St. Matthew, Chapter 22, verse: 7b; The King destroys the murderers.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The king's anger) Part 2.  

We continue with the parable of the kingdom of heaven compared with the king and the wedding feast.  The people of the town were tired of hearing about the king's wedding feast so they beat and killed the messengers.  When the king heard of it he was extremely angry.  Just as the king of heaven would be if his messengers were killed.

What would his judgement become?  What would he do to the people of the town who committed such a crime.  Well the king in the parable did this:   "And he sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city."  In the same way one can say that the king of heaven would do the same.  He would send out his angels and destroy the city and burn it to the ground.  This happened with Sodom and Gomorrah.

This is the message that Christ relates to the people so they can have a reference in their time.  They live in the time of their own king.  They also live in the time of the king of heaven our God.  So He wants the people to understand that the their God wants to have a party and he wants those invited to come.  But if they choose not to come, and if they choose to kill his messengers then there will be a price to pay.

Can we relate to this message today?  Can we find meaning in the message that comes down from heaven through Christ our Lord.  He wants us to understand.  He wants us to know.  He wants us to believe in the word, to trust in the word because the word comes down to us from God himself.  There will be a price to pay for those who seek to destroy and murder those who carry the word, his messengers.  

We talk about the word of God as though we understand all.  Yet there are mysteries that we do not comprehend.  There are hidden messages that do not reveal their meaning openly.  If we seek to know, if we seek to understand we must search within to find the secrets.  For God has given to us the ability to understand.  He has created us in his image and his likeness.  Yet God is not human.  God is not of flesh and blood.  God is not of this physical realm but we are.  And in that understanding comes the truth of who we are. 

We are of his image but he is not human.  We are of his image but we are human.  And in those statements lies the truth of who we are.  We are spiritual just as our Father is of a spiritual nature.  And within us is the truth of our spiritual nature.  Seek it and you shall find it.  Open the door and you shall see it.  Leap from the physical to the spiritual through belief and you shall know it.  For Christ came that we would have true life and have it more abundantly.  He came to be an example.  He came to lead the way.  He came to give us the truth of who we are.  He came to show us the love of our Father.  And most of all he came to free us from sin.  

We have a choice today, to believe or not to believe.  We have a choice today, to be human or to be spiritual.  We have a choice today, to know the truth of who we are in Christ or not to know.  And it is in that choice that we live.  For from the beginning the choice was made for us.  But through Christ the choice is given to each of us individually.  So choose where you will be.  Choose what you will believe.  Choose to know the truth and look within and find it.

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 22, verse: 6; And they killed the messengers.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The marriage feast) Part 5.  

No one showed.  No one came to the feast.  The invitations were sent out twice but no one came to the party.  Everyone was talking about it.  Everyone said that they were going.  But they were too busy to celebrate with the king and his son.  He sent out the invitations twice so no one could say that they did not get it.  They were complacent and had other more important things to do than to spend time with the king.

They were tired of hearing about the king's party.  The messengers had come around on several occasions talking about the celebration and everyone was talking about it.  But no one went when the time came.  So they were frustrated and wanted to stop the talk about this event.  And so: "The rest laid hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them." 

They killed the messengers.  The king sent them out to remind those invited that the celebration was ready and they killed them.  They beat them, kicked them, spat on them, and then killed them.  Is that something that we would do today?  Would we kill the messengers if they came around talking about the kingdom of heaven and we did not want to hear them?  Would we treat them badly and kill them?  We often see them on the corners of our local streets, preaching hell and damnation.  Often we think of them as bible thumping preachers who have nothing else to do.  We see them and then we continue on about our business.  We believe that our message will be preached in the churches and not on the streets.  But this was the way it was in the time of Christ.  There were no churches, just the synagogue.

Today we don't kill them because it is against the law.  But we do kill them because we ignore them.  We see them but we do not.  We hear them but we do not hear them.  We believe what they are saying but we do not.  We live in two worlds.  We live in the physical world and we live in the spiritual world, if we believe.  We respond to the physical world because that is what we see and feel everyday.  But the spiritual world is within us.  The spiritual world requires something of us that the physical does not, that we believe.  We say that we believe but do we really.  

