St Matthew, Chapter 17, verse: 13, The Vision: John the Baptist.

Our paragraph topic is:  (On the coming of Elias) Part 5. 

The disciples had questions that needed to be answered.  Jesus knew that they were puzzled.  He had told them to speak to no one about the vision.  Yet their minds were abuzz with all the questions that they needed to have answered in order to make sense of what they witnessed.  They had heard the voice of God speaking to them, telling them to hear Christ and to listen to him, to listen to what he had to say.  They listened and now they had questions.  And Christ spoke to them about the questions that they had.

They needed to make sense of all they understood.  The disciples needed closure.  They needed understanding.  They needed clarity.  They needed focus.  And Christ intended that they should have focus, to have clarity, on all things in due time.  For the time had not yet come for the sacrifice.  The time had not yet come for the lamb to be slaughtered.  And the time had not yet come for the disciples to take their place as the teachers and leaders of Christ, giving witness to his divinity.  Indeed Elias had come, and all things were being prepared for the coming of the Lord.  So, the disciples were right in seeking to know the truth.  They were right in seeking to know of the coming of Elias.  And with that truth, they understood.  Now they knew.  Now they could make sense of all that had transpired.    Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them of  John the Baptist.  

They understood.  They knew.  They had clarity of what had happened and what would happen.  Do we understand what has happened?  Do we understand what has transpired?  We all have to make sense of our world to ourselves.  We live in this world and it has to make sense to us in order for us to function in it.  There is much that goes on around us and we have to find some way to understand all that we experience.  If we do not understand then we do not accept and acceptance is the key to helping us as human beings survive in this world. 

It is amazing that in this world that we live in, our lives are dictated by our environment.  We see, we hear, we smell, we touch, and we believe what is given to us by the world, by our environment.  Different people live in different environments and sometimes those different environments cross, intersect and become one.  But it is the environment that determines who we are, who we become, and what we believe.  There are common threads that cross most environmental boundaries that are common to our experience of the world.  We believe in, a god, a higher power, a higher transcendence, something that is greater than ourselves that helps us to know that there is good in the world despite all the evil, and violence, and pain, and suffering in the world.  Our belief in a god helps us to believe that there is something good that prevails over all.

Despite our belief in the good in the world, we do not believe in the evil in the world.  We do not hold fast to the belief that evil affects, influences, causes, or has real impact on our way of life.  Instead we believe that people make decisions to do evil acts, commit violence, cause pain and suffering in the world.  Yet there is an overall good God or something, that helps us believe in the good nature of the world.  But we do not believe that there is an overall evil in the world that causes us to do evil.  And there in lies the subtlety of evil, not to be known but to still have influence. 

To those who know and are aware of the evil, they are awake.  But to those who do not know and are not aware, they are still asleep.  And when one awakes there is still the need for understanding, the need to make sense, the need to know for certain that there is good in the world.  Some believe without knowing.  Some live their lives thinking that they know and yet do not know.  And with that half belief they are open to falling asleep again.  For one must know for certain.  One must have a knowledge of the truth.  One must see through different eyes the world around us and the influence of evil in it to be truly awake. 

I was asleep.  I was lost.  I was dreaming a dream of my own desires led by the beliefs fed to me by the world and the evil therein.  I was unknowing and yet lived my life thinking that I knew.  And that half knowledge led me down the path of destruction and back to sleep again in the world.  Today I know.  Today I see.  Today I have something real to go to in times of need, in times of pain, in times of temptation, in times of joy, and in times of sorrow.  For he was given to me a guide.  He was given to me a protector.  He was given to me eyes to see the way.  And I walk a different path, very thankful that it has been given to me.  Come!  Walk the path with me.  Walk a different path that you may know the truth of who you are in Christ.  He awaits you.  He seeks you.  He desires to know you.  And the Holy Spirit will be with you, to guide you along the way.  Your treasure awaits.  Come! Follow the path.

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 17, verses: 5, The Son of God: God the Father speaks.

Our paragraph topic is: (Jesus transfigured) Part 4.    

