St. Matthew, Chapter 22, verse: 7a; The King's anger.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The king's anger) Part 1.  

We continue the parable of the kingdom of heaven that Christ is relaying to the people so that they can have some understanding.  He tells the story in terms that the people can relate to because they have a king.  And often their king has celebrations that the entire population of that town knows about because he sends out messengers throughout the town to proclaim to the people the news of the celebration.  In this parable the king sends out messengers a second time because no one came when he sent the first message to those invited. 

The king was happy.  He wanted to celebrate with his subjects the marriage of his son and the new bride.  But no one came upon sending out the second messengers.  In fact he learned that his messengers had been beaten and killed.  "But when the king heard of it, he was angry." 

The people of the town can relate to an angry king because they have seen and lived through times when their own king is angry.  They know the consequences of his anger.  And this is an idea that Christ wants the people to know about when they think of the kingdom of heaven.  They killed and destroyed the king's messengers which is something that you did not do in those times. 

Can we relate today to this parable in the same way as the people in the time of Christ?  What would happen today if the word of God was destroyed?  What would God do?  Christ came that we would know of the Father.  He left us with the Church that we would have places to go, places of sanctuary.  And he proclaimed that the kingdom of hell shall not prevail against it. 

So we see today that even though there are instances of evil taking over portions of the church, in total the church still prevails and God watches over that which is his.  For if the church would fall God would become very angry and would seek his vengeance upon those who would seek to destroy that which Christ built.  We have a loving God, a God of peace.  But we also have a God that will anger against those that would seek to destroy that which is his.  Be happy.  Be thankful that wrongs committed against those who seek the righteousness of his word will rouse the anger of our God .  For he is judge and jury, and vengeance is his alone.

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 22, verse: 6; And they killed the messengers.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The marriage feast) Part 5.  

No one showed.  No one came to the feast.  The invitations were sent out twice but no one came to the party.  Everyone was talking about it.  Everyone said that they were going.  But they were too busy to celebrate with the king and his son.  He sent out the invitations twice so no one could say that they did not get it.  They were complacent and had other more important things to do than to spend time with the king.

They were tired of hearing about the king's party.  The messengers had come around on several occasions talking about the celebration and everyone was talking about it.  But no one went when the time came.  So they were frustrated and wanted to stop the talk about this event.  And so: "The rest laid hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them." 

They killed the messengers.  The king sent them out to remind those invited that the celebration was ready and they killed them.  They beat them, kicked them, spat on them, and then killed them.  Is that something that we would do today?  Would we kill the messengers if they came around talking about the kingdom of heaven and we did not want to hear them?  Would we treat them badly and kill them?  We often see them on the corners of our local streets, preaching hell and damnation.  Often we think of them as bible thumping preachers who have nothing else to do.  We see them and then we continue on about our business.  We believe that our message will be preached in the churches and not on the streets.  But this was the way it was in the time of Christ.  There were no churches, just the synagogue.

Today we don't kill them because it is against the law.  But we do kill them because we ignore them.  We see them but we do not.  We hear them but we do not hear them.  We believe what they are saying but we do not.  We live in two worlds.  We live in the physical world and we live in the spiritual world, if we believe.  We respond to the physical world because that is what we see and feel everyday.  But the spiritual world is within us.  The spiritual world requires something of us that the physical does not, that we believe.  We say that we believe but do we really.  

God, our Father, calls us to be his children, created in his image and likeness.  Our Father is a loving god and he would expect the same of us.  He is a god of provision and protection.  He would not allow anything to happen to his children just as we are parents and would not allow anything within our power to happen to our own children.  We love them and they give us love and happiness.  They are a part of us and we are a part of them.  So as we grow and become more a part of the physical world let us reflect back and think about the part where we were young and had parents to provide for us.  So today we are children of our God and he provides for and cares for us.  He is having a celebration and all are invited.  Come, join the party.

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 22, verse: 5; And they laughed at the invitation.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The marriage feast) Part 4.  

