St Matthew, Capter 14, verses: 6 - 8, Herod's murder plot: The promise with an Oath.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Herod murdered John) Part 2.      

Herod was a deceitful King.  He was a liar and a murderer.  He was filled with his own passion and guided by his wife Herodias.  For Herod loved Herodias.  He desired her.  He lusted  that he would do anything for her.  John spoke against Herod and Herodias and they did not like it.  How dare he speak against the king.  How dare he speak against the king's wife.  Any lesser man would have been put to death immediately.  But John was a prophet.  John was the messenger of the Messiah.  John proclaimed the coming of the savior and the people revered him.  But Herodias was filled with hatred and passion against John and she would have his head for speaking against her.

To appease Herodias, Herod had John arrested and imprisoned.  Herod would have liked to put him to death but the people would have revolted against him for such actions and that would have involved the Romans coming in to calm the crowds.  So Herod was perplexed as to what to do about John the Baptist.  He wondered, he planned, he schemed, and he plotted.  And finally he came up with a plan.  The demons were with him.  The demons helped him to plan.  The demons that possessed Herod had him do their actions to murder John the Baptist.  This was their plan. 

On Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.  Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask of him.   Then she, at her mother's prompting, said, "Give me here on a dish the head of John the Baptist.

And so the plot enacted.  John was to  beheaded because of an oath by the King to give anything to his wife's daughter.  This was the plan.  This was the plot.  This was the scheme of the demons to get rid of John the Baptist.  The demons were loosing disciples because of John the Baptist.  They were being cast out.  They were loosing souls to John the Baptist who was baptising souls to Christ.  But the demons had a plan.  The demons had a plot.  And the demons had agents to work for them.  The demons had Herod and Herodias to do their will in killing John the Baptist.

Be not an agent for the devil.  Become an agent for Christ.  There is no middle ground.  You are either one or the other.  You are either working with Christ or you are working against Christ.  And the demons are recruiting daily.  They are plotting.  They are planning.  They are running every kind of scheme to steal the souls of men, women, girls and boys, children and all mankind.  For they work for the evil one who's goal is to capture as many souls as he can and destroy them in hell. 

Christ said beware the one who can kill the body and destroy the soul in hell.  He it is whom you should fear.  There are agents in this world for the evil one.  Do not become one of them.  Repent and be born again in Christ.  For he will cleans you of the evil that would possess you.  He will sanctify you that you may be made anew.  He will justify you that you will be made holy before the father.  He will protect you that you may not fall again to the tricks and traps of the evil one.  His word is truth.  His word is life.  His word is love.  Become one in Christ and he will become one  you.

St Matthew, Chapter 12, verses: 11-12, The Battle begins: The Uncovering of the Trap.

Our paragraph topic is:  (A man with a withered hand) Part 2. 

So the Pharisees are offended and the gates of hell are opened and focused on the downfall of Christ.  The Pharisees are the rulers.  The Pharisees are the enforcers.  The Pharisees are the preachers of the Law.  They are the ones who keep the people in line.  They are the ones who maintain order.  They are the scholars and men of wisdom who are known and recognized by the people.  But there is Christ who cast out demons.  There is Christ who heals the sick.  There is Christ who makes the lame walk, the blind see, and the dead to rise again.  Never before has there been such a man as this to walk the earth.

The Pharisees do not believe.  They have been seated in the halls of power far too long.  Their judgment is blind and their knowledge is earthly.  So, to deal with Christ they lay traps and plan tricks to accuse him before the people, to shame him before the people, the mock him before the people.  But the people love him.  The people adore him.  The people follow him in large crowds because they believe that this man is different, this man is more than a prophet.  They believe that this man is the Messiah.  So the Pharisees, coached by the wicked demons of the the evil one lay traps.  They question Christ about healing on the Sabbath.  Christ responds by telling them how foolish they are by asking such a question that has such a reasonable answer.  He says, ''What man is there among you who, if he has a single sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?" 

