St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 12a; The Lowly.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees) Part 10.  

The hypocrisy of the Scribes and the Pharisees presented an opportunity for Christ to teach the people and his disciples an important lesson.  He used the Scribes and the Pharisees as an example to show their pride and arrogance and to teach the people of their hidden nature.  They practiced piety on the surface but underneath they did not practice the laws that they enforced upon the people.  They were hypocrites.

Christ saw through their false piety and instructed the people to do the same.  They wanted all the praise and glory but did not do the work to obtain it.  They were not servants of the people but served their own purpose.  Christ told the people, the disciples, the Scribes and the Pharisees:   "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled."

We live in a physical world where we see the individual exalted.  We are shown on a daily basis all the stars, singers, athletes, business moguls, millionaires and billionaires, that are paraded before us in the media.  Everywhere we turn someone is raised up, someone has just become a hero, a star, a person who has achieve something that we all want to become.  This is news, worthy of feeding to the people who will buy it so they can read how they did it.  Maybe they too can achieve the same success.

We wish, we desire, we dream of being the one.  We would do anything to reach a level of importance that we should be in the news, in the media, before the public eye.  We don't know the meaning of humility, we only know praise.  And most would do anything to achieve that goal.  

Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled.  We know nothing of ourselves or who we are as a person.  We know even less of where we fit in the cosmic scheme of things.  We search the heavens in a constant desire to know that we are not alone.  We live in our own self awareness of the world knowing nothing of that which is inside of ourselves.

Christ came that we could began to know who we are.  He came to teach us how to live in a physical world that fits within the realm of the spiritual world.  For there are powers and principalities far beyond our understanding, far greater than ourselves, that we know nothing of and have not understood.  Yet we proclaim ourselves masters and lords within the small realm of the world that we live.  How little do we know.

His love provides.  His love protects.  His love fulfills all desires, all passions, all wants.  He is forgiving, merciful, patient, all knowing, all seeing, ever living.  He is our Father, God.  

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 21, verse: 12a, The selling and buying.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Cleansing of the Temple) Part 1. 

We continue our walk with Christ as he enters Jerusalem.  The people of Jerusalem did not know him but the people who came from far away places knew him and had heard the word.  They praised him as he entered the city.  They worshipped him as he came.  They shouted Hosanna in the highest.  They were the ones who gave honor and glory to him and not the citizens of Jerusalem.

He walked through the city and the crowds followed.  They wanted to know what he would do.  They wanted to know what he would say.  They wanted to see him, to touch him, to be a part of the history that was being made.  So Christ went to the temple to pray.  He went to the temple to teach.  He went to the temple, to his father's house.   And Jesus entered the temple of God, and cast out all those who were selling and buying in the temple. 

He was appalled.  He was astonished.  He was angry that this sacred place was being used as a market place for con artists and thieves.  Evil had invaded the house of the Lord.  It had taken over the most sacred place where the people came to worship, praise, and thank their heavenly father.  This was wrong.  This was blasphemous.  This was not the place for those who practiced the ways of the world to do their business.

So he entered with anger.  He entered with righteousness.  He entered and cast out the evil that had taken over the temple.  What would you have do if this was your house and it was being used as a drug house, a house of prostitution, a den for robbers and murders to gather?  Would you have called them out?  Would you have called the law enforcement to clear them out?  What would you do?

Christ came that we would know the truth.  He came to be our sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.  He came that we would have new life and have it more abundantly.  He came to establish his presences here on earth through the legacy of his church.  And he said that the forces of hell shall not prevail against it.  So today we have a place to go when we are in need of peace.  We have a place to go when we need to communicate with our Father.  We have a place to go away from the world outside.  We have a place to go where we can find love, and understanding, and forgiveness.  For this is what he left us throughout the world.  No matter where we go or what city we find ourselves in, somewhere we can always find a place of worship, a place of peace.

Long did I wait before I entered the church.  Ashamed was I of the experiences I had in my life away from the church.  Guilty was I of the sins that I committed.  Desire did I to have peace, forgiveness, hope, and faith in my life.  I knew, but rationalize did I what I was doing.  I did not care of the consequences.  But he held my hand despite my disobedience.  He loved me despite my uncaring.  He forgave me despite my guilt and my shame.  He loves me today and I love him for all that he has done for me.  Turn back I will not.  With the help of the Advocate I will fight to continue to walk the path he has given me and I will fight to open the door to any and all who seek the truth of him who loves all.     

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: 12a, The Complaint.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 16. 

The last of the laborers came to the steward to receive their pay.  They are paid a denarius, as agreed, but they murmur against the householder.  They believed that they were deceived.  They believed that they were mistreated.  They believed that the pay that they received was unfair because they worked all day. 

They were the first to come to the vineyard and the last to leave.  They sought work in the market place and agreed to work for a denarius.  They did not know that others would be hired.  They did not know that others would be paid the same amount.  The only knew that they agreed to work for a denarius and believed that they were receiving a fair amount for their labor.  But when it came time for payment, they saw that others who came after them received the same amount.  They were dissatisfied:  saying, "These last have worked a single hour." 

Such is the way of comparison.  We compare ourselves to others and loose the sense of our own self, the sense of our own self worth, the sense of who we are.  What makes us happy?  What makes us satisfied?  What will fulfill our needs?  What will make us content within ourselves?  Who are we that we do not know who we are?  For it is the nature of discovery that allows us to understand.  And it is in that understanding that we come to know who we are.

Are you satisfied with who you are or are you continuously in search of the things that others have to satisfy yourself?  The laborers were not satisfied when they compared their labor to the labors of others.  They worked the day long.  They agreed to a fair amount but when compared with others who worked less for the same amount, they were dissatisfied.  It was in the comparison that they decided they were unhappy.  It was in the comparison that they saw others who were paid the same.  It was in the comparison that they felt hurt and pained that they did not get more.  What does it take to make us happy?  What does it take to give us satisfaction?  Are we continuously reviewing and revising what will make us happy so that we never know what will give us joy? 

Just like the laborers in the parable, we grumble and murmur against the house-holder.  We want what we see others having and believe what we see that others have, will make us happy.  Yet there are always others.  There is always dissatisfaction with what we have in comparison to what others have.  There is always that which we see in others that we want for ourselves.  Our happiness, our joy, our completeness is in others.  And yet there is nothing on this earth that we see that will fill us with the joy and happiness that comes from the knowledge of who we are in Christ.  For it is in the knowledge of being the children of God our Father and his love for us, that we can come to know who we are.  And it is in that knowledge that we are fulfilled. 

No gift or thing or object can substitute for the complete and fulfilling love that comes from God our Father.  Nothing else can compare.  And when you know his love nothing else is needed.  In this life, nothing else can compare, nothing else will satisfy.  If you yearn, if you seek, if you desire, with your whole heart, to know who you are, seek him and he will come.  Know him and he will provide.  Embrace him and you will be filled with his love.  And in that moment you will know that there is nothing else that can compare to the love that the Father has for you, thanks to the passion of Christ Jesus.

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.