St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 20a; Fleeing in the winter.

 Our paragraph topic is:  (The destruction of Jerusalem) Part 7.  

The tragedy of the destruction of Jerusalem becomes even more disturbing as Christ continues to paint the picture.  He tells of all the odd things that are going to occur to the people who are not aware, those who do not believe and continue to deny what may happen.  He has come from on high to bring a message to the people.  He has come from the Father to save the people, to bring forth a new beginning.  Yet few will listen, few will believe.

If love and tenderness will not move then surely fear will raise awareness.  Fear of impending doom will make people listen.  Fear of death will reach the inner most reaches of the most hardened person and bring them to some sense of reality.  Fear of loss, fear of loosing that which one has, fear of loosing the luxury of the day will cause one to take action to make something happen.  For he told the people:  "But pray that your flight may not be in the winter."

Pray that there would not be a winter if destruction comes.  Pray that they would not have to flee in the cold, in the wind, in the rain, in the ice of winter.  They lived in Jerusalem, in a warm climate.  Winter was non-existent to them.  They knew of it but not to the extent that it would cause them to fear for their lives.  They could prepare for winter by storing up food and planning to have heat in their homes.  But to have to flee during a cold, cold winter with the wind and rain and ice, would be fearfully unbearable.  That would be something no one would want to undertake.

Yet Christ was telling the people to pray.  He was telling them to pray that that would not happen to them, that God would spare them of that suffering of cold during escape from their home.  Would they listen?  Would they hear his words and believe.  They saw the miracles he performed.  They knew of the many he had cured.  They knew of the dead he had raised.  And no other prophet before him had come close to doing the things that he did.  He was the Messiah.  But what did that mean to the people?

What does it mean for us today?  We have the Bible that tells us of all the things that Christ did while he was here on earth.  We have the disciples that he left behind that established the church and taught and trained the early saints.  We have the writings of those apostles and saints to guide us in our daily lives.  We have the whole foundation of the church and the built up ministries to go by to help us live according to the principles that Christ gave us.  But what does it all mean?  

What does it mean for you and me is what we want it to mean in a relationship with ourselves and the one who gave us life.  If we understand one thing it is we have life eternal through the gift that Christ gave us.  Not life today, not life tomorrow, not life for a minute, or an hour but life eternal.  We have life beyond the end of the flesh.  And that one thing should be our waking and living focus day in and day out.  The knowledge that through Christ we are more than just physical.  We were created in the image and likeness of the Father and because he has life in him we also have life through Christ and his grace, his mercy, and his all giving love.

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 24, verse: 19b; Those with infants.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The destruction of Jerusalem) Part 6.  

Infants and children, those we are, by nature, given to protect, we will do all to save from harm.  We will give our own lives that they might live.  For they are our hearts and souls and to see them suffer or endure harm tears at the very fabric of our humanity.  Yet Christ made his prediction that those with infants would suffer most because of the destruction of Jerusalem.

He spared no one the horror of the coming evil.  He wanted all to know, to become aware.  He, the gentle man of compassion, told the world that Jerusalem would suffer and see destruction.  Imagine the horror and the despair that spread throughout the populace when the people heard of his prediction.  Woe to those with child:  "Or have infants at the breast in those days!"

 Attack the defenseless and the innocent children.  Make them the basis, the foundation of the coming destruction and everyone will understand.  Everyone will believe and know the effect of what was to come.  Prepare now or suffer the little children.  Hear the words of peril; listen and learn or disbelieve and know the truth of the prediction of the words of God.

These were the words of Christ to the people and his disciples that they should know what was coming to their precious city of Jerusalem.  They were proud of their city.  They were proud of what their religion had given them.  The Jews were a proud race of people guided by the hand of God throughout the centuries.  He watched over them, protected them, guided them for many years.  So how could this man, this Christ, say that their city would be destroyed.  They did not know.  They did not believe.  They did not see the writing on the wall that was before them.  The Messiah had come down from heaven just as it had been written by the prophets of old and they did not believe.  It was all there for them to see.  It was there for them to know if they only looked.  But they were a proud people who did not want to give up what they had.  They did not want to change.  And Christ came to bring about change.

Even today we need change, change in our hearts and minds, change in our thoughts and how we live, change in what we believe.  We believe there is a heaven and a hell but we don't know it.  We do not live it.  We do not feel it in our hearts.  We are but shells that carry the true self of who we are but our shells control us and not that which is within us.  

Christ came to give us life, a new life, a more abundant life.  He came that we might not die if we only believe.  And what we believe is life that is within us that is eternal, not physical, not flesh and blood, but created in the image of God the Father.  The light of life is within us if we only believe.  The light of life is within us if we only see.  The light of Christ is given us if we only know that he is with us always.  This is the truth that is with us today, tomorrow and always if we believe. Let nothing or no one change your belief from the life that is within you. 

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 24, verse: 19a; Those with child.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The destruction of Jerusalem) Part 5.  

Take nothing with you.  Run for your life if you are to be saved.  Don't turn back for anything, else you loose your life for death is at your heals.  Christ delivers a dire message to his disciples and to the people about the coming destruction of Jerusalem.  Everyone, all the Jews are praising their city, enjoying the sights and sounds of its beauty.  But not Christ.  He is warning the people of impending doom. 

Those who believe are shocked.  Those who disbelieve ignore, pass his prediction off as idle gossip from those who would spread fear.  The leaders and rulers of the people are terrified that this man who has captured the minds and hearts of the people is now spreading rumors of destruction of their great city.  It means ruin for their leadership.  And most horrified are those who are with child or children.  He is saying:  "But woe to those who are with child."

Women beware that you will suffer most because you are with child!  Death and destruction will find you first and foremost because you are unable to flee fast enough to outrun death.  You will be swallowed up by the oncoming horrors of destruction.  And the women know the truth of what the prediction means because they have seen and heard the meaning of tragedy and war.  Women are the possessions of destruction and those with child are ravaged the most.

Even today we see the loss of life due to natural disasters.  And those most vulnerable are the women and children especially those with child.   Floods and fires and hurricanes and storms and all kinds of natural disasters occur around the world in places where people live that do not have adequate means to prepare themselves for oncoming disasters.  Loss of life is precious, something that tears at our hearts when we see and hear of such in places in the world.

Christ was a sort of early warning system in those days in that he was telling the people what was coming that they might prepare themselves for the event.  The same as we have today, early warning systems that give us knowledge of impending doom that we might have minutes to escape death.  Even at the clutches of death though we must prepare ourselves daily thanking God for his precious gift of life and thanking him for the sacrifice made by Christ Jesus ,on the cross, to give us new life.  Believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and know that the promise of Christ is yours for the asking.  Death is but a door that we must all go through to transform ourselves to the true spirit of life that Christ has given us.  Know that it is yours for the asking, yours for the receiving, yours for the keeping that no one can take away.  Take the narrow path and God will be with you.  

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.