St Matthew, Chapter 17, verse: 22b, The Passion Prediction: The Rise of Christ.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The second prediction of the passion) Part 2. 

They were on their way to Jerusalem with the Lord.  Many had assumed that he would be the ruler.  Many thought that he was going to take over the leadership of the High Priest.  Many were happy because they saw a change coming.  And many were joyous because they believed that it was time for a change.  Christ knew otherwise.  He knew that it was time for a change and that change was a sacrifice, the sacrifice to justify mankind with God.

He told them on several occasions of the Passion.  He warned them of what was about to take place.  He told them that he would suffer and that he would face death.  But they only thought about the change coming.  They only thought about the joy that would come when the old rulers were removed and new ones came to be.  They did not think about the struggle.  They did not think about the sacrifice that would come.  They did not think about the suffering.  They only thought about what they wanted to hear, what they believed would happen, what they wanted to think. 

Evil was afoot and plans were being made to destroy Christ.  Evil was in the house and evil was in the minds and evil was in the mouths and on the lips of those in power.  For they spoke of ways to destroy him.  They wanted to stop him.  They wanted him hanged for the embarrassment that he had caused them.  They wanted to control him and could not.  For each time they attempted to control him they failed.  Each time they sought to win, they did not.  Each time they came with a trick, they could not trick him.  For Christ knew them.  He knew who they worshipped.  He who they were.  For they were children of evil.  They were the sons of evil and their father was the father of all lies. 

Christ came to bring about change.  He came with the sword to separate the wolves from the lambs.  He came to stop the lies, to stop the deceit, to stop the death of the innocent.  He came to bring life.  But evil did not want the people to have life.  Evil did not want the people to know the truth.  Evil did not want the people to know who they are and who they belonged to.  Evil wanted the people for itself.  Evil wanted the people to do evil and to destroy Christ because evil could not change him, could not turn him, could not seduce him, could not control him.  So evil had to destroy him.

Christ had to tell his disciples that they would know.  He had to speak the truth that they would believe after the truth had taken place.  And they were sad to hear this.  For he said:  "And they will kill him; and, on the third day he will rise again."  And they were exceedingly sorry.  

How do we feel today that Christ died?  How do we feel today that he suffered such pain and agony?  How do we feel today that he had to be the sacrifice for our sins and not us?  We live in a world that only rarely shows us the pain that he endured.  We live in a world that deceives us into believing that we are alright and life must go on.  We live in a world that does not want us to know who we are in Christ.  For the world wants to deceive us.  The world wants to hide us from the truth.  The world wants to keep us in the dark and away from the light that awaits us in Christ.

Come!  Follow the path before you.  Read the truth of who you are in Him who gave you life.  Know the truth of your true life and not the artificial life of the physical.  For you are like angels, created in the image and likeness of God.  You are sons and daughters of the one true God, the living God.  If you seek to know, if you seek to find, if you seek to see that which is within you, come read that which is given to you as manna from heaven.  It has been given to me and I now pass it on to you.  I am a witness, a voice crying in the wilderness, testifying that he has come to me and will come to you also if you seek him.  He awaits your call.  He listens for your voice.  He anticipates your needs and will provide for your wants.  Christ loves you, the Holy Spirit greets you and so do I.

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 16, verse: 21, The Future of the Church: The Foretelling

Our paragraph topic is:  (Passion and resurrection foretold) Part 1.   

And so it was that the church was established in Christ Jesus.  And Simon Peter became the first member of the church here on earth.  For it was in him and through him and of him that the word was spread throughout the earth by the will of Christ Jesus and the love of God the Father.  Two thousand years the church has withstood the wars and deaths and crimes and evil in the world and still stands today.  It has been battered and beaten and torn from within and still survives as Christ willed it during his here mission on earth.  

And now the final days were approaching.  Christ continually spoke to his disciples about his mission and his purpose.  He told them of the future.  He described to them what was coming.  He gave them the vision of what was to happen to him and how it would all end.  Yet they did not understand.  They did not know.  They did not fully comprehend that these things must take place to save mankind.  The disciples only saw the material.  They only lived in the flesh and not in the spirit.  For the time was approaching when the sacrifice must be given that man would be saved.  So Christ taught them of the things to come.   From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and Scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.

This was the future of one so meek and mild.  This was the future of one so loving and understanding.  This was the future of one so forgiving and one so passionate about what must be done for mankind.  Death was waiting.  Torture and pain were at his doorstep.  Humiliation and dishonor, hatred and abuse, bloodshed and mutilation of such kind that no man could endure.  Yet knowing all this he willingly submitted.  Christ was the only begotten son of God, first, before all things were created.  He knew not pain.  He knew not suffering.  He knew not death.  And yet he gave up his heavenly crown, his kingly position, his place on the throne at the right hand of his father to become man that all mankind would not be condemned to death.

This was his mission.  This was his passion.  This was his purpose in becoming man and taking on human form.  God, the ultimate judge, pronounced that if Adam eat of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die.  That was the judgement.  That was the decision made by Adam.  And death came forth to rule over mankind until the judgement could be satisfied, placated, annulled.  And it could only be satisfied with the blood from one so pure and without sin.  And so Christ entered into his mission knowing the consequences of what was to take place. 

He gave of his life so willingly because the price had to be paid that man could have life and have life eternally.   So those who seek, those who desire, those who want to know, can find eternal life in Christ.  For through him and in him and with him comes forth spiritual life in man.  And those who do not seek, those who do not know, those who do not desire are of death and have not life eternal.  Come!  Follow the path set before you.  Seek the knowledge that brings eternal life and know the truth of who you are in Christ.  The spirit awaits your coming.    

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!