St Matthew, Chapter 18, verse: 7b, Woe to the originator of Scandals.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Avoiding scandal) Part 4. 

Scandals, are an evil in the fabric of mankind.  Scandals, are an opening into the heart and soul of man.  Scandals, are a thing that once spoken and breathed, takes on its own life.  Christ warns of these things.  He speaks to his disciples telling them to beware.  For Scandal will come.  Scandal will take on its own life.   Scandals will spread like a plague, a disease in the minds and hearts of men.  It is spread by word of mouth.  It will consume.  It will destroy.  And when it has fulfilled it's purpose it will die.

Christ tells his disciples that the world will suffer because of scandals.  He warns them of the impending doom brought on by it.  And he tells them that it is a necessary evil.  Scandals must needs be.  But scandals only come through men.  They only have life and take form through the thoughts and minds of the men and women that allow it to be created, allow it to have life in their minds and hearts.  Christ warns his disciples against scandals.  He tells them:  "For it must needs be that scandals come, but woe to the man through whom scandal does come!"

Woe to the man or woman through which it comes.  Beware, Christ tells us, that we are not the messengers of scandal.  For the punishment is great, the wrath is everlasting, and the justice of God will come to those who open the door to scandals.  Pride, envy, revenge, self-interest are all the causes that open the door to scandal.  For it is these evils that invade the heart and pollute the mind to bring forth scandals that destroy mankind.  For scandal is now commonplace in our society.  We have engines of scandal, tools that we can use to promote scandals, TV shows, news broadcasts that excite and tell us about the latest scandals, and talk show hosts that help us to laugh and joke about the scandals that are in our daily lives.  All these opportunities allow us to practice the basest of behaviors easily and readily without even leaving our homes or bedside. 

We are children of God created in his image and likeness, children of light.  Christ gave up his majesty and royalty to become man that we could be redeemed from death and given new life.  It is with gladness and hope and joy that we should be rejoicing in the new life that is available to us and the gifts that our father has prepared for us in heaven.  Why then, do we need to pride ourselves in the meaningless travails that the world has to offer.  Why then, do we need to be jealous and envious of what others have?   Why then do we need to spread lies and rumors and gossip about the affairs of others that we may profit ourselves through the pain and suffering of others.  The creator of the universe has already given us far greater gifts that fulfill our deepest desires and passions?  We seek to fill the holes within us when we practice such behaviors without realizing that evil has crept into our hearts and polluted our minds.  Christ has given us the keys to fulfilled our lives for eternity. 

It is with those keys that we can open the door to eternal life and welcome the truth of life into our hearts.  The Holy Spirit is given to us freely if we only believe and seek it.  The light of life will come to us if we only desire to know the truth of who we are.  The love of God will overwhelm us if we only ask to know his boundless love.  Our father is alive and wants his children to know who he is.  He wants to protect us.  He wants to provide for us.  He wants to love us, if we let him.  The choice is yours.  Awake from the sleep of the world and become alive with the truth of who you are in Christ.  Follow the path before you.  Open the door to the Holy Spirit.  Live the life that you are meant to live for eternity, both here on earth and in heaven. 

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.  

St Matthew, Chapter 13, verses: 55 - 56, Jesus in his own Country: Astonishment captures his town.

Our paragraph topic is: (Jesus at Nazareth) Part 2. 

And they were astonished at the wisdom and knowledge of Christ.  They knew him when he was a child.  He did not have the formal education of a scholar.  He did not have the wealth of a rich family.  His father was a carpenter, they thought.  He was a man of common means.  He learned carpentry from his father.  And they were common people.  So how is it, they said, that he has come by these miracles and this wisdom to teach us in the synagogue.  He was just a common man and astonishment had taken over the thoughts and minds of the people.  It had turned them against him that they could not see.  It had closed their eyes and blocked their hearing that they could not receive the message of the kingdom of heaven.

For Christ, the Son of God, walked among them.  Christ, the Son of God, had come down from heaven.  Christ, the Son of God, took the form of a common man and they could not hear his words.  His own countrymen could not understand his teachings.  His own villagers could not listen to the words of freedom given man from the mouth of God through Christ.  Astonishment had taken them.  Astonishment had closed their hearts that they were so shocked at his presences that their hearts could not accept the love that he gave.  For he sought to plant the good seed of God.  He sought to nourish the good seed that it may grow and produce the fruit of the kingdom of heaven.  But the evil one had called astonishment to the scene to corrupt their hearts that they could not hear.

