St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 32b; The leaves of the fig tree.

 Our paragraph topic is:  (Jerusalem's impending destruction) Part 3. 

In those times people lived in small villages and farming was the main economic way of life.  They raised cattle, sheep, goats, chicken.  They grew grops and farmed grapes, olives, dates, and figs.  So Christ spoke to them through terms that they were familiar: fig trees.  He gave them a message that they could understand and heed its meaning.  That was two tousdand years ago.  What can we take from his words today.

Today most people do not live on farms but in large cities.  They do not raise cattle and grow crops for a living.  Today people have a total different way of living.  We have busses and cars and trains and plains for transportation.  We buy food at the local food store.  We go out to eat at restaurants to entertain ourselves to enjoy a meal away from home.  And we entertain ourselves with various forms of pleasure from digital to live shows and group events like baseball or basketball or some other form of group event.  Life is completely different today from the time of Christ.  How then can we take meaning from his words:  "When the leaves break forth you know that summer is near."  

The leaves fall from the trees and we know that winter and cold weather is coming.  The leaves return on trees and that tells us that soon warm weather is coming.  These two things we can relate.  But Christ in this paragraph was saying more than just speaking of  trees and leaves.  He was giving the people a sign, information to beware.  He had told them of the last days and the signs to look for.  Now he is saying beware, if you see any of those signs then you know what is about to happen.

The signs are a message for us also, that we need to look for in our daily lives.  As he said before if the owner knew that he would be robbed he would have made preparations to defend himself against attack.  We also must be prepared to protect ourselves and stay on guard against the coming of the end days for we know not when they may come.  Stay vigilent, stay prayerful, continue in the faith of Christ Jesus and the grace of God our Father.

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.

St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 32b; When the branch is now tender.

Our paragraph topic is:(Jerusalem's impending destruction) Part 2. 

And now comes the parable of the fig tree, the one that Christ wants us to learn for our safety, for our protection, before the impending doom.  He has given the signs to look for,  all the destruction that will happen during the last days.  Now he tells us what we can look for as a precurser.  Learn this sign.  Let the fig tree be your example of what to look for in the coming future.

He says: "When its branch is now tender."  This is a sign of the coming spring for the fig tree.  Even so when you see all the signs of the coming rapture know that the end days are near.  Do not be fooled.  Do not be ignorant of what is forthcoming.  For the signs are real and tells the truth of the impending doom, no matter what others may say or believe.  The media may proclaim a different theory.  Science may show another belief.  But Christ  has given us the truth of what is to be and what is to come.

We are children of his creation, bought by his sacrifice on the cross.  Given new life from death, by our faith and belief in him and the Father who sent him.  The Holy Spirit proclaims us and marks us with its light of life.  We are saved.  Thanks be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit that we exist today and forever.

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.

St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 32a; Learn this Parable.

 Our paragraph topic is: (Jerusalem's impending destruction) Part 1. 

Here we are in 2025 reading about a man, a being, who walked the earth some two thousand years before our time.  This was no ordinary man, compared to all the other men, as we come to know and have heard about him in our lifetime.  This man was our creator, the one who is, who was, and who will always be.  He is our savior who gave us new life from death, by sacrificing himself on a cross for our sins.  This man, our God, who loves us, wants to teach us how to walk a path free of pain and suffering.

Evil awaits us, out there, along the path of life.  It waits on the byways and the sidelanes of life.  It wants to distract us from the path of life, draw us in, turn us aside and keep us in its snare for eternity.  Evil is not good for us.  It will harm us in the long run.  It will eat away at the love and the goodness that is within us.  We must learn the tricks and trials of evil and stay on the path of life that our creator has given us, otherwise we loose life and obtain death.

Our teacher is Christ.  He came that we may have life.  He lived amoung us that we might know the truth of who we are.  He gave his life that we may no longer suffer death.  He conquered death that now we have the opportunity to live a new life with him.  He tells us: "Now from the fig tree learn this parable."  He prepares to teach us how to stay away from the traps of evil.  He does not give us a straight away answer, but speaks to us in a story, a parable, that we each can make sense of  in our own way.  This way we can all learn from it.  

He knows that some will learn now.  Some will learn later, some will take time for the meaning to come.  In time, though, he has planted the seed and the meaning will come.  His words require thought.  They require comtemplation, to savor the understanding and full meaning.  Learn this parable.  Apply it to your life.  Make sense of it and it will make sense of you.  The spirit is in it and the meaning of Christ is in it and he will be in you. 

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.