St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 1, The Test: Request for a sign.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The Pharisees and Sadducees ask a sign) Part 1.

And the word spread.  Like wild fire the word spread and people talked about Jesus.  They spoke of his miracles.  They spoke of his teachings.  They spoke of his words.  They spoke of his peace.  They spoke of his love for all man.  And then the Pharisees heard.  They heard and disliked.  They heard and hated.  They heard and plotted how to stop the word from spreading.  For they were filled with evil.  They were consumed with darkness and darkness did not like the teachings of Christ.  Evil did not want to hear of goodness.  Evil did not want peace.  Evil wanted to do away with Christ.  So they plotted with the Pharisees as to how they might do away with him and his teachings.

So the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Christ with a test.  They had planned their strategy and came to Christ to test him with a question.  They had heard of his miracles.  They had seen others who were cured.  They had known those who were blind, crippled, possessed, lame, and filled with leprosy but they still did not believe.  So despite all the signs and wonders, they wanted a special request.  They wanted a special sign for themselves so that they could say that they could believe.  But evil was with them.  Evil could not work on its own but only through a person.  So the evil doers came to Christ and asked for a sign.   And the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him to test him, and they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

Where are we today?  Do we need a sign to believe?  Do we need a cure to understand and believe?  The evil within does not want us to believe.  The evil within would have us blind.  The evil within would have us deaf.  The evil within would keep us as unbelievers or at worst deceive us to think that we believe yet continuing to do the things that indicate we do not believe. 

We live in a world that is not eternal.  Yet we believe that it is forever.  We believe that tomorrow is given, next week is planned for, next year we will be here to enjoy the pleasures of this life.  Do we need a sign?  Do we need death to come and knock on our door to tell us to wake up?  Do we need sickness to come into our lives to open our eyes.  The thief comes in the night when least expected to steal from us.  Thank you Father for not letting go of my hand.  Thank you Father for not giving up on me.  Thank you Father for keeping death away until I came to know you.  For I faced death on many occasions.  I walked the line with evil and was tempted to cross over.  Yet I knew deep down inside that evil was not with me.  I knew from the peace that you gave me when I was a child that this was your peace.  I knew that the love that you showed me was not the hatred and anger that I faced when tempted by evil. 

Thank you Father for touching me with your love and your peace.  Now I know who I am and who you are.  I know that your Holy Spirit is with me each day.  I know that I am your child and you are my loving Father who wants to care for me and provide for me.  To those who do not know or who do not believe, I am a witness for his love and his peace.  Come, seek the truth of who you are and the knowledge of your Father.  Christ wants to heal you.  Christ wants to protect you.  Christ wants to love you.  And the Father will provide for you if you only believe. 

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 15, verses: 37 - 39, They ate and all were satisfied:The Fragements.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus feeds four thousand) Part 2.    

He gave thanks to his heavenly Father, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples to give to the crowd of people.  The disciples were willing to send the people away.  Christ was unwilling to send them away.  He knew what they would face.  He knew what was waiting for them.  He know the evil that was on the outside.  And he was unwilling to let them go.  For he wanted to feed them.  He wanted to guide them.  He wanted to protect them from the wolves that were waiting to feed upon them.  But the disciples did not know.  They did not see yet.  They did not have the guide, the advocate, to help them.  And the time was not fulfilled, the sacrifice was not given yet and the absolution was not complete.

But Christ fed the crowds.  He gave them food that they may eat until they all were satisfied.   And then he told his disciples to gather the fragments that they would not be wasted.   And they took up what was left of the fragments, seven full baskets.  Now those who had eaten were four thousand men, apart from children and women.  When he had dismissed the crowd, he got into the boat, and came into the district of Magedan.

In the desert where there was not food, Christ fed thousands.  In the desert where there was no food Christ had leftover fragments totaling seven basket fulls.  In the desert where we find ourselves starving because we do not believe in Him we have nothing.  We believe in the world and the world puts us in the desert.  We believe as the world teaches and we are twisted, and tortured, and blinded, and deceived, living in fear.  We believe in the world and not in Christ.  We seek the ways of the world and not Christ.  We desire the riches of the world when we are already enriched.  We want the passions of the world, things that cannot fulfill, when we are already complete in Christ. 

