St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 10; One Master.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees) Part 8.  
This was a time of extremes when evil walked the land and inhabited men to do their work.  Christ warned the people and the disciples of what they had not seen or heard before.  He knew and could see the presence of evil.  He knew and could see within.  He knew and understood the workings of those that inhabited the souls of men.

The Scribes and the Pharisees were the rulers of the day.  It was their responsibility to keep the people in their place and to keep them subjugated to the Law, while they did not adhere to the Law.  They made sure that the people followed the Law but they themselves did not.  They were called Rabbi, took first seats in the synagogues, first places at supper, did everything to enforce their perceived places of honor and prestige.  


This was accepted by the people, Christ however, wanted the people to see the truth of who they were.  He wanted to remove the blinders from the eyes of the people so they could see the real souls of the Scribes and the Pharisees.  For there was evil and hypocrisy lurking within.  He told the people:  "Neither be called masters; for ONE only is your Master, the Christ."

Master, Father, and other titles were used to address those in authority.  Evil was within and to give honor and praise to evil was against the commandments.  There is only ONE living God worthy of the title Father.  There is only one Lord and Master deserving of the title Master.  Yet the people unknowingly called the Scribes and the Pharisees by these names giving praise to the evil that influenced them from within, an abomination.

We see not with our eyes.  We know not with our minds.  We are not who we appear to be but what we fail to see within.  For we were created in his image.  We are the children of his love.  He is our Father, our protector, and our provider.  Christ is our Lord and savior.  He it is who came down from heaven, walked among us, took on our shape and form that he might show us who how to live.  For we knew not.  We believed not.  We saw not and did not understand.  Yet we have been given the knowledge and the wisdom to see, to know, to believe, and to understand that which we are.  

The heart knows what it knows.  The heart sees what it sees.  The heart feels what it desires to feel that it can be fulfilled.  It is all written for those who seek.  It is ordered for those who want order.  It is given for those who want to give their lives to more than the ordinary day to day life of this world.  The Lord calls.  His voice can be heard if you listen.  Find it.  Seek it.  Cry for it.  Know that it is there for you to hear.  Others have heard and so will you.  The heart will know it's calling.

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 21, verse:25a; The Dilemma of the Question.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 4. 

Shocked by his response, the chief priest and elders were in turn asked to answer a question before their question was answered.  They wanted to know the origin of Christ.  They wanted to know where he was taught, who taught him, what school he attended, where did he obtain such knowledge.

They were angry and indignant at him and his teachings.  He captivated the people.  The people were drawn to him, listened intently, more than they had listened to the priests and the elders.  More than that his words stayed with them long after they were spoken and were pasted on to others.  They Word spread.  So the dilemma to the question:  "Whence was the baptism of John? from heaven, or from men?" 

Most of the common people knew and believed that John the Baptist was anointed, a prophet.  He inspired the people from near and far to come and repent of their sins.  He was the one written of in the Bible as the messenger who came before the coming of the Messiah.  Yet here were the chief priests and the elders, learned men, who knew and studied the Law and the books of the Bible, faced with the question of the origin of John the Baptist.  How could they answer?  How could they speak of this prophet?  How should they respond?

We are faced with a similar question today:  Is Christ the Son of God or is he just the son of Mary and Joseph?  The question goes to the core of what we believe today, or values, our hopes, our dreams, our life, and our being.  If he is the Son of God and the writings of the Bible are true then we can have faith and hope in what was written.  If he was the son of Mary and Joseph, just a man, then those writings are fiction and not believable.

Where lies the truth?  From what realm do we operate our lives?  How do we fit what we know and what we believe in the world we live in?  Is it a mystery, something that we cannot fathom and must store in our minds as a mystery, not to be questioned, only to be accepted?  There is the world around us that we accept with truth and fact, facts that we see everyday.  Then there is belief, a leap beyond facts and what we can see and feel daily.  And it is that leap that allows us to go beyond the everyday, the mundane, the mysterious. 

Some have that ability to leap.  Some do not.  Some only rely on facts that they can see and feel and know within themselves.  But those who have that ability can do more than see and feel.  They can understand the life within.  They can see the truth of what was sacrificed and what was given.  For we are two in one.  We are spiritual in the physical.  We are eternal and perishable.  We are children of the one who created us in his image and likeness.  And it is that image and likeness that Christ came to restore to those who can make the leap, to those who can believe, to those who know the truth of his passion and the love of God our Father.  It is real.  It is truth.  It is eternal.  It is here and now waiting for those to take the leap of faith and believe. 

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 21, verse:16a; The Sounds of Praise.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Anger of the Jewish leaders) Part 3. 

They were angry.  They were furious at him.  They did not know what to do.  They were fearful of losing the power and influence obtained through their positions.  They were never praised as he was.  They were never sought after as he was.  They were never brought the sick and the lame and the cripple to be cured.  They were only the keepers and enforcers of the Law as handed down by Moses.

The chief priests and the elders saw what Christ did for the people.  He helped the poor.  He cured the blind and the lame.  And he did this in the temple for all to see.  He taught them.  He showed love to them.  He cared for them as no other elder or priest had before.  And all loved what they received from him.  Even the little ones felt his influence.  And the priests could not understand:  And said to him, "Dost thou hear what these are saying?" 

