St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 18b; Swearing by the gifts.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 7.  

He called them blind guides, fools, they did not know what they were doing.  They believed in themselves.  They believed that they had the authority to know, the authority to declare, the authority to be right in their decisions.  But Christ called them fools, blind guides that did not know where they were going.  

They called themselves leading the people.  They called themselves religious leaders, yet Christ said that their religion was distorted, made up, not true, contrived.  They were blind and could not see the truth in their own beliefs that they taught the people.  They told the people that if they swear by the alter it is nothing: "But whoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is bound."

Christ called them hypocrites, fools, blind guides, because they walked in the dark not knowing where they were going and they led the people in that same darkness.  But these were the Pharisees and the Scribes, the rulers of the day.  They were the ones that walked the streets who enforced the rules of the Law to the people.  They saw to it that the people kept the Law or they paid the fines for breaking it.

And then out of the blue came this stranger that no one knew called Christ who taught the people a different way to live, a different way to love, a different way to know their God in heaven.  He walked with them, talked with them, eat with them, drank with them, danced with them, did all the things that a normal person would do even though he was the Son of God.  He heard their cries and their sorrows, and the moans, and the groans of those who were suffering from affliction and he cured them all.  He opened the eyes, and the mouths, and the ears, and healed the wounds of the lepers and raised the dead that all would know that he was sent from the Father from above.

And they still would not believe.  They still hated him.  They still could not see the truth of who he was.  What do you do with a person who faced with all the evidence but still will not accept the truth?  You can not force them to change.  You can not beat the change into them.  What do you do?  You can only love them for who they are and accept that they are not able to change.  God is a god of love.  He loves the good and the bad.  He makes the sun shine and the rain fall on both until that day comes when his judgment takes place.  Where will you be?

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 23, verses: 18a; Swearing by the altar.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 6.  

They did not know, for they had created a religion based upon the knowledge of man and not the wisdom of God.  Their beliefs were based upon the limited wisdom of man.  Christ called them blind fools.  They had no understanding of the wisdom of God nor had they sought or asked for his wisdom.

They ruled the people based upon what they could conceive themselves.  The wisdom of the prophets was not known to them.  The knowledge that came from the God to the prophets was killed, buried with their bodies because they could not hear the message that the prophets brought from God.  This is why they believed: "And whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing."  

They had no idea of sanctity or purity or even of the knowledge of God himself.  Generations had passed since their forefathers were brought out of Egypt and lead through the dessert by the hand of God.  They were many generations away from their forefathers with very little knowledge of what truths were experienced by their parents.  They knew not and even those who had access to the readings of the past did not talk about it or tell about the times past.  Only in the synagogues on Sundays when the readings were held did one have the opportunity to hear of the miracles wrought by the hand of God.  And those miracles were attached to the Law that one must keep, the Law that was interpreted by the rulers who created them and changed them.

They had a distorted idea of religion.  Christ came down from heaven to be with us, to walk with us to talk with us, to show us the truth of who we are and how we should be.  We are the children of our creator, our Father, a father who loves us.  He wants us to stay out of harms way just as we would want our children to not be harmed.  It is amazing to think that the son of the creator walked this earth among mankind, lived with us, died for us, arose from the dead to return to heaven so that we would know the truth of the cycle of life.  We have life within us just as he has life and the Father has life.  Our belief in him is our belief in his life and the life in the Father.  Our belief in him is our oneness in him as he is one with the Father.  

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 23, verses: 17b; Which is greater?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 5.  

He called them blind.  He called them fools.  They could not see, they could not hear, they could not understand.  They had distorted everything that was given to them.  They had made their own religion to conform to their own desires so that they would be in control of the people and the people would respond to their wishes.

They were the rulers of the people.  They made the laws and handed them down to the people.  Moses gave them the Law from God but they changed it to meet their own needs.  God sent prophets to show them the errors of their ways but they did not listen, they did not hear.  This is why Christ called them blind fools: "For which is greater, the gold, or the temple which sanctifies the gold?"  For this is what they made their religion to believe.

Many years had past since their forefathers had left the dessert and the memories of the miracles of the hand of God protecting the children of Israel.  The prophets had come and gone and nothing changed.  The generations did not remember the lessons of the past.  The leaders and rulers came and went without handing down the wisdom of the forefathers.  The world was the same.  Everyone sought power and fame and fortune.  Everyone sought the glory of men and no one sought the glory of God.