Christ gives us our food.  Christ gives us our water.  Christ gives us our peace.  He gives us all our needs here on earth if we would just accept that he is our provider, our protector, our healer, our teacher, our all and all.  Yet, the world calls us.  The world seeks to feed us.  The world wants to protect us but cannot.  For the world is death and that is what we seek.  That is what we are given.  That is what we are told, day in and day out.  We are fed the deceits of the world and not the truths of Christ.  Seven baskets of fragments were left, after the meal was over.  Imagine how Christ can fill your baskets if you just believe.  Imagine how Christ can cause your cup to overflow if you just seek him.  Imagine how Christ can fulfill all your needs if you just find him in your heart.  The world does not want you to know.  I know.  I found him.  I wish that you can find him too.

St Matthew, Chapter 15,verse: 35-37a, Jesus feeds four thousand: All were satisfied.

Our paragraph topic is:  ( Jesus feeds four thousand) Part 1.

They were all in a desert place where there was not much to eat.  And the people came to him in the desert.  They came from the villages, from the towns, from districts far away.  They came into this desert place because the word came to them and told them about the one they heard people talking about.  The word told them that they would be healed.  The word told them that they would see.  The word told them that they would walk.  The word was God and God was with the people.

And they came to him that they would be filled, that they would be healed, that they would know the truth of who he was.  And Christ had compassion on the crowd.  He felt their pain.  He felt their sorrow.  He felt their love.  He knew their confusion, their loss, their fears, their hopes, and their dreams.  And he wanted to feed them.  He wanted to fill them.  He wanted to love them.  He wanted to guide them through the tricks and traps that they would face in the world.  For they had been transformed by Christ and now they would face a new world with all of its temptations.  And Christ had compassion on the crowd.  But time had not been fulfilled and the sacrifice had not been given and the absolution was not complete.

So he fed the crowds.  He gave them physical food for their bodies.  He gave them fish and bread that they would not faint on their return to their villages and towns.   And he bade the crowd recline on the ground.   Then taking the seven loaves and the fishes, he gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowd.  And they all ate and were satisfied.     

How do you see a miracle?  If you watch closely will you see it happening?  If it happens before your eyes will you know that it is?  How did the lame walk?  How did the blind see?  How did the deaf hear?  How did the loaves multiply?  Christ blessed the fish and the loaves and gave them to the disciples to give to the people.  And they eat and were satisfied.  But how did it happen?  We are spiritual beings living in a physical world.  Do we recognize who we are?  Do we know that we are spiritual beings in a physical shell?  Are we aware of our spiritual nature?

Christ told us in the New Testament how to see ourselves.  He told us how we should look.  He gave us the words that indicate how we are to know who we are.  Yet, we live in a physical world not knowing that we are spiritual beings.  We strive for physical things not knowing that they are not eternal.  And we are unaware of the spiritual things that are eternal, everlasting, God given.  And we ask God  to help us in this physical world not knowing who we are.  Christ wanted to feed the crowd because he had compassion.  He wanted to give to them eternal food that would sustain them in this world, but the time was not fulfilled, the sacrifice was not given, and the absolution not complete.

Today, the sacrifice has been given, the time has been fulfilled, and the absolution is complete.  We are reborn in his image that we may share in eternal life with Christ.  But how can we share in something that we do not know?  How can we share in something that is hidden from us unless we seek it, find it, and know it to be true.  The miracle awaits those who seek it.  The knowledge awaits those who search for it.  The treasure is buried for those who want to find it.  And when it is found one will sell all to own it.  For Christ has completed the miracle.  The food awaits us.  Come!  Recline and partake of the the spiritual food that will awaken the spiritual life in you. 

Come! Know the truth of who you are. 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!