Even the little ones were giving praise to him.  They understood.  They knew.  They saw with their on eyes and they believed.  Yet those with knowledge and experience did not believe, did not know, did not understand.  How was it that the babes could see and believe yet those with years of experience and knowledge could not see or believe?  Even today with all the beauty and wonder in the world, how is it that we do not see what is plainly before our eyes?  Are we blind?  Can we not see the wonders of this world and where they came from?  Do we not breathe the air?  Do we not feel the warmth of the sun?  Do we not have food to eat that comes from the ground itself?  Are these not miracles and wonders for us to see and know that we did not create these things?

Our God provides.  Our God protects.  Our God gives us bountiful gifts to demonstrate his love for us.  Yet we cannot see.  We cannot believe.  We cannot know because we are blinded by the world before us.  Science and industry have turned the world around such that we no longer believe that which we are given.  We have devised a system that turns us away from the wonders of the natural world we were given and turns us toward the world that is created by man.  For man, through his own ingeniousness, has changed the world.  Man has created his own world.  Man has made anew a world inside the natural world and now calls this the new world that we live in.

And with this new world comes the influence of evil and evildoers.  With this new world doors are open that should be closed.  Behaviors are common that once were forbidden.  Acts are accepted as commonplace and necessary that were once frowned upon as outside the norm and unacceptable.  And these same acts and behaviors are permeated throughout society for all to see as normal or necessary to succeed.  Black, brown, blue, green, yellow, white, we are all the same, no one above another.  For God is our creator and it is he who judges and punishes for their sins.

We are all created in his image and his likeness.  We are all spirits.  We are all his children.  God is not a physical being with blue eyes, or black or brown, with colored skin.  He is spirit and we are spirit just as he is, not physical.  He gave to us this form that we might live and exist in this physical realm.  But upon our death, we are transformed into the true beings that we are, spirits, and our lives begin on a different plane, a spiritual plane.  And those that have gone before us await our coming.  Even the little ones that were called early are there to greet us.  They were the ones who saw.  They were the ones who believed.  They are the ones who know the truth more than we do today. 

Christ has said that the little ones make up the kingdom of heaven and that no one can enter unless they become like them.  Let us give shouts and praise like the little ones.  Let us see the coming of the kingdom as the little ones.  Let us know the truth of who we are like the little ones.  For theirs is the true knowledge of the kingdom, theirs is the true glory of the kingdom,  theirs is the gift that God has given us to follow and believe.

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 20, verse:31a, Others tried to silence them.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The blind men at Jericho) Part 4. 

Opportunity knocked at their door.  Fortune favored their call.  The word spoke to them and they were overwhelmed with the joy and happiness that comes with the fulfillment of a dream.  For Christ was coming to their village.  He was coming to their town.  He was near and would soon be walking down the road where they sat begging for their survival.  They were blind.

The two blind men knew that this was their one time to ask the one person they believed could help them, Messiah.  They had heard the stories.  They had heard of the miracles.  They believed all were true and wanted to have their opportunity to ask the Lord for his help.  What did they want?  Was it gold?  Was it silver?  What was it that they wanted more than anything else in their lives.  They wanted to see.  More than life itself they wanted to be able to see and this was their opportunity.  They would not be silenced.  They would not cease their begging.  They would not pass on this opportunity to have their eyesight because others wanted them to stop.  "And the crowd angrily tried to silence them." 

What will you do when your opportunity knocks?  What will you want?  What will you need more than anything else in your life?  Will it be fame?  Will it be fortune?  Will it be riches?  Will it power?  Will it be influence?  What is it in your life that you desire?  And what will you sacrifice to obtain your dream?

We live in a world where we are bombarded daily, hourly with the things that make us want.  We make minimum wage and live from paycheck to paycheck.  But we see commercials on TV about owning a luxury car, buying a dream house, having money to buy expensive clothes.  All this comes to us in the guise of advertising.  All these things comes to us through the media that drive us to want, drive us to strive, drive us to be more, drive us to do more, drive us to want more.  We can be all that we want to be, but at what price.

The two blind men sat by the roadside begging, as they did everyday, for their needs.  We sit in our cubicles working in our daily grind to provide for our needs.  We want more because we are given to want more.  We are bored, dissatisfied, unhappy because that is what we are given to be.  We see all the happy people who have it all and that is where we want to be.  And for those who are given to extremes, they will seek to take what they want at any cost.

Christ came to the two blind men.  They did not know, until they heard, that he was coming.  Christ comes to us also.  He comes to let us know that we are loved.  He comes to hear our sorrows, our pain, our wants and our desires.  He cares for us.  He knows what we want, what we need.  But we do not know what it is that will satisfy our hunger.  We do not know what will fulfill our happiness and our joy eternally.  We do not know that we are the children of our Father and he will provide. 

God will provide.  God has provided.  He has given us more than we could ever want.  He has given us his love.  We were once dead.  But now we live.  The life we have is given to us through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.  And it is through his sacrifice that we are blessed beyond imagination.  We recognize the things of the world.  But we need to recognize the things of the spirit.  For this recognition opens our eyes and our hearts to that which is within us.  To know the love that the Father has for each and everyone of us will fill the heart for all eternity.  And beyond his love nothing else exists that  can or will satisfy.

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 and 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.