St. Matthew, Chapter 22, verse: 22; They Marveled.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Tribute to Caesar) Part 12.  

So finally they heard the words from Christ as to whether one should give tribute to Caesar.  You see they thought that if Christ said that Christians should give tribute to Caesar then that meant that they should worship Caesar as their god.  They believed that Caesar was a god and that there was no other god except him.  But Christ was teaching that there was one and only one God above all including Caesar.  So they wanted to hear his words on this matter so that they would have ammunition for their case against him.

They did not know the truth of who he was.  They were indeed learned.  They were indeed learned in the scriptures, in the Jewish Laws, and text handed down from the time of Moses.  But they did not have the wisdom of God within them.  They did not have the insight of the Holy Spirit upon them that they could interpret the truth in the scriptures.  They only had the words before them and the directions of those who wanted to destroy the living word of God.  Christ spoke his words to them.  And hearing this they marveled, and leaving him went off.

He set them on a different course.  They wanted him to be on one course with Caesar at the head as one god.  But he separated the course and gave them two to follow: Caesar or the living God.  The Jews knew the living God.  He had walked with Abraham, guided Moses, lead them through the desert and into the promised land.  He had protected them and fed them through the forty years, fought the Egyptians to protect them from slaughter.  So they knew their God and what he could do.  Yet they lived under the rule of the Roman Empire and they knew what the Emperor Caesar could do.

They were fearful.  Their rulers sought not to know but only to maintain the status quo, to go along with what was being handed to them through the rulers of the Roman Empire.  The Son of Man came to walk among them and the everyday people felt his presence.  They saw his miracles.  They heard his words.  They walked with him, touched him, lived with him, breathed the same air that he did.  His presence was upon them and they knew.  But the rulers did not.

Each day we live is our trial.  We wake to carry our cross, to be tested as to if we will or will not give way to the temptations that we face.  Will we waver,  will we doubt,  will we give up hope?  The light within flickers and shines less bright.  Yet we must carry on.  We must not falter.  We must find the strength, the courage, to believe, to know, to trust that we are not alone.  We must know that the sacrifice of love and passion was not for naught.  One light shining from a distance can barely be seen, but many shining together light up the universe.  Remember, we are not alone.  He is with us each day, each hour, each and every minute of the day.  We must seek him out and hear his voice within us.  Christ is with us.

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 22, verse: 4; A second invitation.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The marriage feast) Part 3.  

No one had come to the feast.  The king had sent out invitations to all the nobles and the important guest but no one came.  He wanted to have the great hall filled with guest and party goers so that there would be merriment and laughter.  He wanted all those who were of importance to be there to see his son and new wife celebrate their vows, but no one came.   

So he sent out a second invitation.  "Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast." 

You see, they were invited.  They were the ones who were sent invitations to come to the party.  They were the ones who were favored to come.  They were the ones who from the beginning knew about the great celebration and the marriage feast of the son but they did not come, they refused to come and celebrate with the king.  There was something in the air, something was amiss with the celebration and the people who were invited knew and refused to participate.

Are we the same today?  Do we refuse to come to the party, to the wedding feast?  We are invited.  We were sent the invitations. But there is something amiss that prevents us from going from wanting to go to participate.  

Are there requirements to participate?  Do we have to jump through hoops to go, or pay a fee to get in?  What do we have to do to be invited, or even to go.  We believe that this is going to be a great celebration.  We have been told that it will be the party of a lifetime, like no other.  So what will it take for us to go.  Will it cost too much?  Will it take up too much of our time and energy to prepare?  Will it be worth the energy going?  Is there another party that is better that we would like to go to that is being held at the same time?  What do we decide, what do we do?  Do we plan to go or not?

Faced with this decision what will you decide?  What will you do?  Will you continue along the road you travel or will you make the turn to the right that leads back to the wedding feast?  You know that you have heard about it.  You know that you want to go.  Yet there is something that holds you here, something that causes you to hesitate in your decision.  Do not waver in your decision.  Be straight forward and decisive in your answer.  Everyone is waiting for you to come.  They want to see you there.  Come join the party, come to the wedding feast!  It will be a blast.

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:22; Believing, all things in prayer.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Power of faith) Part 4. 

It is amazing what Christ did for the disciples.  He taught them about the things that come from the kingdom of God.  He demonstrated for them the power of words, his words.  And he told them that they could do the same if they did not waver in their belief.  This was the lesson that they had to learn.  This was the lesson that they had to remember after he had ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of his Father.

They were amazed and astonished at the miracles he performed.  They believed that he was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that he had the power to do many things.  They did not know or believe that they would be able to do the same.  Yet he gave them the instructions that they could follow.  "And all things whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you shall receive." 

What do we pray for?  Is it money?  Is it to pay our bills?  Is it to feed our families?  Is it to keep our home and not be set out in the street?  What is it that we pray to God our Father and ask for?  After we pray do we believe that he will hear us and answer?  Do we believe that he will provide?  If we want it now do we believe that he will provide now?  If he does not provide for us now do we continue to believe or do we waver and give up our hope and belief in him? 