And now the Father speaks.  Peter was speaking to Jesus, saying that it was good for them to be there.  He was thinking that they should stay.  He was thinking that they should make tents and stay while Jesus spoke to the leaders of the past, Moses and Elias.  For this was a special moment for him, James, and John, the other two disciples that Christ had chosen to bring with him.  They were witnesses to the his transfiguration.  They were witnesses to the appearance of Moses and Elias.  They were the witnesses to the true nature of Christ as he stood shinning before their eyes in his enlightened state of majesty and glory.

But then, as Peter was speaking, God the Father spoke.  God the Father came.  He came in a cloud that overshadowed them.  He came in a bright light.  He came to give witness to his son.  And he spoke to the dsiciples to let them know for certain that Christ was the chosen one, the Messiah.  As he was still speaking, behold , a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him."

And this was the seal that was placed upon Christ.  God the Father was well pleased in him.  God the Father was pleased in his actions.  God the Father was pleased in his words.  God the Father was pleased in him.  For the disciples did not know.  The disciples did not fully understand what was planned.  The disciples did not comprehend the full scope of the mission of Christ here on earth.  For he came to save mankind.  He came to be the sacrifice for the propitiation of our sins.  He came to satisfy the penalty that was placed upon mankind as a result of disobedience through the temptation of Satan upon Adam and Eve.  

Man had sinned in the garden.  Man had given up his life through his disobedience and now was dead.  Man lost his life and became dead.  And as time passed death ruled the earth and man was under the rule of death.  Even today man is dead.  There was no life everlasting.  There was no eternity with God in heaven, for man had lost the life within him, man had lost his soul.  But God is merciful.  God is loving.  God is a just God and the penalty had to be paid for our sins.  Who was worthy to pay the penalty?  Who was pure?  Who was without sin?  Who would become the sacrifice?  No one on earth was worthy.  Everyone born to man came under the curse of death.  But then Christ came.  Christ took off his heavenly glory.  Christ gave up his heavenly majesty.  Christ set aside his heavenly crown and became man. 

He who was first conceived, was first.  He who was with him before all were created, was first.  He who was with him before the angels were given life, was first.  He who was with him before the heavens were created, was first.   He who was with him before the earth was created, was first.  He who is the love of God, gave up all to become man, to become the sacrifice, to save us from death.  He who is pleasing to God, gives us eternal life with him in heaven.  This is the gift of God to man.  This is the reason we celebrate the season.  This is the joy in our hearts today, why we sing upon the coming of Easter Sunday. 

We are in morning over the death of Christ.  We are in sorrow over the suffering.  We are heartbroken over the agony and the pain and the disgust of what man did to Christ through the manipulation of the evildoers.  For it was evil that crucified Christ.  It was evil that spat upon him.  It was evil that beat him.  It was evil that crowned him with thorns, mocking his majesty.  It was evil that hung him upon a cross and watched as his precious blood drained from his body.  And it was evil that took his life.  But it was Christ who became the sacrifice.  It was Christ who became the lamb.  It was Christ who gave of himself that we might have life eternal with him in his father's kingdom.

It was the sacrifice that had to be made to pay the penalty.  It was the sacrifice that had to be made to right the wrong.  It was the sacrifice that had to be made to lift the curse of death and restore mankind to life.  For without it, man would know only death.  But with the sacrifice, mankind now has life eternal with Christ in heaven.  Do we believe?  Do we accept?  Do we know the truth of who we are in Christ?  Can we now accept the truth of God and obey his commandments.  For the commandments were given that we would not open the door to sin.  The commandments were passed down that we would not fall to evil.  God gave us the commandments that we would know how to live life here on this earth and not fall to the temptations of Satan.

Come!  Let us celebrate the gift of God.  For Christ has come.  Christ has made the sacrifice.  It is finished.  It is done.  The doors of heaven are open to us.  Let us celebrate the joy of life that is given us, the joy of love that we receive, the protection of the Father that we can know, and the peace of his presence that is ours to have.  The decision is ours.  Be not deceived by the trinkets and passions of this world, for this world, as we see it, is dying before our eyes.  But true life, true peace, true joy is mine and yours for the having, yours for the taking, yours for the knowing, right here and right now.  All you have to do is seek it in Christ.  Search for it in his words.  Know it is there for you to have.  Believe that you can have it.  Ask for it in your prayers and he will give it to you.  I have.  I did.  I know.  And now, I encourage you to do the same.  God loves you.  Christ awaits you and the Holy Spirit seeks your invitation that he may come and live with you. 

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!