St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 16; Flee to the mountains.

 Our paragraph topic is:  (The destruction of Jerusalem) Part 2. 

Time was an important factor in those days.  Where you lived, and worked, meant a great deal in terms of status and well being.  Yet for the coming destruction, location was also important.  It meant whether you had time to escape the oncoming slaughter.  It meant whether you had time to outrun the danger that was coming.  It meant whether you would live or die.

The farther away you were from the center of destruction meant that you had the time to get away from it all, to outrun death itself before it came knocking at your door.  This is what Christ was telling his disciples.  Do not hesitate.  Do not stop to take worldly belongings.  Run for your lives because death was coming and it would be swift.  He told them:  "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."

Jerusalem, the sacred place for the Jews, was not a place to flee from but a place to go to, a place of sanctity.  The Israelites did not believe that their city would be destroyed.  They believed that they were protected by their god.  They were a sacred people delivered by the hand of God from the bondage of Egypt to the sacred land of Jerusalem.  Why would their city be destroyed?   Why would their temple be torn down?  Why would death ravage their land when God  himself had protected them for all these years?

This is what Christ was telling his disciples, warning them of the destruction to come.  He was the Messiah.  He was the word of God come down from heaven to walk among the people as an example of the one true God.  He came to redeem the people, to show the way to the kingdom of heaven.  He came to pay the price for the sins of all that all might have new life eternal if they believed in him.  He is the key.  He is the gate keeper, the shepherd, the Lord of all.  

God the Father made him human that he might be with us, teach us, show us how to live, how to love, how to follow the commandments that we may be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Let him who reads understand.  The knowledge is here for those who seek to know.  The door is open for those who wish to find it.  His love is fulfilling for those who need.  For there is everlasting peace in the knowledge of his wisdom and love.  Come!  Peace awaits your finding.

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.