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 21, verse:25b; The Argument.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 5.  

There was the Question: "Whence was the baptism of John? from heaven or from men?"  Jesus posed this question to the chief priest and the elders to test their honesty and sincerity in seeking the truth.  Did they really want to know of his authority or were they asking him for proof of his authority to set another trap for him? 

They came with a plan to questioned him.  They were angry and jealous of his attraction to the people.  They did not know him or from whence he came.  He taught in the temple but his teachings were different from theirs.  His teachings were commonplace and reached the hearts and minds of the people.  And this was something that the leaders did not like.  They were afraid that he would sway the people against them.  So,  (They) began to argue among themselves. 

They had prepared their question and knew what they would do with his answer.  They did not know that he would pose a question to them.  So they had to step back and prepare an answer for him.  They had to consider all the possibilities of their answer.  They had to respond in a way that they knew would not be controversial or that would cause themselves harm in the eyes of the people.  So they argued among themselves.

They were like children who had done something wrong and were preparing their story of what happened.  They did not want to cast doubt upon themselves.  They did not want to be seen as culprits.  So they had to get their story strait.  Guilt or innocent.  Right or wrong.  Acceptance or blame.  Punishment or forgiveness.  These were the emotions that they dealt with, the same emotions that we deal with today.

We do not want to be wrong, we want to be right.  Our fear of punishment persuade us to try and escape, attempt to place blame on someone or something else.  We learn this from childhood and the more it is practiced the more we rely on it to find solutions to wrongs that we commit in life.  And our conscience influence aids us in finding ways to explain or to get out of the punishment that awaits us.

Is there remorse?  Is there shame?  Is there a true feeling of regret for what we have done?  Only the heart knows and our God knows our hearts.  He sees within our deepest thoughts and feelings.  He knows the truth of who we are.  He is our judge and jury.  He is the one who will issue punishment.  And he is the one who can dispense mercy.  He is the one who can forgive.  He is the one who knows who we are and knows our weaknesses.  Yet it is up to us to ask for his mercy, to ask for his forgiveness, to seek his love.

Deep within is the spirit of his creation, the object of his love.  We are his children and he is our Father.  He gave us life and it is that life that he sees as loving and caring and wonderful.  But we live in a world where that life can be tainted, dulled, corrupted, and killed, if it is not protected and nourished.  We are loved.  We are cared for.  We are provided for, if we only allow ourselves to be.  The choice is ours.  The peace is ours.  The rewards are ours, waiting to be accepted.  Open the door and let him in.  Open the door and receive the nourishment of life.

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.