St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 8; Beginning of Sorrows.

 Our paragraph topic is: (Christ warns them not to be led astray) Part 12.  

We can read between the lines.  We can understand the sign of the times.  There was much more being said than what was written in these short few lines of text.  It all started out with the pride of the disciples with the beauty and grandeur of the Temple grounds of Jerusalem.  They wanted to show Christ all the wonderful majesty of what Israel had built.  They were proud to be Jews, proud to be a part of what their religion had built.  But Christ saw beyond the surface, underneath the beauty.  He saw the true nature of the foundation of what the nation of Israel was built upon and how it was falling in decay.

They could not see what was happening right before their very eyes.  The disciples could not understand how the joy and majesty of their beloved nation would fall into decay.  So Christ had to open their eyes and show them what was happening, show them what was to come and what would be the ultimate outcome of the beauty they saw.  He wanted them to know so they would not be led astray like so many by the forth coming fear that would take hold of the people.  So he told them all the things that would take place.  And he said:  "But all these things are the beginnings of sorrows."

There was more to come.  More pain, more suffering, more unnatural events, more deaths to come that would cause the people of Israel to run from their belief in the one true God.  They would search for reasons, meaning, answers, search for causes that would satisfy their beliefs only for a moment until the next disaster occurred.  They would follow this leader or that one, anyone that had an explanation to the why and wherefore of what was happening.  

Was the end coming?  Can we stop it from coming?  What do we do?  Do we offer gifts to a god or sacrifice to appease it?  What can we do?  Does the government have a solution to all that is happening?  Can they stop the problems?  The people will be in a panic and will not know what to do or where to go, who to believe or who to follow.  Leadership will be in a panic also without any viable solutions.  It will be doomsday for all.

Do not be led astray by all this.  Hold fast to that which has kept you safe.  Believe in the Lord and he will protect and provide.  We are his children.  Christ has already given us his words to guide us during those times of sorrows.  We know what will happen.  We know what will come.  We know not to panic and not to be led astray by the fear that will sweep over the land.  He is our rock and our salvation.  He is our place of refuge in the midst of the storm and there we will find peace.  Be strong.  Be safe.  Keep your faith.  Trust in what has been given you.  Know that he is with you always and he will see you through. 

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 23, verses: 35a; All the Just Blood.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their persecution of religion) Part 11.  

And now comes the pronouncement of judgment against the Scribes and the Pharisees and all their kind who have persecuted religion throughout the ages.  They have massacred the prophets, slain the messengers, crucified the holy ones sent by God, and scourged those who spoke against them in the temples of the synagogues.  The evil within them has taken over and used them to commit sins against God to prevent the people from believing in the one true God.

Anger, pride, lust, slander, false witness, greed, all the sins of man have come upon the leaders of the religious sect to prevent them from seeing or feeling the sorrows of their people.  And God speaks through Christ Jesus to pronounce judgment upon them saying:  "That upon you may come all the just blood that has been shed on the earth."

They were offered the opportunity.  They were given the chance to change.  The door was opened for them many times but they refused to believe, they refused to see, they refused to go through.  Their anger, their pride, their desires, their blind ambition, led them to follow that which was given them from their lust from within, their desire for power.  They thought that they knew.  They thought that they understood.  Little did they know that they were being led down the path of destruction.  Little did they see that they would be required to do more and more evil to demonstrate their loyalty, until there was no turning back, until they had reached the point of no return and their souls were fully committed to evil.  The slippery slope of evil.  If there is no internal compass to guide one then all hope is lost and deceit will eventually play a part in the downfall.

God help us.  God guide us.  God protect those who fear him and those who love him.  Fear not for the events of the day for he has a plan that will always work to his advantage even if evil seems to win the day.  Our Father watches over us and provides and protects us.  We are in his hands and no one or nothing can take us away.  Today is our day to rejoice and be glad.  For we are protected by our Father in heaven and it is his love that will watch over us day in and day out.  Sleep well and be at peace.

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 23, verses: 18b; Swearing by the gifts.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 7.  

