St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse:26; The Dilemma of the Question.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 6. 

They were befuddled, not knowing how to respond.  One person believed that they should say this, another person said that they should say that.  There was no consensus among them as to how to answer the question asked by Christ.  They heard of his wisdom.  They knew of his insight from others who had spoken to him or tried to capture him in a falsehood.  So they gathered together to determine the best answer to give.

Jesus knew their uncertainty.  He knew of their plot.  He foresaw their scheme to trick him to answer their question.  But they did not foresee that he would pose a question in response.  So they argued among themselves:  saying, “If we say, ' From heaven,' he will say to us, Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, ' From men,' we fear the people, for all regard John as a prophet." 

And so it was that they came to an impasse.  They did not know how to respond.  They were befuddled and without answer.  How do you respond to such a question?  How do you say things one way so as not convict yourself?  Our minds work with lightening speed to give us answers.  But will the answer free us from harm?  If that is the case of where you would like to be, then you are practiced in the art of deception.  For we deceive ourselves when we give way to the influences of what comes to our minds in the way of deceit.

Do we intend to deceive?  Do we intend to lie?  Do we intend to sway others to think differently of ourselves, contrary to the real us?  Do we intend to exercise power over others to lead them along a path of our beliefs?  And who leads us in such a direction?  Are we led by fear, anger, hatred, disgust, pity, sympathy, love, care, understanding or wisdom.  Or are we led by the influence of evil. 

Our Father gave to us the joy of life.  He gave to us a life similar to his own spirit.  He is love.  He is joy.  He is peace.  He is merciful, and forgiving, and understanding, and truth.  It is his truth that guides us through life.  It is his knowledge and wisdom that sets us on a path that will change our entire destiny of who we are and who we will become not who we were in the past.  We are his children.  He is our loving Father.  He provides.  He protects.  He guides.  He directs.  And when the time here on this plane of existence ends, we rejoice in our transition to spend eternity with him.  Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die.  And yet it is in death that we escape from this plane and enter into his realm. 

Peace be with you.  The knowledge of who you are awaits your coming.  The reward of heaven awaits your acknowledgement.  The struggle of this existence will concede to you when you accept who you are and rejoice in the life that is within you.  Come!  The Spirit awaits your awakening.  It awaits your rising up from the slumber of this world and your embracing that for which you are.  Christ loves you.  The Father loves you.  The Holy Spirit feeds you and you will live.

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:25b; The Argument.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 5.  

There was the Question: "Whence was the baptism of John? from heaven or from men?"  Jesus posed this question to the chief priest and the elders to test their honesty and sincerity in seeking the truth.  Did they really want to know of his authority or were they asking him for proof of his authority to set another trap for him? 

They came with a plan to questioned him.  They were angry and jealous of his attraction to the people.  They did not know him or from whence he came.  He taught in the temple but his teachings were different from theirs.  His teachings were commonplace and reached the hearts and minds of the people.  And this was something that the leaders did not like.  They were afraid that he would sway the people against them.  So,  (They) began to argue among themselves. 

They had prepared their question and knew what they would do with his answer.  They did not know that he would pose a question to them.  So they had to step back and prepare an answer for him.  They had to consider all the possibilities of their answer.  They had to respond in a way that they knew would not be controversial or that would cause themselves harm in the eyes of the people.  So they argued among themselves.

They were like children who had done something wrong and were preparing their story of what happened.  They did not want to cast doubt upon themselves.  They did not want to be seen as culprits.  So they had to get their story strait.  Guilt or innocent.  Right or wrong.  Acceptance or blame.  Punishment or forgiveness.  These were the emotions that they dealt with, the same emotions that we deal with today.

We do not want to be wrong, we want to be right.  Our fear of punishment persuade us to try and escape, attempt to place blame on someone or something else.  We learn this from childhood and the more it is practiced the more we rely on it to find solutions to wrongs that we commit in life.  And our conscience influence aids us in finding ways to explain or to get out of the punishment that awaits us.

Is there remorse?  Is there shame?  Is there a true feeling of regret for what we have done?  Only the heart knows and our God knows our hearts.  He sees within our deepest thoughts and feelings.  He knows the truth of who we are.  He is our judge and jury.  He is the one who will issue punishment.  And he is the one who can dispense mercy.  He is the one who can forgive.  He is the one who knows who we are and knows our weaknesses.  Yet it is up to us to ask for his mercy, to ask for his forgiveness, to seek his love.

Deep within is the spirit of his creation, the object of his love.  We are his children and he is our Father.  He gave us life and it is that life that he sees as loving and caring and wonderful.  But we live in a world where that life can be tainted, dulled, corrupted, and killed, if it is not protected and nourished.  We are loved.  We are cared for.  We are provided for, if we only allow ourselves to be.  The choice is ours.  The peace is ours.  The rewards are ours, waiting to be accepted.  Open the door and let him in.  Open the door and receive the nourishment of life.