The Pharisees are grasping at straws.  Any man would save his property from ruin on any day including the Sabbath.  So Christ in asking this question appeals to the heart of the issue, do what is good on the Sabbath and every other day as well.  So Christ instructs the Pharisees in front of the people in the synagogue to do what is right and good on the Sabbath, which is totally against what the Pharisees want the people to know.  They have instructed the people and taught the people that you must not do anything on the Sabbath.  And they have used the Law which was given by God to Moses as an instrument to control the people.  But Christ tells them otherwise.  Christ takes away the power of the Pharisees over the people and gives it to them to follow.  He tells them, "How much better is a man than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  

Christ has raised a central issue.  What is good?  The Pharisees have been the ones who dictated to the people what was good and what was not.  Christ gave that decision back to the people, by telling them that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath.  It was lawful for them to interpret what was good to do on the Sabbath and to not depend on the Pharisees to provide them with that interpretation.  For it is God who is the ultimate judge.  It is God who will decide who did good and who did not.  It is God who sees our inner hearts and who knows our intentions and not the Pharisees.  

Do you know God?  Do you have a relationship with Him?  We are born of the world and are not of the world.  Few come to know their true identity.  Few come to believe their true belief.  And few come to know, here on earth, the true relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit.   Yet that relationship is available to all.  Do you seek to have a personal relationship with Christ?  Do you want to know Him?  Do you want to truly love Him?  He will change your life.  For you in Him there is no desire for sin.  For you in Him there is no desire for the world.  For you in Him there is only his love for you and your love for others.  Come, know for yourself, Christ.  For he calls to you.  He wants to know you.  He wants to wrap you in his love and his protection and his heavenly riches, that cannot compare to anything that this world has to offer.  He awaits you.  Come!

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse: 27, Heavenly Protection not Fear.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Confidence in divine protection) Part 3.  

And the mysteries continue to unfold as Christ tells his disciples about the words that he speaks.  He says to them,  "What I tell you in darkness, speak it in the light."   Christ, the light of the world, speaks in the darkness.  His light is a light that transcends all light.  It permeates all darkness where there is no corner to hide.  Yet there is darkness in this world.  The light of Christ is his spiritual life given to him through the love from his father.  So as he speaks in the darkness, he speaks to those of the darkness.  He speaks to the evil in the darkness.  He tells his disciples that they are to speak what they hear in darkness also in the light.  They are to use his words in the darkness and in the light to speak to the evil that hides there.  Even in the light they are to speak his words to the evil that may be lurking in the corners and the dark places.

The disciples do not have the ability to see that which is in the spiritual realm.  They do not hear what is spoken in the darkness.  So Christ speaks for them.  He hears for them.  And he keeps them safe.  And there is another who works to protect the disciples from the tricks and traps of the evil one.  Christ tells his disciples,  "And what you hear whispered, preach it on the housetops."   The Spirit of the Father will speak to them.  The Spirit of the Father will guide them.  The Spirit of the Father will tell them what to say.  So Christ tells them what they hear in a whisper preach from the rooftops.  What the spirit tells them in a soft voice shout it from the roof tops of the villages and towns.  Let all know what they have heard from the Holy Spirit of God the Father.

For Christ has told them that nothing will be concealed that will not be revealed.  And nothing will be hidden that will not be made known.  For they have the Spirit of the Father to protect them.  They have the Spirit of the Father to guide and keep them from harm.  Christ told them,
 "Therefore do not be afraid of them."    This does not mean that the disciples of the evil one can not harm them.  This does not mean that they should not be on their guards.  This means that they should constantly guard themselves against the tricks of the evil one who is waiting for them to make one mistake so that he can bring about their destruction.  The ultimate goal of satan is the destruction of Christ and his mission.  But the forces of heaven and earth battle against him and his minions, and the heavenly battle plans go forth to completion.

So let us who are the disciples of Christ today not be afraid.  Let us repeat in the light what Christ will tell us in darkness.  Let us shout from the rooftops, in the stores and malls, and at work and at home, and in the churches and synagogues what the Holy Spirit whispers softly to us.  For he is our protector.  He is our guide.  He is our shield.  He lightens our path.  He guards our footsteps and leads us into paths of rightness.   The Holy Spirit is poured out into our souls and abides with us as our spiritual light.  Have you spoken out what was whispered to you?  Have you spoken what Christ told you in darkness, in the light of the world?  Come let us be renewed!!!