Gold had more value than anything on earth, and yet man had not reached or sought the inner value of the soul.  He had not witnessed the truth of the burning light of life within that came from the life of the soul given by the sacrifice of Christ.  And the light of the world walked the earth without being noticed.  The demons noticed his light but man could not see it.  The leaders of the people could not see it and the crucified him for it.  Yet that is why he came down from heaven that he might pay the price for our transgressions and free us from sin.  

We are blessed to have a second chance.  We are blessed to be so loved to have him as a savior.  We are so wonderfully blessed to not have to walk in darkness anymore but are now guided by the light of his Advocate, the Holy Spirit.  Thank you Father for your love.  Thank your Christ for your passion.  Thank you Holy Spirit for your guiding light.  Amen!

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 23, verses: 17a; Blind fools.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 4.  

He called them blind guides.  They were the leaders of the church, the leaders of the people, the religious guides at the time.  Yet Christ said that they were blind guides not knowing where they were going, where they were leading the people.  He said that they traveled miles to make a convert only to make that person a son of hell.

What kind of leaders would do that?  What kind of spiritual leaders would convert a soul to hell instead of heaven?  Yet that was the leadership present at the time of Christ and he wanted the people to know who they were following.  He wanted his disciples to know the kind of men that they would replace because he called this leadership: "You blind fools!"

They were not blind in the physical sense.  They could see with their eyes.  But their minds could not interpret what their eyes saw and their ears could not understand what was being spoken by what they heard and thus they were deceived.  And thus they were blind fools in total denial of what was happening around them.  The world was in the process of change.  The people where changing due to the excitement of the mood and the mist of change.  But the fools could not see it, they could not hear it, they could not understand it because they were in their own world apart from the rest.

Will this be the same today?  Will the coming of the Lord be a subtle change that we who are expecting him only know?  Will the excitement of his coming be in the air, on our minds, in our thoughts that others will not be able to see or understand because they are blinded by the world around them no matter how much we try to show them.  Will it all be too late for them?  Will our leaders be blind guides telling the people not to worry, not to be concerned?  Will they listen to the blind guides or listen to their hearts and turn to the Lord for their answers?  

Christ came and gave us new life.  We were dead but he renewed our sentence, paid our penance, and gave us new life.  Today we have a choice to have life in him.  We have a choice to be with him for eternity.  We have a choice to be fulfilled.  Today we have a choice to 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 23, verses: 16c; Swearing by the Gold.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 3.  

They were worldly in their beliefs.  They valued gold and silver and incents and jewels and all kinds of precious things.  Their eyes and minds were filled with the ways of the flesh and not the spirit of the Lord.  The prophets came to warn them of their transgressions but they did not listen.  The words spoken to their forefathers did not reach them.  For it had been years since the Lord had spoken to them.

The leadership of the people had lost their way.  They had become blinded by the ways of the world as did the Israelites in desert when they fashioned calves of gold to worship as their god.  Their minds were still set on the glitter of gold as having a value greater than anything on earth or in heaven.  This is why they said that: "But whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound."

They were fixated on gold.  They placed it at a higher value than anything else.  And they believed that if one swears by this higher value then one is bound by that value because if one breaks that bond then one would have to pay that bond in gold.  And yet not many had such a value in gold to pay.  

Yet who was to determine if that bond was broken?  Who was to judge if that bond was a just bond or a false bond, one that could be easily broken?  If the bond is broken do we fear paying the price in gold?  What would be the consequences if not paid?  Would it be jail, or a beating, or lashing, or death, or servitude?  What would be the ultimate price that one would pay for breaking a bond of gold?

What would be the price of breaking a bond with God?  Can we swear by him that we will be bound to do what we say we are to do?  Are we confident in ourselves that we can commit to do what we say that we are bound to do?  Is that something that we can swear by?  Is that something that we can keep?  

We are really between a rock and a hard place.  On the one hand we have a god who does not want us to transgress and on the other we have evil that does.  Our Father knows that we will be influenced by the evil that is in the world.  He is willing to forgive our transgressions if we understand that we have done wrong and ask for his help and forgiveness.  We are not perfect beings.  We are subject to make mistakes.  He is perfect and is willing to forgive our mistakes and love us still because he knows that there is evil in the world.  

Christ saw the good and the bad in all mankind and he was willing to sacrifice his life that we might have the chance for a new life.  His passion for mankind is so great that it transcended the pain and suffering that he endured to save us.  Now we each have a decision to make about our lives.  That choice is ours to make.  Open your heart.  Find the true soul of who you are  within.  Christ is waiting for your call.  He will come knocking at the door of your heart.  Will you open it and let him in?

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.