Astonishment had brought forth anger.  Astonishment had brought forth confusion.  Astonishment had brought forth jealousy.  Astonishment had brought forth hatred.  And the forces of evil blocked the message of the kingdom.  The forces of evil worked against the words of Christ.  For the seed was stolen when it was planted and the message lost.  The townspeople said amongst themselves, "Is not this the carpenter's son?   Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Jude?  And his sisters, are they not all with us?  Then where did he get all this?"  

Christ, the common man they saw, was transformed.  Christ was not the person that they knew.  He was new.  He was different.  He was in God and God was in him.  How often today, our own townspeople are astonished.  How often today are our own church members astonished.  How often today are our own family, our own co-workers, our own brothers and sisters, astonished and become jealous at the new person in Christ.  Who does he think that he is?  Who does she think that she is?  How does she come by doing the things that she does?  How does he get all of the promotions and positions that he does?  Astonishment takes over and brings forth seven more demons and spirits more evil than the first.  And our hearts become blocked.  And our minds become closed.  And we do not hear the message of the kingdom of heaven because astonishment has taken over and our hearts are filled with anger, and jealousy, and envy, and hatred, and all manner of evil.  And we become hypocrites even in the worship of God in our own churches. 

Christ brought us a message of love.  He brought us a message of hope.  He brought us a message of new life where we could be transformed from our old selves to new beings in Christ.  Love one another as I have loved you, was Christ's last commandment to his disciples before going to the cross and sacrificing his life for us.  Let us do the same.  Let us love one another so that all men will know that we are his disciples.  Let us open our hearts to the Advocate who will teach us.  Let us open our hearts to the love that is in Christ that we may rid ourselves of astonishment and the other spirits that contaminate us.  Christ offers us new life.  Are we ready to receive it?

St Matthew, Chapter 12, verses: 13-14, The Battle begins: The trap is removed, the Pharisees take counsel.

Our paragraph topic is:  (A man with a withered hand) Part 3. 

And now we see the true nature of the battle taking place between the Pharisees and Christ and the demons behind the scenes of the battle.  For the Pharisees are only the puppets of the demons.  They are the ones who are calling the shots and making the plays.  They are the ones who are fighting for their lives and the hold that they have upon the people.  The demons have controlled the people for many years.  They have ruled the people with a mighty hand.  They have brought many souls into hell with their rule and they are not giving it up without a fight.  So they bring jealousy on the scene, and envy, and larceny, and hatred, and deceit, and false witness, and all the dark spirits gather in a great huddle to plan and plot a way to ride themselves of Christ.

So Christ has instructed the Pharisees and all the people in the synagogue on that day about the sensibility of the Law.  The Pharisees posed the question about the Law and the Sabbath and Christ shows them how they should be sensible about the Law.  He has already told them previously how he was Lord of the Sabbath.  Now he proves this to them by performing this miracle.  He says to them that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, contrary to what the Pharisees have taught about the Sabbath.  Christ tells them that if you would save your sheep from a hole on the Sabbath, then you should also save your brother on the Sabbath.  Then he demonstrates how.  He Tells the man with the withered hand,  "Stretch forth thy hand."   And St Matthew tells us, and he stretched it forth, and it was restored, as sound as the other . 

St Matthew tells us that after Christ performed this miracle that the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him, how they might do away with him.   So now we begin to see how the battle is taking place and how the players in the battle are forming their lines against him.  Christ has instructed the instructors in front of the people in the synagogue.  He has demonstrated that his authority is greater than theirs and the Pharisees do not like it.  And the demons in the dark, behind the scenes are furious.  For they want to kill  him.  They want to destroy him.  They want to crucify him, but they cannot reach him for the time has not yet come.

The demons still plot against the children of Christ today.  They lurk in the darkness and plan the destruction of those who walk with Christ.  Like the Pharisees, they who participate with the demons know what they do.  They know that they do wrong, but they delight in the wrong that they do.  They have given authority to evil to come into their lives.  Do you run with evil?  Does evil whisper to you from the darkness, suggesting that you operate on its behalf?  It says, be a false witness.  It says, become a messenger for Scandal.  It says, dress with lust that you may be an attraction that causes men to sin in their hearts.  It says, speak the lies of deceit.  It says, spread the flames of hatred.  It says do all the unspeakable acts that bring forth evil, for you are becoming a child of the devil. 

The demons whisper, "Live for today", for the wrath of God awaits your downfall and death rests at your door.  Christ can save you, only if you awaken from your evil ways and understand that evil possesses you.  Repent!  For the Lord your God is a forgiving God.  For you lived in the world and did not understand.  You were blinded by the world and did not understand.  You were deceived by the world and did not understand.  The world possessed you and you did not understand.  But Christ can cast the world out of you.  Christ can heal you of the world.  Christ can make you a new person in the eyes of God.  Repent!, and you will be saved.