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:25a; The Dilemma of the Question.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 4. 

Shocked by his response, the chief priest and elders were in turn asked to answer a question before their question was answered.  They wanted to know the origin of Christ.  They wanted to know where he was taught, who taught him, what school he attended, where did he obtain such knowledge.

They were angry and indignant at him and his teachings.  He captivated the people.  The people were drawn to him, listened intently, more than they had listened to the priests and the elders.  More than that his words stayed with them long after they were spoken and were pasted on to others.  They Word spread.  So the dilemma to the question:  "Whence was the baptism of John? from heaven, or from men?" 

Most of the common people knew and believed that John the Baptist was anointed, a prophet.  He inspired the people from near and far to come and repent of their sins.  He was the one written of in the Bible as the messenger who came before the coming of the Messiah.  Yet here were the chief priests and the elders, learned men, who knew and studied the Law and the books of the Bible, faced with the question of the origin of John the Baptist.  How could they answer?  How could they speak of this prophet?  How should they respond?

We are faced with a similar question today:  Is Christ the Son of God or is he just the son of Mary and Joseph?  The question goes to the core of what we believe today, or values, our hopes, our dreams, our life, and our being.  If he is the Son of God and the writings of the Bible are true then we can have faith and hope in what was written.  If he was the son of Mary and Joseph, just a man, then those writings are fiction and not believable.

Where lies the truth?  From what realm do we operate our lives?  How do we fit what we know and what we believe in the world we live in?  Is it a mystery, something that we cannot fathom and must store in our minds as a mystery, not to be questioned, only to be accepted?  There is the world around us that we accept with truth and fact, facts that we see everyday.  Then there is belief, a leap beyond facts and what we can see and feel daily.  And it is that leap that allows us to go beyond the everyday, the mundane, the mysterious. 

Some have that ability to leap.  Some do not.  Some only rely on facts that they can see and feel and know within themselves.  But those who have that ability can do more than see and feel.  They can understand the life within.  They can see the truth of what was sacrificed and what was given.  For we are two in one.  We are spiritual in the physical.  We are eternal and perishable.  We are children of the one who created us in his image and likeness.  And it is that image and likeness that Christ came to restore to those who can make the leap, to those who can believe, to those who know the truth of his passion and the love of God our Father.  It is real.  It is truth.  It is eternal.  It is here and now waiting for those to take the leap of faith and believe. 

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:24; The Question.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 3. 

The chief priest and the elders came to Jesus with the question.  They wanted to know from where he obtained his authority to preach.  They wanted to know where he trained, who taught him, and how he came to do such miracles, since they did not know of him or from whence he came.  So they came with the question of his authority.

They were incensed that he taught the people without their permission.  He taught in the temple where they taught and the people listened to him rather than their teachings.  The people were leaning away from the teachings of the Law and leaning towards the teachings of Christ.  And the chief priest and elders witnessed the change that was taking place and they did not like it.  So they came and confronted him directly and asked the question.  Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question, and if you answer me this, I in turn will tell you by what authority I do these things." 

And so it became a standoff.  The chief priest and the elders wanting to know the answer and Christ having a question for them, wanting to know how they would respond.  Would they come to an agreement or would they have a standoff each taking a different side? 

The Mexican standoff was at play here.  Good verses evil, left verses right, your side verses mine.  Were do we go from here or do we continue to stay divided?  This sounds like a position that we face everyday in our lives.  Where do we stand?  And that question is put to us so often that the answer comes automatic because of our programing.  We have a choice but which do we take.

Do we go right or do we go left?  Are we naturally inclined to the right but the persuasion and influence of the left draws us in.  We fight.  We struggle.  But it is only with the help of something stronger than ourselves that we are able to stay the course.  Where do we find the strength?  Where do we find the courage, the enlightenment, the belief, the faith and the hope to continue each day.  

We are spiritual beings encased in a physical body.  We live in the physical but we belong to the spiritual.  Our physical existence is given to us without our asking.  Yet our spiritual being requires feeding, requires nourishment, takes exercise and practice for it to grow and develop into the life of its own.  It is there but we need to recognize it and feed it.  And we have a source that will lead and guide us along the way.  But the need and desire to grow is up to us.  It is our decision where to stand, to the right or to the left.  Where do we want to be?  Do we want to be with the authority of the universe or do we want to be with physical realm of death?  The answer is ours only.  No one can make it for us but many can influence.  Will you answer my question or will I answer yours?  

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.