St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 21; The Oneness of Him and the Temple.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 12.

You see they had no idea what they were doing.  They were led by their intuitions, by their instincts, by the influences of the world around them which would have them maintain their positions of power and influence.  They were the rulers of the time.  They had positions of power and prestige that they did not want to lose.  And Christ came along and questioned their positions by calling them blind guides in the public eye which challenged their authority and prestige.  Any other person they would have had the temple guards arrest and thrown into jail or beaten.

This was Christ, however, the miracle worker.  He had cured many of the sick and the lame and the blind and the cripple.  There were many followers who believed in him and his teachings.  So the Pharisees and the Scribes and the Elders had to think of another way to capture him so that they could silence him for good.  But they did not realize who they were dealing with.  They did not know the storm that was brewing behind the scenes and the parts they were playing.  Christ had to stir the hornet's nest.  He had to take them to task.  He had to show them up to the people so that everyone would know who they were.  This is why he told them:  "And he who swears by the temple swears by it, and by him who dwells in it."

You see they didn't know.  They were being influenced by the evil in the world, like pawns on a chess board.  To swear by the one who dwells in the temple is to swear by Almighty God.  And to swear by Almighty God is a bond that must be kept, a bond that must not be broken.  Yet here the Scribes and the Pharisees were telling the people that to swear by the temple it is nothing.  How foolish they had become.  How distorted they had rationalized the truth of their religion.  How broken were they making the people against the God of their fathers.

Two thousand years ago Christ came down from heaven to walk among mankind.  He gave up his majestic robe, his kingly spirit and became human that he might experience the truth of humankind.  He walked with us.  He talked with us.  He danced and drank, and eat with us.  He laughed, cried, smiled, sighed, felt human emotions as we do.  He lived a full life with us and he left his legacy for us to know that he was here with us.  And lastly he fulfilled his promise for which he came; he gave his life to pay for the original sin committed in the garden.  

For his life and for his passion we have life again.  We have a new soul.  We have but to believe in him who came, him who is, him who guides and saves our life is anew.  The choice requires daily renewal and confidence for there is one who will test that belief, that faith, that trust of the soul within.  But there is one also that will renew and guide and support and walk with you every minute, every hour of the day to be the light in the darkness that comes.  Keep the faith.  Know the love.  Trust in the truth of the light of life that is within you.

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: 20; The Oneness of the gift and the Altar.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 11.  

They had taken the essentials of faith and distorted it to their own beliefs.  Little did they understand the true meanings of religion.  Little did they know the truth of faith.  Little did they believe in the spirit of the living God who brought them out of Egypt into the land of milk and honey.  The Scribes and the Pharisees were only concerned in maintaining the status quo over the people so that they could keep their positions of power.

They did not understand the oneness of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Without that understanding how could they understand the oneness of the altar.  They believed that swearing by the altar was nothing but swearing by the gifts that were placed upon the altar meant that they were bound by the gift.  Christ had to explain to them: "Therefore he
who swears by the altar swears by it, and by all things that are on it."

This is the distinction that had to be made, the oneness of the altar.  Everything that is placed upon the altar becomes one with the altar and is sanctified by the altar.  They are not separate from it but are one with it.  The altar is the sacred table of God upon which Christ made his covenant with the church at the last supper.  He blessed the bread and the cup of wine that he gave to his disciples as a symbol of the new covenant that he made for the sacrifice which he was about the make for the sins of mankind.  And it was upon that sacred table upon which he made that covenant.

Today, all over the world, we have the sacred altars which are blessed by the church before they are used in services.  Our gifts are no longer gifts of food, or animals, or incense, but today we give tithes that are placed before the altar to show our thanks to God for the many gifts that he gives us on a daily basis.  We show our gratitude through what we give back to the church to help spread God's word to his people.  

We are blessed to know our God.  We are blessed to walk in the light and not in darkness and despair.  We are blessed to be able to call out to our God and have our voices heard.  For truly he will respond.  And truly we must be patient.  For he is loving and caring and protective and providing and vengeful of those that would do us harm.  Thank you Lord Jesus for loving us. 

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: 19b; Which is greater?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 10.  

He called them blind ones because they could not see beyond the physical.  They were the spiritual leaders of the people but they had no spirit themselves.  Their religion was contrived, earthly, physical, without the understanding of the knowledge and wisdom of God.  They had the writings handed down by God to Moses.  They had the writings from the prophets. But they did not have the deep understanding and wisdom that came from the study of the wisdom from God and the Holy Spirit.

Christ came to give understanding.  He came that eyes would be opened.  He came that ears would hear.  He came that joy would be in the hearts of men once again from knowing that there is a true living God in heaven who loves mankind.  He came to show that there is forgiveness of sin for those who seek it.  He came to give clarity to their distorted religion to show:  "For which is greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift!" 

The altar is the sacred table upon which we place our gifts of thanks to God for his graciousness of the benefits that he has given us.  For it is by his goodness that we live and breathe and eat and find the many things in life that we have on a daily basis.  The sun shines every day and the rain comes, and the wind blows, and the plants grow from the ground and we have food to eat and the many things that we have that we take for granted everyday that others do not have or that someday may be taken away.  Where would we be without his grace? 

It is through his grace that we live and breathe each day.  The gifts that we give back have no meaning to the one who created them but it is the altar that we place them upon that makes them sacred, that transforms them into blessed gifts coming from the ones that he has created that shows our gratitude to our God for the many, many things that he does for us.  

How can we possibly repay?  How can we possibly make up for all that is given to us?  It is only through these gifts placed upon the sacred altar that are transformed that express our love and thanks for him that is our Lord and Savior and our God.  Thank you God our Father.  Thank you Lord Jesus.  Thank you Holy Spirit for all that you do for us.   

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: 19a; Blind Ones.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 9.  

We grew up signing the nursery rhyme three blind mice not knowing its meaning.  Christ calls the Scribes and the Pharisees blind fools, blind guides, hypocrites because they have created a distorted religion that they teach the people.  He even tells them that they are making converts to their religion that are becoming sons of hell.

They hound him.  They dog him constantly thinking that they might catch him in some trick to accuse him of some transgression of the Law so that they might punish him and silence him of his teachings to the people.  They refuse to see.  They refuse to hear.  They refuse to understand who they are dealing with.  In their minds they believe that Christ is an ordinary man attempting to lead the people away from the rulers of the temple.  Yet this is the one belief that keeps them from seeing the truth that is before their eyes.  And this is why Christ calls them:
"Blind ones!"

They could not see.  They were blind to the truth that was right before their eyes.  Many people are that way today.  Rather than admit an error or their wrong they rather deny the truth knowing that they were wrong.  They create a false lie in their minds in an attempt to make themselves believe that the lie is the truth.  Then there are those who just are not able to accept the truth that is presented to them right before their eyes.  Their minds break down and do not accept what they see.

We cling to what we know, what we can feel and see.  For many everything else is make believe.  Yet the physical and spiritual nature of who we are is a fact, we are one person in two bodies, physical body and spiritual body.  Christ came that our spiritual body would not die.  He came to pay the price for our sins.  Now we have a choice.  We can live in the physical body and die in the spiritual or we can die in the physical and live in the spiritual.  The choice is ours.  The belief is ours.  The asking is ours.  The love of our Lord and Savior is ours to believe.  He came for us.  He died for all of us.  He awaits our call.  Call his name! 

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.