God, our Father, calls us to be his children, created in his image and likeness.  Our Father is a loving god and he would expect the same of us.  He is a god of provision and protection.  He would not allow anything to happen to his children just as we are parents and would not allow anything within our power to happen to our own children.  We love them and they give us love and happiness.  They are a part of us and we are a part of them.  So as we grow and become more a part of the physical world let us reflect back and think about the part where we were young and had parents to provide for us.  So today we are children of our God and he provides for and cares for us.  He is having a celebration and all are invited.  Come, join the party.

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 22, verse: 4; A second invitation.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The marriage feast) Part 3.  

No one had come to the feast.  The king had sent out invitations to all the nobles and the important guest but no one came.  He wanted to have the great hall filled with guest and party goers so that there would be merriment and laughter.  He wanted all those who were of importance to be there to see his son and new wife celebrate their vows, but no one came.   

So he sent out a second invitation.  "Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast." 

You see, they were invited.  They were the ones who were sent invitations to come to the party.  They were the ones who were favored to come.  They were the ones who from the beginning knew about the great celebration and the marriage feast of the son but they did not come, they refused to come and celebrate with the king.  There was something in the air, something was amiss with the celebration and the people who were invited knew and refused to participate.

Are we the same today?  Do we refuse to come to the party, to the wedding feast?  We are invited.  We were sent the invitations. But there is something amiss that prevents us from going from wanting to go to participate.  

Are there requirements to participate?  Do we have to jump through hoops to go, or pay a fee to get in?  What do we have to do to be invited, or even to go.  We believe that this is going to be a great celebration.  We have been told that it will be the party of a lifetime, like no other.  So what will it take for us to go.  Will it cost too much?  Will it take up too much of our time and energy to prepare?  Will it be worth the energy going?  Is there another party that is better that we would like to go to that is being held at the same time?  What do we decide, what do we do?  Do we plan to go or not?

Faced with this decision what will you decide?  What will you do?  Will you continue along the road you travel or will you make the turn to the right that leads back to the wedding feast?  You know that you have heard about it.  You know that you want to go.  Yet there is something that holds you here, something that causes you to hesitate in your decision.  Do not waver in your decision.  Be straight forward and decisive in your answer.  Everyone is waiting for you to come.  They want to see you there.  Come join the party, come to the wedding feast!  It will be a blast.

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 22, verses: 1-2; The Kingdom of Heaven like a marriage feast.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The marriage feast) Part 1.  

The kingdom of heaven is like a feast, a party.  Christ spoke in parables because it was not for them to know the meaning of the word.  Those who wanted to know would search their minds, hearts, and history to obtain a meaning.  Those who thought that they wanted to know would take in the words as they were spoken but would not search for meaning.  Those who did not care would only listen to the words without seeking to know the meaning beyond the words.  To them this was just another story that was told to entertain the crowd.

Many who followed Christ wanted to know, they wanted to understand because they saw him as a prophet, a person of power and influence.  They knew that he spoke the truth because of the many examples and miracles that he performed.  They sought to understand.  They sought to know.  "And Jesus addressed them, and spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who made a marriage feast for his son."  

A marriage feast is a party, with singing and dancing, and wine and music, and laughter and joyous banter, all in the name of the son.  This would be an occasion that everyone would want to attend.  There would be food and free wine and a happy occasion that everyone would remember for a long time.  This is what we live for today, to party.  We work all week long and party on the weekend till the light of dawn.  Tomorrow will never come, or so we hope, for we are having the joy of a lifetime today.

The king wanted to celebrate the marriage of his son, the beginning of a new generation.  For he hoped that from this union would come a son to carry forward the legacy of his family.  And he wanted all to rejoice in this union of son and bride.  Some would come and rejoice.  Some would come and feast.  Some would come and talk of the scandal that they saw at the party.  Then there would be those who would come to find jealousy and enmity at the party.  But for the king there was only joy in his heart for himself and his son and new bride.

This is a parable about the kingdom of heaven.  It gives us a hint of what we can expect after our transition to our next life.  There will be no sorrow.  There will be no pain.  There will be no suffering or regret.  There we will experience the joy of the love of our Father and his son, Christ Jesus.  For he is our joy.  He is our happiness.  He is our truth, all that we have searched for in life.  He is our be all and end all and in him there is no lack for that which we might desire.  For he fulfills all the desires of our hearts, of our souls, and of our spirits.  His light will shine on us and within us and we shall be complete.

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.