St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verses: 41a; Evil men.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The vine-dressers kill the master's son) Part 4. 

They killed the master's son, the most precious gift of all.  Greed had turned them into evil men.  They sought to steal and kill to get what they wanted.  They sought to lie and cheat to take what was not theirs.  They sought to influence others to support their evil schemes to enrich themselves to reach their goals.

How often do we see these themes today.  They are presented to us as normal and an accepted way of life, what one must do to get ahead.  This is true especially in business.  You have to be ruthless to get ahead.  Destroy the competition.  Slander their products.  Take over their customers and you will win.  And what did Jesus ask will happen to this type of person:   They said to him, "He will utterly destroy those evil men." 

Who are our idols?  What do we look up to as our model in life?  What do we desire more than anything else in this world?  We want to be like the rich and the famous.  We want to have money, and leisure, and yachts and penthouse condominiums and gold chains and diamond rings and fur coats and travel in our own jets.  We want all that is shown to us each and every day in the media.  They advertise to us.  They project to us the way that we should live.  They provide the model by which we dream.  They are our motivation for all that we desire.

What must we do to get there?  What must we forsake, what must we give up to get what we want?  We must change.  We must turn away from what was freely given us.  We must become ruthless and focused on our target.  We must not be distracted away by morals and ethics, those boundaries that hold us back from reaching our goals.  What would you do given the chance, the opportunity to reach your goals?

How blinded are we?  How deceived are we?  How innocent are we to accept the vision that is given us on a daily basis.  We are the children of the creator of the universe.  We are created in his image and likeness.  We are children of light and not of darkness.  Yet the world would have us become dark, to turn away from ourselves, to give up that which was freely given through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. 

He came to give us life.  He came that we would know.  He came to show us a way to find him in his kingdom.  We are his children and he is our savior.  It is he who purchased us with his blood.  It is he who was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  It is he who seeks to help you find the way into the light and out of the darkness of this world.  The shell will be broken but what comes forth will be in your hands.  Will it be the child of God or the creation of darkness?  The choice is yours and the opportunity is now.

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:26b, The Great Disciple.

Our paragraph topic is: (Humility according to Christ's example) Part 5.  

When we look back upon the teachings of Christ to his disciples, one must wonder how they felt, how they thought, how they understood his teachings.  They followed Christ because they knew, within themselves, that he was the Messiah.  His miracles proved that.  He did things that no other prophet or other great leader could do.  They were amazed at what they saw, what they heard him say, and what they believed that he would do.  Their hearts and minds were opened to his teachings, his love, his passion, and his will. 

They all wanted what they saw.  They wanted to be powerful.  They wanted his fearlessness. They wanted to be like him because they thought that this would give them leverage over the leaders of their day.  They thought that being like him would make them famous with the people.  They thought that imitating him would give them prestige and privilege like other leaders of the day.  Little did they know or think that what they thought they wanted was completely different from what would be offered.  Christ told them:  "On the contrary, whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant." 

How was that to be?  How were they who sought to be great to become a servant?  A servant was a position that they sought to turn away from.  A servant was a person that they saw with disdain.  A servant in their day and time was a nobody.  Yet here was Christ, their leader, their teacher, their Messiah, telling them that they must become servants.  Certainly this did not go over well with them.  Certainly this did not sound good to them.  Certainly this saying was not immediately understood.

He had just spoken with them about the honor of sitting at his right hand and at his left in the kingdom of heaven, a position that they all sought.  He had questioned them about the price that they will pay to be his followers.  He had just placed the doubt in their minds and their hearts as to the courage of their convictions being his followers when the time of tribulation came.  Were they ready?  Were they prepared?  Were they strong enough to face that which was in their future?  And now he tells them that they must become servants if they want to become great.

Christ had a way of teaching that cut to the quick, got to the heart of the matter.  He taught in ways that required insight and thought, ways that revealed meaning and understanding with deeper thought.  In our day and time we can look back.  We can read about what happened.  We can study the text and meaning in many different ways and from many different authors.  But beyond all of the literature lies the inner meaning that comes to each of us individually guided by the Holy Spirit. 

In our society today, we strive to be top dog, the lady that stands out in a crowd, the one that gets noticed.  We do not seek to be servants.  We do not seek to be the lowly.  This is contrary to what we are given from birth in our society.  Yet here is the greatest teacher that walked the earth giving us an example of how to be great, how to serve and not how to be served.  He is giving us the example of how to give of oneself and not to take, the example to humble oneself and not to be proud.  This is the example that he brought to us, the example that he gives to us, the example that he left for us to follow.  For he, the king of the universe, humbled himself and came to save us.  Can we not seek to follow his example?

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.