St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 13a; The Hypocrites.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees) Part 1.   

Christ spoke to the Scribes and the Pharisees in an attempt to get them to understand their plight.  He wants to heal them.  He wants to open their eyes.  He wants to give them the opportunity to turn from their wicked ways.  But they are too far gone.  They are too blind to see.  Their sight, their hearing, and their understanding has been taken away.

So now he scolds them.  He calls them out to the public by a name that all would see.  No one has spoken to them this way.  No one has ridiculed them in the public eye the way that Christ spoke to them.  No one berated them, belittled them, undermined their authority.  Yet Christ did.  He told them:  "But woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"  

The Scribes and Pharisees were furious.  They wanted to retaliate.  They were enraged.  For if anyone else called them by this name they would have had them arrested and beaten.  But the people considered Christ a prophet.  They praised him for what he gave to the people.  He brought peace, and joy, and understanding of the true nature of the God who loved them.  They would riot before they allowed anyone to harm him.  But it was not his time to suffer.

What lesson can we learn from the plight of the Scribes and the Pharisees?  Are we hypocrites today, preaching to others the life of piety but living a life of sin?  What is our role today with regards to the responsibility to carry the message of peace and love to others.  

God is our Father.  He created us in his image and likeness, not as physical beings but as spiritual beings.  He is love and his love is for all things that he brought forth to life.  Yet there are other forces in the universe that would turn us away from his love, that would have us do evil.  Our Father gave us the commandments to live by.  He placed them in our hearts and minds to guide our lives.  For those who believe, he gives the spirit of his love to guide us in our daily lives.  He gave us his son to take away our sins that we might be justified.  And he gives us a high priest who sits at his right hand to plead for us in our transgressions.

We are loved.  We are protected.  We are provided for.  We are forgiven.  May our God and Father have mercy on the souls of those who seek his forgiveness.  Amen.  

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: 13a, No Injustice.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 18.

The last laborers who were first to be hired felt that they were not treated fairly.  They felt that they deserved more.  They felt that they had worked the whole day and deserved more than what the others received.  They saw the others come into the vineyard.  They saw how little work that completed.  They saw the amount that they received for the work that was completed.  And they believed that they did more work than the others.  This is why they believed that they deserved more.

Yet they agreed to work for a denarius.  They thought that to work for that amount was fair.  They believed that a denarius was a fair wage for a days work, so they agreed to do the work.  Yet when others came and when others did less work and when others received the same amount, they were dissatisfied, they grumbled, they murmured, they were angry.  And when they spoke to the house-holder about this perceived injustice, the house-holder did not agree with their perception.  "But answering one of them, he said, 'Friend, I do thee no injustice."  

Where did it all start?  Where did the concept of injustice begin?  Who brought up the thought?  Who spoke of the idea?  How did it enter the minds of the laborers as they worked in the vineyard?  Was there some outside influence that they did not know about?  Was there some outside idea that came to them as they worked that made them think that they should receive more than they agreed to? 

Here we are today living in the world seeking to be who we are.  What are we?  Who are we?  What do we believe?  Our thoughts and ideas come to us from outside ourselves fed by the electronic media that we live by today.  Who decides what that media will say?  Who decides what that media will do?  Who makes the decisions as to what is sent through that media and what is not sent, what we see and what we do not see, what we perceive and what we do not perceive?  We accept what is given us.  Some is discarded and some is retained.  Some is stored for future use and some is used immediately.  Do we filter?  Do we reject?  Do we block out all that comes in?  Yet the media continues to come and we continue to perceive.

Even when the media is off we continue to perceive.  We continue to think about what is given us as we seek to utilize the functions of our brains to sort through all that is given us.  What was given the laborers?  They did not have the media of today.  They did not have others making decisions and sending out thoughts and ideas and facts, and all kinds of information for them to take in.  Where did their thoughts come from that they would consider themselves done an injustice.  Did it come from the air?  Did it come from space?  Did it come from the netherworld?

We are imperfect beings trying to live in a world not our own.  How do we live, how do we survive, how do we protect ourselves in such an environment.  Christ said:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  His saying is contradictory to what we live by today.  We are given to be rich.  Our every being our every desire is influenced by the thought that we want to be rich and not poor.  And yet the riches of this world that we seek do not satisfy, they do not complete, they do not fulfill.  What is there that will complete us?  What is there that will fulfill us?  What is it that our hearts desire that will gives us lasting joy, lasting happiness, lasting peace?  Knock and it shall be opened to you, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given to you. 

These are the words that come from our heavenly Father through Christ Jesus.  If you seek peace then ask.  If you seek joy then look.  If you want happiness then open the door to your heart and it will come to you who want to know eternal happiness in him who completes all.  Be satisfied.  Be content.  Be knowledgeable in who you are through the spirit that is within you.  All you have to do is look within.  The path has been prepared for you.  All you have to do is walk it. 

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.