You see, Jesus is comparing the kingdom of heaven to a king preparing a wedding feast for his son.  He wants to have fun and merriment during the celebration and he wants all those invited to have a good time.  So he has made all these elaborate preparations so that there will be music and wine and food enough for all.  He has sent out invitations to all those that he would like to attend but they refused to come.

Those that were invited talked about coming.  They thought about making preparations to come.  They did not show.  "But they made light of it, and went off, one to his farm, and another to his business."  

We are party people.  Why would one turn down an invitation to a party?  In this day and time a well planned party is a welcomed opportunity.  It is like a vacation away from the ordinary dull drums of the work-a-day world we live in.  But Christ was making a comparison for those to hear who could understand his meanings and his message.  One has to question himself as to why would one not go to a celebration.

We can think of reasons why: "It's going to be a bad party.", "No one is going to be there.", "The celebration will be dull and boring, the same as before.", "It will not be a fun time that one will remember because one cannot have fun with the king present."  There are many reasons that they did not want to go to the wedding celebration.  

What are our reasons today?  Do we not want to be at the celebration?  Do we not want to go to the wedding feast of the king's son?  Do we not want to praise and honor to the one so blessed as to unite with a bride to begin a new life?  What do we have to say about the feast?  There are things that we have to do to prepare ourselves.  We must have the proper clothing to wear.  We must have the right attitude when attending so that we might enjoy ourselves.  Are we preparing to go to the feast?

Christ wants us to understand the kingdom of heaven.  He provides us with examples that we can understand and relate to so that our minds are open to the message he wants to give us.  Just as those who laughed at the invitation and made light of it, we do the same today.  We say that we want to go but we make no plans.  We say that we want to be there but we do not want to make the preparations to be there.  We say that we will be there but we go about doing the same things that lead us in a different direction.  What do we want?  What are we doing?

The path that leads to the celebration is like a path of enlightenment.  For this celebration the whole path is filled with wonderful joys and happiness that we can not even imagine.  Our eyes are opened.  Our hearts are filled along the way.  And that which is within us is awakened to the truth of who we are.  We become more alive because we realize who we are becoming and where the path is taking us.  The celebration is a wonderful place to be and the path that leads to it is filled with prizes of enlightenment.

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 22, verse: 4; A second invitation.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The marriage feast) Part 3.  

No one had come to the feast.  The king had sent out invitations to all the nobles and the important guest but no one came.  He wanted to have the great hall filled with guest and party goers so that there would be merriment and laughter.  He wanted all those who were of importance to be there to see his son and new wife celebrate their vows, but no one came.   

So he sent out a second invitation.  "Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast." 

You see, they were invited.  They were the ones who were sent invitations to come to the party.  They were the ones who were favored to come.  They were the ones who from the beginning knew about the great celebration and the marriage feast of the son but they did not come, they refused to come and celebrate with the king.  There was something in the air, something was amiss with the celebration and the people who were invited knew and refused to participate.

Are we the same today?  Do we refuse to come to the party, to the wedding feast?  We are invited.  We were sent the invitations. But there is something amiss that prevents us from going from wanting to go to participate.  

Are there requirements to participate?  Do we have to jump through hoops to go, or pay a fee to get in?  What do we have to do to be invited, or even to go.  We believe that this is going to be a great celebration.  We have been told that it will be the party of a lifetime, like no other.  So what will it take for us to go.  Will it cost too much?  Will it take up too much of our time and energy to prepare?  Will it be worth the energy going?  Is there another party that is better that we would like to go to that is being held at the same time?  What do we decide, what do we do?  Do we plan to go or not?

Faced with this decision what will you decide?  What will you do?  Will you continue along the road you travel or will you make the turn to the right that leads back to the wedding feast?  You know that you have heard about it.  You know that you want to go.  Yet there is something that holds you here, something that causes you to hesitate in your decision.  Do not waver in your decision.  Be straight forward and decisive in your answer.  Everyone is waiting for you to come.  They want to see you there.  Come join the party, come to the wedding feast!  It will be a blast.

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.