We are humans in nature and do not know how to ask for that which will provide for our future.  We are humans and do not know what will truly make us happy.  We are humans and do not know what will bring us true peace.  If we ask for a snake, do you think that our father would give us a snake?  If we ask for something that he knows will not bring us peace do you think that he would give to us that thing that will create chaos in our lives?

Yet we ask for those things that we know not how they will affect our lives in the future.  We pray not for humility.  We pray not for patience.  We pray not for forgiveness, love, mercy, hope, faith, piety, etc, those things that will help us to be more like him.  We know not.  We only know what is in this world and what we believe, by what has been given us, will satisfy and help us.  He know the truth.  He knows the way.  He knows the love and the peace that we need.  He is our father and he gave us and continues to give us life.  His lesson is seek and you shall find.  Knock and it shall be opened to you.  Ask, in prayer, believing, and it shall be given to you.  Do not give up five minutes before the miracle happens.  Patience is the key.  Belief is the door that will open 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 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:21b; The Knowledge of Faith.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Power of faith) Part 3. 

So this was their instruction, this was their lesson to master, "Have faith and do not waver."  Christ gave them this lesson and he demonstrated the power of faith by commanding the fig tree to wither.  They heard his words.  They saw the results.  And they could not understand how this happened.

Christ told them to believe and to not waver in that belief.  He told them to have faith and know that what they say will happen.  He told them that there is power in their faith, in their belief, in their trust in something that is much more than the physical understanding.  He told them:  "But even if you shall say to this mountain, 'Arise, and hurl thyself into the sea,' it shall be done."  

We believe in what we see or what we know can happen.  And therefore, we understand that something can be done.  We find difficult to believe something that we do not see or do not understand, especially if it is beyond our imagination.  Christ told his disciples that if they spoke to the mountain and said to it to, hurl itself into the sea, it would be done if they did not waver in that belief.

But how can we not waver in something that is beyond our belief?  How can we not waver in something that we do not have an understanding of how that would be possible?  How can we not waver if we believe that that something is impossible to our physical knowledge of what can be done in the world?  This is the dilemma.  In the physical realm and in the realm of the physical thought processes of the mind, what we believe is impossible, cannot be done.

Yet in the spiritual realm of belief and understanding, Christ is telling us and the disciples that faith is the key to opening up the impossible realm of belief and knowledge in the unwavering impossibility and will make it happen.  There is another side to who we are.  There is another part of what we can do in this realm.  There is the power given us through the power of Christ that we can stand upon in our daily lives.  His words are truth.  His words are everlasting.  His words will be fulfilled, in our belief, in our knowledge, in our trust, and our unwavering knowledge of who he is, Christ Jesus, our King and our Savior, the Son of the Living 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:21a; Unwavering Faith.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Power of faith) Part 2. 

The disciples saw the fig tree wither before their eyes.  They could not believe what they saw.  They were in unbelief.  They heard Christ speak the words.  They knew that he was the Messiah and that he performed great miracles, but they did not understand how this had happened.  They wanted to know.  They wanted to understand, but their minds and their hearts were not open to this.

This was their instruction.  This was their lesson.  This was their homework so that they would be able to transform themselves, their hearts and their minds, to the will of God.  Christ wanted them to know.  He wanted them to learn.  He wanted them to see that what just happened they will also be able to do.  But Jesus answered and said to them, "Amen I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what I have done to the fig tree." 

We have seen great feats and wonders in our time.  One can think of the great monuments left for us to marvel and to contemplate.  The great Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, The Washington Monument, the Hover Dam, and many other great wonders of man.  Our desire is to see them for ourselves, to be in their presence and to ponder how they were built and constructed.  We can be amazed at these man made feats of wonder and even want to be a part of their history. 

Even in our time we are amazed and aahed by entertainers who perform feats of wonder beyond our comprehension.  We pay to go see these tricks of magic knowing that that is what they are, slight of hand and mind performances.  But few have seen a tree wither before their eyes.  Even more, few have heard of someone telling a tree to wither and it obeys.  How do we wrap our minds around such a feat?  How do we begin to understand the how and the wherefore of such a feat?  This was the lesson that Christ was giving his disciples and even to us today.

We have the capacity to believe.  We have the capacity to understand.  We have the capacity to do that which Christ has given us to do.  The key is in our capacity to believe, our capacity to know, our capacity to trust that it will be done, and in our capacity to not waver in that belief, in that knowledge, in that trust.  Not only will you do what I have done to the fig tree if you do not waver, if you believe, if you know within yourself, it will happen.

What do you want today?  Do you want money?  Do you want fame?  Do you want power?  What is it that your heart desires more than anything else in this world that will satisfy you and fulfil your deepest desires?  Careful for what you desire, for material desires are fleeting and do not satisfy.  Spiritual desires are eternal.  I want peace within myself to know that I will not stress or worry for what will happen tomorrow or what has happened in the past.  I want forgiveness from all my past sins.  I want a true feeling of that which has been promised.  I want to be with Jesus Christ in heaven because I know that he is the only one that can satisfy all my needs and fulfil the hunger within me.  What do you want?  Unwavering Faith. 

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.