen.  There is another side to who we are.  There is another part of what we can do in this realm.  There is the power given us through the power of Christ that we can stand upon in our daily lives.  His words are truth.  His words are everlasting.  His words will be fulfilled, in our belief, in our knowledge, in our trust, and our unwavering knowledge of who he is, Christ Jesus, our King and our Savior, the Son of the Living God.

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 nd 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 21, verse:21a; Unwavering Faith.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Power of faith) Part 2. 

The disciples saw the fig tree wither before their eyes.  They could not believe what they saw.  They were in unbelief.  They heard Christ speak the words.  They knew that he was the Messiah and that he performed great miracles, but they did not understand how this had happened.  They wanted to know.  They wanted to understand, but their minds and their hearts were not open to this.

This was their instruction.  This was their lesson.  This was their homework so that they would be able to transform themselves, their hearts and their minds, to the will of God.  Christ wanted them to know.  He wanted them to learn.  He wanted them to see that what just happened they will also be able to do.  But Jesus answered and said to them, "Amen I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what I have done to the fig tree." 

We have seen great feats and wonders in our time.  One can think of the great monuments left for us to marvel and to contemplate.  The great Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, The Washington Monument, the Hover Dam, and many other great wonders of man.  Our desire is to see them for ourselves, to be in their presence and to ponder how they were built and constructed.  We can be amazed at these man made feats of wonder and even want to be a part of their history. 

Even in our time we are amazed and aahed by entertainers who perform feats of wonder beyond our comprehension.  We pay to go see these tricks of magic knowing that that is what they are, slight of hand and mind performances.  But few have seen a tree wither before their eyes.  Even more, few have heard of someone telling a tree to wither and it obeys.  How do we wrap our minds around such a feat?  How do we begin to understand the how and the wherefore of such a feat?  This was the lesson that Christ was giving his disciples and even to us today.

We have the capacity to believe.  We have the capacity to understand.  We have the capacity to do that which Christ has given us to do.  The key is in our capacity to believe, our capacity to know, our capacity to trust that it will be done, and in our capacity to not waver in that belief, in that knowledge, in that trust.  Not only will you do what I have done to the fig tree if you do not waver, if you believe, if you know within yourself, it will happen.

What do you want today?  Do you want money?  Do you want fame?  Do you want power?  What is it that your heart desires more than anything else in this world that will satisfy you and fulfil your deepest desires?  Careful for what you desire, for material desires are fleeting and do not satisfy.  Spiritual desires are eternal.  I want peace within myself to know that I will not stress or worry for what will happen tomorrow or what has happened in the past.  I want forgiveness from all my past sins.  I want a true feeling of that which has been promised.  I want to be with Jesus Christ in heaven because I know that he is the only one that can satisfy all my needs and fulfil the hunger within me.  What do you want?  Unwavering Faith. 

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 nd 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.