St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 27a; Woe to you.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their hypocritical purity) Part 5.  

He cried for them because he knew their fate.  He knew what would happen to them and he wanted to give them the opportunity to change, so he cried out for them.  Woe to you, he said, as though they were going to suffer the fate of those men who were beaten, flogged, hung from the cross, or even worse, suffered the eternal flames of hell.  Christ knew what would happen to them if they continued on the path they followed.

He used the harshest words that he could think of in the worst way he could use them to affect them in the deepest sense.  Did it work?  Probably not.  Did they change.  Probably not.  Yet he still wanted to open a crack in their armor so that maybe some light might get through.  So he cried out for them:  "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"  

He called them hypocrites and he did it in the public where everyone could hear.  He knew that it would anger them.  He knew that it would enrage them.  He hoped that it would cause them to question their beliefs, their motives, their faith in their religious behavior.  Were they that blind?  Could they not see the purpose of what he was doing?  Were they so far gone that they had no idea of what was happening around them that they failed to see the obvious?

What is life all about?  There are those who are the achievers in life who are in the spotlight.  There are those who are talked about all the time in the news, in the media, on the radio, television, and elsewhere.  There are those who are our favorite persons that we would like to be like, movie stars, persons of interest, people we would like to know.  And there are those who in our immediate circles that we wish we could be like or have the character traits they have so that we can be liked by so many.  

The need to be liked, be wanted, to have friends that like us that we can influence is very strong in our lives today.  It goes a long way in our everyday life both at work, at play, in the community, in social circles, and in all walks of our lives.  We are compelled to be liked, to be known, to be loved, and to do almost anything to gain that attention and to keep it.  Compare this to the quiet person who seeks no attention, the person who is just there being who he is without the need to show off or take the spotlight.  What speaks of his character, his personality, his wants, his desires, his beliefs, his needs to be known.  Are they nonexistent?  Or is he at peace with himself as he is without the need for attention?

Where do we want to be in this world?  The beauty of the answer to that question is, we are already there.  Christ has promised us a new life.  He has opened the doors for us.  All we have to do is walk in and accept him as our savior.  We do not have to fight or struggle to gain his attention.  We don't have to put down or trample others to get to him, because he has a place for all who will accept him, all who will love him.  We can be at peace in this world because he has already given it to us and more.  He has given us more than our hearts can desire if we simply ask to be with him.

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: 26b; Clean first the inside!

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their hypocritical purity) Part 4.

 He had to teach them.  He had to help them to understand where they were.  He had to break through the darkness inside, to open a door so that they might have light to see what was inside.  They only cleansed the outside and thought they were pure.  But on the inside they were full of dirt and uncleanness.  All kinds of iniquities had taken over on the inside and they believed that it was okay to appear this way.  This was their purity on the inside and Christ had to teach them to see the truth of what was really inside.

So he called them out.  He told them they were impure.  He told the Pharisees they were like whited graves full of rotted bones on the inside, painted white on the outside to look clean.  This was the religion they practiced.  He told them:  "Clean first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside too may be clean."

 Clean the inside first.  Get all the garbage out of the inside.  Clean the mind, clean the thoughts, clean the actions, do right, do no wrong, speak good of your neighbors, be at peace with yourself and others, love your neighbor as yourself, hold fast to the beliefs given us by Christ as handed down through his teachings.  

There is so much that we must live with in this world in accordance with Christian beliefs.  Life does not offer opportunity to live according to the teachings of Christ.  There are times when we will be tempted.  Times when we will be put to the test to do otherwise.  There will be times when we must ask for forgiveness for not having the strength to follow our beliefs.  Yet if we can remember our teachings we can come back to the path we are given and seek his mercy to return to his wisdom of life for us.  

Surrender to his will and peace will be yours.  Seek to know his purpose for your life and you will find your way.  He came to unlock the chains of bondage to free us from slavery to sin.  He came to teach us how to live a life of peace and love, a life of knowledge and understanding.  He came to light the path that we may know the way to his kingdom, the path to the Father.  

Seek the knowledge that he has left for us to know.  Understand the wisdom that is within you to see.  Trust in the spirit that connects you to his love and to the Father, the creator of all things.  For he is the fulfillment of all desire and all joy and all happiness and desires of the soul.

 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.