St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse 14, The Rock: What men say?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter's confession) Part 2.       

What do men say, Christ asked his disciples.  What do the people say?  What are the people thinking when it came to the Son of Man?  For in their thoughts were the beliefs and desires of the heart.  And in the hearts of men were the keys that opened the door to the love of God or the possession of evil.  Who had the major influence?  Who did the people know?  Whom did they think would win the battle?  Did they believe in Christ?  Did they know his true identity?  Did they accept that he was the Messiah sent by God himself?  Or was he just another prophet sent to carry the message to man.

What did men say that the Son of man is?  It was important to know.  It was important to believe that he was the Christ.  It was important to hear what the disciples were hearing but also to know what they were knowing.  For they were the eyes and ears connected to the people.  They were out there listening.  They were out there talking.  They were out there sharing with the people what they were receiving from Christ.  So what were they receiving from the people.  What did the people say who he was?  But they said,"Some say,

John the Baptist; and others, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."

What do men say who I am?  What do men say about Christ?  I just finished watching a popular movie where a captain was trying to persuade a crash victim to take his point of view.  The victim and his wife were devout Christians.  They asked him to pray with them about the cause and the outcome of the crash.  The request to pray was awkward and strange and the reaction of the moviegoers was even more pronounced.  You could feel the tension and disbelief in the audience as the request was made.  It was as if a mentally ill person had asked someone to take their hand so that they could fly to the moon together.  Who do men say I am?  Is it the same disbelief and doubt and awkwardness when one talks about Christ in public. 

It is almost as if Christ does not belong in the public.  His name is not to be spoken or talked about in the open, but only in churches and synagogues and chapels.  There is the public life and then there is the church life and the two shall not mix.  Yet we were created in the image and likeness of God.  And God is love. 

Do we carry love with us?  Is it in us?  Does it surround us in our daily lives.  Can we express it?  Can we talk about divine love and not physical love?  Can we embrace it in others no matter who they are or what they have done? 

Deep down within we are all children of light, or children of darkness, depending on if we believe in the gift that God has given us through Christ Jesus.  Whether we have committed grievous sins, murders, adultery, etc., we were still created in the image and likeness of God.  When darkness comes in and evil turns us and persuades us to do evil,  we still have the likeness of God within us.  And it is that likeness that allows us to ask God for forgiveness.  And it is that same likeness that allows God to forgive us when we become aware of the evil that has invaded us and ask for his help. 

Speak of Christ with love.  Know him from within.  Be an example of love and not an evangelist needing to convert everyone that you see and meet.  See him in everyone.  Love him in everyone.  For love transcends all and in heaven we are filled with his love because his love is like the sun that shines on all.  We are the children of God created in his likeness.  God is love and we are eternal spiritual love.  Come!  Follow the path that is set before you.  Know the truth of who you are and awaken the love of Christ that comes from his truth.  Christ awaits you.  God sends his love and his protection and his provisions.  For the truth will set you free and the love will open your heart to the treasure that awaits your discovery.  May the gift of God be in your heart!  

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!

St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 13, The Rock: The Question.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter's confession) Part 1.   

They crossed the sea and left the boat, Jesus and his disciples.  They arrived in Caesarea Philippi where Christ was about to begin another part of his journey here on earth, on this rock.  His time was approaching, his work was coming to an end, and the sacrifice was being prepared.  His disciples were with him at all times and they were being prepared for the coming war with evil.  Christ was to leave this earth, this rock, and his disciples were to remain to continue his work.  They did not know.  They believed that Christ would remain with them to fight the upcoming battles.  They believed that he would take over the rule of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and replace it with his rule.  Yet Christ was a gentle man.  Christ was a man filled with love.  Christ was not a man of violence, yet he was the Son of Justice.  He was the Son of God.

But the time had not yet come and the disciples must be prepared for the coming of the battle.  The plans must be put into place.  The strategy must be studied and enacted.  And the war must be proclaimed.  So Christ began by questioning his disciples.  He wanted to know what they were hearing.  He wanted to know what they were understanding.  He wanted to see what they were seeing so that he could make corrections.  So he asked them.  Now Jesus, having come into the district of Caesarea Philippi, began to ask his disciples, saying, "Who do men say the Son of Man is?"

You can ask the same question today and get a variety of answers depending upon who you talk to and what people believe.  Today, nearly 2000 years later, there is not one religion.  Today there is not one God.  Today there are many religions and many gods that people believe in.  We have become a culture of many.  We have become a culture, throughout the world, of freedom of religion and freedom of speech.  Even though in some parts of the world freedom is not free, but people are still individuals and can do and believe who and what they want.  Christ did not come to enforce one religion, one belief upon the people of the world.  He came that we might have the freedom to choose.  He came that we might have life and not death.  For before his gift to mankind we were dead, without life, without choice.  And now we have the choice of life and not death alone.

Who do men say I am?  Who do men say that the Son of Man is?  The knowledge is there for the knowing.  The truth is there for those who seek truth.  The life is there for those who want life and not death.  It is up to the individual to seek.  It is up to the individual to find.  It is up to the individual to know.  For those who seek can know for certain.  Those who find will find without doubt.  Those who desire will have their hearts filled.  For there is a living God.  There is a living truth.  There is a living certainty that can be gained for those who desire to know.  It is at your fingertips.  It is in your face.  It is on the tip of your tongue if you would only say it.  God's will be done.  Will your will be done in this life and in the next?  Follow the path.  Read the truth.  Know with certainty that you are a child of God.  His arms are open wide waiting for you to come home.

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!

St Matthew, Chapter 13, verses: 36 - 39, The Kingdom of Heaven: The symbols of the weeds explained.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the weeds explained) Part 1. 

Things have been spoken.  Understanding has been lacking.  Knowledge is missing.  And the people do not know.  Christ has talked about the kingdom of heaven and given several examples of what the kingdom is like.  He talked about the good seed.  He talked about the mustard seed and how it grows and he talked about the leaven and how it spreads to all parts.  Do the people understand?  Do the disciples understand?  Is knowledge given to them that they may know the mysteries of the kingdom?  Christ has finished his preaching and retires to the house.

The disciples follow and inquire of him the meaning of the parable of the weeds.   And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."  So answering them he said, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world; the good seed, the sons of the kingdom; the weeds, the sons of the wicked one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil."  

The disciples wanted to know his words.  They wanted to understand clearly.  They wanted the knowledge of Christ.  There minds sought him.  Their hearts desired his fruit.  So they came and inquired of his wisdom.  And he fed them with rich fruit that they may be satisfied.  He fed them with riches that they may know within their hearts the truth of the kingdom and they were blessed.  Christ loved his disciples.  He was patient with them.  He was loving of them.  He was understanding of their needs.  And he gave bountifully of his heart that theirs would be full.

We live in a world that we know not.  We are consumed by its constant flow, by its constant drive, by its constant movement.  Nothing remains the same.  Everything is changing and we are caught up in the change.  And that is our dilemma, we must keep up or be swept away.  We must constantly know the latest news.  We must constantly see the latest shows.  We must constantly have the latest gadgets.  We must constantly be in a state of change at all times that we may be in the world.  To stop being in the world means to be left behind.  To stop being in the world means not knowing the latest.  To stop being in the world means to fall out of the crowd.  And Christ said, beware the wide path that leads to destruction.  Do not follow the crowd!  Follow the narrow path that leads to life.  Open your heart, open your mind and let Christ feed you, as he did the disciples.  His love is fulfilling.  His knowledge is all knowing.  His understanding is permanent.  And his truth is from the Father of all truth.  Fall out of the world and fall into Christ and he will keep you forever.