He called them blind guides, fools, they did not know what they were doing.  They believed in themselves.  They believed that they had the authority to know, the authority to declare, the authority to be right in their decisions.  But Christ called them fools, blind guides that did not know where they were going.  

They called themselves leading the people.  They called themselves religious leaders, yet Christ said that their religion was distorted, made up, not true, contrived.  They were blind and could not see the truth in their own beliefs that they taught the people.  They told the people that if they swear by the alter it is nothing: "But whoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is bound."

Christ called them hypocrites, fools, blind guides, because they walked in the dark not knowing where they were going and they led the people in that same darkness.  But these were the Pharisees and the Scribes, the rulers of the day.  They were the ones that walked the streets who enforced the rules of the Law to the people.  They saw to it that the people kept the Law or they paid the fines for breaking it.

And then out of the blue came this stranger that no one knew called Christ who taught the people a different way to live, a different way to love, a different way to know their God in heaven.  He walked with them, talked with them, eat with them, drank with them, danced with them, did all the things that a normal person would do even though he was the Son of God.  He heard their cries and their sorrows, and the moans, and the groans of those who were suffering from affliction and he cured them all.  He opened the eyes, and the mouths, and the ears, and healed the wounds of the lepers and raised the dead that all would know that he was sent from the Father from above.

And they still would not believe.  They still hated him.  They still could not see the truth of who he was.  What do you do with a person who faced with all the evidence but still will not accept the truth?  You can not force them to change.  You can not beat the change into them.  What do you do?  You can only love them for who they are and accept that they are not able to change.  God is a god of love.  He loves the good and the bad.  He makes the sun shine and the rain fall on both until that day comes when his judgment takes place.  Where will you be?

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:33, Open our eyes.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The blind men at Jericho) Part 8.

What would you have me do for you is the question that Christ asked the two blind men?  What do you want?  He heard their cries.  He heard their sorrows.  He heard their hearts calling out to him over the din of the crowd.  He did not see them.  He did not know them.  But through all the noise and all the people that followed him he heard their hearts calling out to him.

They were two blind men sitting by the roadside begging for their daily needs.  They had no work.  They had no income.  They had no way of providing for themselves.  They were blind.  They depended upon the mercy of those who passed them by.  They depended upon the goodness in the hearts of men and women who had pity upon them.  Many thought that they were sinners and did not deserve their help.  Many thought that they had sinned or someone in their family had sinned.  But here they were sitting by the roadside asking for help that they might survive.

And then the word came to them.  The word that spread throughout the land of Christ's deeds and his miracles spoke to their ears.  The word traveled by mouth, from one person to another.  The mouth spoke the word and all listened.  The mouth spoke the word and the two blind men heard.  They believed the word.  They hoped in the word and what it could mean for them.  And the will of God came their way.  Their hearts were filled with joy.  They believed that they might have the opportunity for their dreams come true.  And when they heard that he was there, they cried out.  He heard them and asked: "What would you have me do for you?"  They said to him, "Lord, that our eyes be opened."

Lord open our eyes!  This, more than anything else was their hearts desire.  They wanted to see.  They wanted to know.  They wanted to be delivered from the darkness, from the endless despair, from the hopelessness.  They wanted to live in the light.  They had their hearing.  They had their sense of smell and taste and touch, but they could not see.  They could not experience all that was, without their sight.  And they could not provide for themselves without their sight.

Do you live in hopelessness?  Do you live in despair?  Are you on the merry-go-round of life not knowing your purpose or place in this world?  We see so much joy and happiness in others in the media.  Our appetites are fed with the material pleasures that we could have in our lives.  Yet we live our lives in momentary pleasures that are here today and gone tomorrow and then we fall back into the daily grind of life.  Most of us live by the wayside like the two blind men.

Why do we hurt?  Why do we feel such pain, such anguish?  Why is it that we are not happy within ourselves?  What more is there to life that we are missing?  Our joy, our happiness, our peace is not real but only fleeting.  Is there more?  Is there something that is real that we can latch onto?  Can we not feel true joy within?  Can we not be truly happy within?  The two blind men only wanted to see.  What is it that you want?  Lord open our eyes that we may see!

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.