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 17, verse: 21-22a, The Passion Prediction: The death of Christ.

Our paragraph topic is: (The second prediction of the passion) Part 1. 


And it came to pass, as they moved on, from the villages and towns around the mountain where the transfiguration took place they arrived in Galilee.  They were happy with Christ.  They were at peace with him.  They had no worries, no cares, no fears.  For he provided all.  He gave all.  He was all to his disciples and to the people that followed him.  The word spread of his miracles.  The word spread of his teachings.  The word spread of his presences.  And many came that they may witness the truth for themselves in those times of the good news.

But there was evil afoot.  There was evil brewing in the heartland.  The leaders were threatened.  The rulers were worried.  The powers that be were being influenced by evil that they may commit to do evil.  For the slaughter was being conceived.  The sacrifice was being planned and the preparations were being made to silence the word.  For the word must not 
spread.  The people must be controlled.  The people must be ruled.  And the people must be contained by the rules of the law less those in power would loose their place to rule.

So as they made their way to Jerusalem, Christ knew what was taking place.  He knew that he had a mission.  Christ accepted his part in the final ruling that was taking place in heaven and on earth.  Justice must be served if there is a God, a supreme ruler.  For in truth one does not give justice and then change it.  So to satisfy the transgression a sacrifice had to be made.  A willing sacrifice, a proper sacrifice, a pure sacrifice, a lamb.  So Christ had to tell his disciples of the outcome of their journey.  He had to make them aware of what would happen in Jerusalem.  Now while they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to them: "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of men,
and they will kill him."

Christ knew his fate.  He know that he was born into this realm to be a sacrifice.  He came to give mankind life.  He came to be with us.  He came that we would know.  He came to give us the truth of who we are.  And he came to face death and to conquer it.  Why are we here?  Why are we born into this world to suffer and die?  Why do we toil and face the trials and tribulations of life, if not to have what life has to offer?  Why do we have to die?  What is the meaning of this life cycle that we go through if there is no goal, no purpose, no reason to living?

Death and taxes are the constants in our lives.  We live.  We work.  We are happy.  We are sad.  We love.  We hate.  We cry.  We pain.  Our hearts desire without true satisfaction.  We struggle to make sense of ourselves only to find ourselves with temporary solutions without some permanency.  Christ came.  He lived with us.  He walked the same earth.  He breathe the same air.  He drank the same water, eat the same food, slept under the same sky that we have, and then he died.  On the third day, the Bible tells us, he rose from the grave and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of his father.  These are the written words of those who were there as witnesses.

What do we have to look forward to?  What do we have to rely upon as truth?  We have our science.  We have our technology.  We have our knowledge.  Is this enough to give us the strength to live our lives from day to day?  What will give us meaning?  We have the truth.  We have the living word.  We have Christ who lived among us, to teach us, to be an example to us, to provide for us, to love us, and to protect us.  Evil would have us believe that we are alone. Evil would have us believe that we must live by the laws and precepts of the world.   Evil would have us think that there is nothing else except what we have here, so we must live without any concerns of what comes after we die.  Yet God our Father gave us simple rules to keep evil from us.  Christ came to demonstrate to us the love that the Father has for us, if we only believe and trust in him.

I have walked the way of the world.  I have lived by the way of the world and I know now that Christ loves me, that the Father loves me, and that the Holy Spirit lives with me.  Come!  Walk the path before you.  See the truth of who you are in Christ.  Know the light that is within you and you too will see yourself as others will see you in heaven.  Christ loves 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 17, verse: 20, Casting out by fasting and prayer.

Our paragraph topic is: (Why the disciples could not cure him) Part 5.

Christ taught them.  He instructed them.  He gave to them all that they would need to know for now.  For they could only bare so much.  Their understanding was limited and their hearts were weak.  So Christ had to give them a little at a time that they would not be overcome with the total truth of what was to come.  The sacrifice had not yet been made.  The gift had not been given.  And the justification was not yet made.  So he taught them as though they were little children.  He gave them what they needed now to continue on the journey that they were upon.

Why did they follow Christ?  Why did they sacrifice all?  Why did they seek to know without having the faith that all would be well?  Christ was the key.  He was the answer to all they sought.  He was the Messiah and they followed him because they had some belief in him.  But they were not sure.  They were not certain.  They did not yet have the spirit within them that they would know.  So he taught them and gave them what they needed to know for now.  He showed them the way to cast out demons and how to cast out this particular demon.  He told them:  "But this kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting."

They did not have the faith of a mustard seed.  They did not have the faith of a grain of sand.  They did not have the faith to cast out the demon from the boy.  Yet they wanted to know why they could not cast it out.  They wanted to know how it could be done.  Christ had given them power to cast out demons before.  He had sent them to the towns and villages to perform miracles in his name.  But because of their little faith they could only cast out this demon by fasting and prayer.

Do we have demons today that need casting out?  Do we have addictions?  Do we have lust?  Do we have compulsions that control us and will not let go?  Do we over eat?  Are we compelled to over shop?  Do we gamble out of control?  Are we addicted to adrenalin?  Do we fear compulsively over everything?  Are we control junkies where we must control everything within our reach?  Do we have demons in our lives that cause us to do things that we do not want to do?  Some would say yes.  Some would say no.  Some would say that we are weak and lack control.  We are no longer possessed by demons but we have all the things in this world that make us subject to being controlled.

Christ came that we would have freedom.  Christ came that we would have choice.  Christ gave himself as sacrifice for our sins that we would have life and have it more abundantly.  But we have life already.  We live and breathe and see, and feel, and love, and want and desire and hate and fear and lust and kill and then we die.  Do we have spiritual life?  Do we have the life within us that Christ died for?  Do we have the light of his spirit within us that we know who we are and where we are from?  Do we know that we are spiritual beings and not physical beings?  Do we know that our spiritual life continues after our physical life ends? 

Come!  See the life that Christ has given you.  He told us how to find it.  He told us where to look.  He gave us instructions as to how to keep it from harm.  He wrote for us in his own words how we would preserve that which he has given us.  And he told us that he would be with us for all times.  He has even prepared a place for us in his father's house that we may live with him for all eternity.  And the Father has prepared great things for those who love him.  Come!  See the light that is within you and you will know the truth of who you are in Christ.  Follow the path before.  Read the words given you.  Open your heart to the truth.  And the Holy Spirit will come and reside with you.  May the peace of Christ be with you and the love of the Father be in your heart. 

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.