St. Matthew, Chapter 22, verse: 11; The Improperly dressed Guest.

Our Paragraph topic is:  (One guest is cast out) Part 1.  

After all the preparation and all the invitations, the celebration began.  The wedding feast of the bride and the groom will be an event to remember for all those who attended.  All those who stopped their journey at the crossroads of the town and came to the party, they will remember this celebration and talk about it to all whom they meet wherever they travel.

There was music and dancing and food and laughter and happiness all around.  Even the king was happy when he came down to see the great hall filled with music and laughter.  But there was one thing that displeased the king.  "Now the king went in to see the guests, and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment."  

Now this was a wedding party and all knew the attire.  Yet here was a man who decided to attend but refused to wear the appropriate attire.  It was not that he did not have a wedding garment, but it was that he refused to wear a wedding garment and decided that he was going to attend anyway no matter what the attire.  It would be like attending a formal event without having the formal attire and saying that you were going anyway without the formal attire to show disdain for the event and the host.

The king went to great lengths to host this event for the bride and the groom and he did not want anything to take away from this occasion.  And certainly this person would was not going to be a distraction for everyone to see and talk about at this great event.  Christ is telling this parable to the people because he wants them to understand the conclusion that he is leading up to.  He has a lesson that he wants them to learn.  He teaches in parables but within the parables are life's lessons that the people can take with them and remember for the rest of their lives and apply in situations when they come up.

The same is true in our lives today.  His parables are teachings to guide us through life.  The Bible is full of the parables and teachings that we can learn from.  There are hundreds of stories that we can take with us on our journey through life if we choose to look and see, if we choose to read them, if we choose to believe that they are there for us to know.  We walk a path everyday through life lost in the physical world doing the same things over and over again telling ourselves we are happy.  We find joy in some things that we do but we wake up to the drudgery of life and have to go back to the everyday work of living instead of living the life that we dream.  Few get to live a life of freedom and even they become board with their lives.  

Find the life within and walk the journey that you are given.  Seek the true light that gives you life and you will know who you are.  Each day you will grow in the knowledge and strength of your self awareness and soon you will no longer be the physical but more the spiritual than the physical.  And in that moment of transition Christ and the spiritual will be with you more than the physical, always.

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: 3; Those invited.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The marriage feast) Part 2.  

We are now talking about the parable of the marriage feast that Christ is telling the crowd.  He compares the feast to the kingdom of heaven.  The feast is like a party where there will be singing and dancing and free food and wine.  Who would not want to go to a party especially one celebrating a marriage?  Did they know of the party?  Were they willing to come?  Did the guest want to celebrate with the king or were they not happy with their king?  

The guest, who were invited, refused to come.  They knew the king.  They knew of his son.  They knew of the feast that the king had prepared for his son, but they still refused to come and celebrate.  "And he sent his servants to call in those invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come."  

Were they jealous?  Were they angry?  Invitations were sent out to them telling them of the feast but why would they not come?  What else was there that prevented them from coming to the party?  What prevented them, what stopped them from coming to this great celebration?  They knew about it.  They were given invitations.  So what was the hesitation, what stopped them from coming?

Today, we are called to the party, to the feast of the Father.  We are given invitations everyday to heed the upcoming celebration, the opportunity to prepare ourselves for the feast.  Do we go?  Do we plan what we are going to wear, how we are going to look, with our hair fixed, bathed and clean, shoes shined, with our favorite cologne, perfumes and best clothes?  Are we ready to go to the feast?  We are going to laugh and dance and eat fine foods that our Father has prepared for us at his table.  What a feast it will be!

But are we ready.  Have we made our preparations to go?  Everybody says that they are going to the feast but are they ready?  Are they making preparations now as we speak?  I plan to be there.  I am making my preparations everyday.  I can't wait to get there.  I want to leave my job now and go.  I want to be there early to see all the festivities and all the people that are coming.  What are you doing?  Do you plan to go?  Do you plan to be there?  

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.