St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 16b; Swearing by the Temple.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 2.  

He had called them names in public, names that caused other prophets to be killed.  He berated them for the things they did, for their so called pious behavior, for their religious demeanor on the outside and hypocritical behavior on the inside.  He saw everything that they did and made comment of it to the people.  And the Pharisees and the Scribes did not like what they heard from this man of low demeanor.

Yet he was the Christ that they could not see.  He was the Messiah.  He was the Chosen One and they still could not see the writing on the wall.  The people heard, the people saw, the people understood.  The people believed and knew that he was the one foretold, the one who would come and bring about change.  But they, the religious leadership, could not believe he was the one.  He called them blind guides: "Who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing."

Is it nothing to swear by the house of God?  Is it not something to make an oath and bind it by the house that the creator of the universe lives?  Does that not have any meaning?  We place our hands on the Bible and swear to tell the truth.  If we place our hands on the Temple of God and swear that we are bound does that not have meaning?

We say that a man's bond is his word but how true are those words today.  How often have those words been reversed or taken aback when convenient and to our benefit.  What is truth?  What is honesty?  What is love of brother, or neighbor of fellow man?  We are all brothers and sisters created by one God, given his one image.  Does that not make us the same?  

Least we forget who we are, we come from a different place.  As beautiful and wonderful as this place we live in, it is not the home we are destined for.  We are two in one.  A two-fer, one flesh, one spirit.  Until we come to realize and understand this we loose the truth of who we are in this world.  We loose the opportunity given us from birth to transform into the spirit that we are to become.  For we are truly spiritual beings in a physical body waiting for the transformation to take place at the given time and place designated by God.  Do not be blinded by the physical.  Open your heart and see the true you from within.

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 12, verses: 46 - 50, Family Relationships.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus and His brethren). 

In the midst of his prophecy concerning the Pharisees, Christ is interrupted and  someone said to him, "Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are standing outside, seeking thee."    For while he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brethren were standing outside, seeking to speak to him.   

Christ uses every opportunity to teach.  He uses every opportunity to open eyes and to challenge minds to understand truths.   He has finished taking to task the Pharisees and now he uses this opportunity concerning his relatives to demonstrate that we are all children of God.  We are all family.  We are all brothers and sisters and mothers, belonging to Christ and to God.  For this must have been a shocking expression to the people standing about him that he would not stop what he was doing, give precedence to his family, mother and brothers, to speak with them.  But Christ seized upon the moment to challenge the minds of the people to think beyond the flesh.  He challenged the crowd to expand their minds, their thoughts, their feelings, their understanding of who they were and the family they belonged to.

Christ asked the man who told him of his relatives,  '' Who is my mother and who are my brethren?"   This was a question that must have shocked the man and the crowd for they knew Mary and the relatives of Christ.  Some had spoken with Mary.  Some knew where she was from.  Some knew his brothers.  So for Christ to ask this question must have shocked the crowd that he would not know who they were or that he would ask who they were.  But Christ wanted to teach.  He wanted to inform.  He wanted the people to know who they were and the family they were a part of.

And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said, "Behold my mother and my brethren!"  And this demonstration must have been even more proof that something was wrong.  For Christ had, in the eyes of the crowd, forsaken his natural mother and brothers for the disciples.  He had called and spoken of them as though they gave birth to him, which could imply such dishonor to his natural mother.  But Christ was a teacher.  Christ was a healer.  Christ was the Messiah and he had to shock the people to wake them up from their dream world that they may know who they were and know their heavenly family. 

Christ did not bring dishonor to Mary.  He did not bring slight to his brothers.  But, what he did do is to help the people put in perspective their relationship to each other.  For we are all brothers and sisters and mothers of each other.  For Christ then told the crowd,  "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother."   For who gives birth to Christ?  Who is related to Christ?  Who is the sister of Christ?  He who carries the spirit of Christ within him and does the will of the Father in heaven and on earth is the mother and brother, and sister of Christ.


And Christ taught.  He showed the people that he should spend no less time with those who are his natural mother and brothers than with those who are his spiritual brothers and sisters and mothers.  For spiritual mothers give birth to the spirit of Christ in their children when they do the will of God.  And spiritual brothers carry the message of Christ within them and spread the good news of the kingdom of heaven.  And spiritual sisters marry and love those who need the love of Christ in their lives that they may in turn bring forth the eternal life of Christ in others.


We all are brothers and sisters and mothers of Christ when we do God's will.  Are you a mother of Christ?  Are you a brother of Christ?  Are you a sister of Christ?  The will of God is the tie that binds us all in one heavenly family.   Do you belong to the family?