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 20, verse:26a, The Disciples exercise no authority over the Gentiles.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Humility according to Christ's example) Part 4.

Christ told them:  "Not so is it among you. "  He wanted them to understand that they were different than the rulers and lords of the day.  The rulers of the day exercised control over the Gentiles.  They set themselves above the local people and exercised privilege over the people.  They were special.  They were not of the ordinary.  They were the rulers and their great men demonstrated their power over the people.

Christ did not want his disciples to think of themselves as such, but the disciples wanted to have power and prestige.  They thought of themselves as though they were to be the new rulers and the new lords according to the authority of Christ.  But Christ had to show them that they were different.  He had to close the door to enmity, and hatred, and anger, and jealousy, and all the emotions that were a part of the rulers of the day.  For his disciples must take their example from him.  They must follow his guidance, his path, his sacrifice.

So he gave them the understanding that they were different than the everyday ruler of the time.  They were his followers.  They were his witnesses that carried his message.  They were his teachers and his preachers and his examples of the love that comes from the Father.  They were not to become rulers and lords of the day.  Not so, is it among you that you lord your authority over the Gentiles. 

They were meek and mild.  They were loving and forgiving.  They were understanding and helpful to all the people because they saw something in the people.  Christ showed them the love that he had for the lowly.  He demonstrated the forgiveness that he possessed for the sinner.  He opened his heart to those who were suffering, the lame, the blind, the sick, the deaf, the widowed.  For he saw that which was in them that was in him.  He saw the beauty of the life that was given to mankind that was created by God our Father.  And he knew that the love that the Father had for him was the same love that he had for all men.

So he came to serve not to become a king.  He came to give and not to take.  He came to light the path and not to leave us in darkness.  He came to pay the price for disobedience and not to trespass against the Father.  He came that what was lost could now be found if we only search for it.  The choice to find it is ours to make.  The choice to believe in it is ours if we want.  The choice to know is ours if we seek to know.  The choice to see the truth is ours if we are not blinded.  What, do you choose? 

  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.