St. Matthew, Chapter 22, verses: 25-26; His Seven Brothers and the Widow Issue.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The Sadducees question Christ) Part 3.  

They came with what they considered a true concern or at least they thought that it was true enough to question Christ.  They had a foundation, handed down from Moses.  They built their premise upon this concern so that it would seem legitimate.  But their whole concern was with resurrection because they did not believe.

They started with a man and his wife with no heir.  The husband dies leaving a widow with no son to carry the family name.  That leaves, according to custom, the wife to be handed over to the brother to take the wife and have a son.  Here is the premise:  "Now there were among us seven brothers.  And the first after having married a wife, died, and having no issue, left his wife to his brother.  In like manner the second, and the third down to the seventh."  

This is the kind of question that was brought to Christ by the leadership of the Jews.  They concerned themselves with the minutia of the Law to confuse and constrain the people to keep them under their control.  And they used the same tactics with Christ.  But they did not know.  They did not understand.  They did not see nor did they hear his words.  Their eyes were blinded and they could not hear the truth of the words of the Son of Man.

God gave us eyes to see and ears to hear but he gave us hearts to know the truth of who we are. We believe with that which he has given us and it is with the heart that we know the truth.  Sometimes the heart can be deceived but with an open mind the truth will be known to those who seek it.  For the heart knows the voice of the one who calls us.  We hear his words when they are spoken to us.  We see the truth when it is given to us in plain sight.  And the light of the world will be revealed to those who seek to know who they are in his sight.

My heart compels me to write because much has been given me.  A new life, a new sight, a new me I now see.  No longer am I just flesh alone.  No longer am I without form or fashion.  My God has given me newness of life.  Christ Jesus has saved me from damnation and it is through his passion and his love that I am here today.  The infinite mercy of God forgives me of my sins for I am but a sinner.  And I write that I might be a witness to others who are lost in the darkness.  I have found the light and you can too.  Come!  Follow the path.  The truth is there waiting for you to see, waiting for you to know, waiting for you to become who you are.  

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: 24; His Brother Widow and their Issue.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The Sadducees question Christ) Part 2.  

The Sadducees were a part of the ruling party.  They had their own teachings according to the Law of Moses.  They believed that there was no resurrection after death.  You see it had been a long time since the Jews were released from slavery in Egypt.  They had wandered in the desert for forty years.  So they knew of the writings of old, how God protected their forefathers from death and fed them in the desert.  They knew about the prophets and all the miracles wrought in their name.  But they still did not believe that their was life after death.

Christ comes on the scene and he draws large crowds.  The people are talking about him everywhere.  The word is spreading and the rulers do not like that they are loosing popularity to this newcomer.  So now they have the opportunity to question him to determine his knowledge and education in the Law.  They come, saying, "Master, Moses said, 'If a man die without having a son, his brother shall marry the widow and raise up issue to his brother.' " 

And so they came with a rule from Moses that had come down through the ages to the people of the present time.  They wanted to set a foundation upon which to build their premise that Christ would accept.  They did not want to have contradiction so that they could then add the extra conditions.  Moses was their father and he was given authority from God to rule the people.  So their premise and his rule was acceptable by God was their belief and their foundation.

They had the premise right and the foundation right.  For they were speaking directly with the  Word of God.  For Christ spoke and did what his father showed him and told him to do.  He was the mouth piece of the living God.  His words came directly from the mind of God.  And the Spirit was his guide.  

The words we see and read today have come to us down through history, down through time as written and directed by the Holy Spirit of God himself.  Some believe those words and take them to heart.  Some do not believe and claim the words as false, being the writings of man to control the people.  Some doubt and half believe what is written.  Then there are those who hate the words and use them for dark purposes to call upon evil to rise and take control of mankind.

The words are written.  Take them as you choose.  They are a tool to open the door to the heart.  And within the heart lies the key to belief.  Without belief we cannot transform.  Without belief we cannot see.  Without belief we are blind, living in the darkness of time and the emptiness of space.  But with belief the door is open to the light of life that is given us freely through the sacrifice and the passion of Christ.  It is only through this belief in him that we are able to transform ourselves and to see the truth of who we are, new beings, new life, new light.

No more emptiness.  No more darkness.  No more loneliness.  Now we can know who we are and who he is in our lives.  And the truth will be given to us through the guidance of the Holy Spirit for we are not orphans left alone.  We are his children, his precious ones, his loved.

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: 23; The Sadducees' Question.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The Sadducees question Christ) Part 1.  

The Herodians came, questioned and tested him, and left marveling at his answer.  Now we have the Sadducees coming on the same day with their questions in their attempt to gather evidence against him.  They were learned men.  They studied the text and the books handed down by their fathers and the prophets but they had no wisdom or insight into the meaning behind the words.  The spirit of the Lord was not with them.

They were the ones who did not believe in the resurrection.  They only believed that we lived for today and die tomorrow.  So they had no understanding of what happened after death.  They had no knowledge or belief that there was an after life, a soul or a spirit.  They only believed that they lived for today and tomorrow you die and that is the end of life.  So, "On that same day some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him, and questioned him."  

Christ was an ordinary man, an ordinary man of flesh and blood.  He was not a hero.  He was not a prince or a scholar, at least not in the eyes of those who practiced being a scholar in those days, those who trained with the elders and learned various schools of thought.  He was just an ordinary man who would not attract the attention of anyone.  Yet within this ordinary man lived the Son of Man, the Son of God.  

He came down from heaven to walk among the ordinary people to be an example to them of a new way of life.  He wanted to show that there is a God and a heaven and a life after death that we could all believe in and live for.  He showed that he had the power of the Holy Spirit and God the Father to perform miracles that no other man or prophet had performed before him.  He wanted the people to rejoice, to have hope, to be happy in the knowledge that they had a God to provide for them, to care for them, to protect them, and to love them, even if they had to suffer in the present.

For he came to suffer.  He came to die for us.  He came to become a substitute for us all that we might have new life.  He came that the life that we lost in the garden we could have again.  He came because of the passion of his love for us all.  He came that we each might now have the choice to make our own decision as to whether we wanted to live with him or to die without him.  The choice would be ours alone.  The message would be spread to all.  All would have the opportunity over and over again till the last day, to decide.  The choice would be ours.  We must choose or the choice will be made for us.  Death will come and it will decide.  Why wait.

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.