NT: The Book of Matthew, Chapter 24

Matthew: 24:1-51

24:1 We now enter the 24th chapter of Matthew and we know, because we have studied alongside the disciples, that Jesus has taught so much within these pages. And yet, as much as Jesus has taught, there is still so much more He will cover for our benefit. We are lucky that the disciples asked (in advance) many questions we would have liked to ask Jesus ourselves. Therefore, we should be grateful for their ignorance and for their tendency to need further explanation of messages. Jesus was teaching not just for the people of the present, but also for the people to come... all the way up to us (and past us even) and therefore, it is not an accident that the disciples have so many questions. Jesus knew that you could learn from their questions as well. 

There are still new things the disciples have to learn, and there are still things Jesus has already taught that they need clarification on.

One of those things concerns the disciples awe of the architecture of this particular building in this verse. The disciples want to show Jesus this big, expensive church. The problem is that... Jesus has already taught them that wealth is not what pleases God. Jesus is not impressed by this church -- Jesus is impressed by what comes out of a church (if what comes out is productive, kind, honest, fair).

24:2 Jesus let's them know, bluntly, that no matter how elaborate a church or a city is built, the only things that survive God's cleansing and rebuilding of the Earth are good works and the people doing them. God creates a safe, beautiful home for His true, kind children and to do that, He creates a new habitat for us after this one -- the home where the evil have been sifted out. So do not be impressed by what humans built because it won't last -- be impressed with kindness, truth and mercy because they will.

24:3 The disciples, sitting with Jesus in private are asking Him: "Speaking of the end of this world... what can we expect when that is close?" How will we know when You are coming and what will the signs be? This is a popular question even today. So, let's learn what to expect!

Keep in mind that Jesus teaches us when the "end" (beginning of the new) is approaching. He does not give us a date, otherwise we would would not act authentically -- knowing that God was coming soon, we would be on our best behavior and not necessarily our true behavior. So while some of these signs might be relevant today, we cannot predict and exact day or even year. 

24:4 Jesus reminds us of the message in Chapter 23 of Matthew: Be careful. There are a lot of deceitful people out there, pretending to be things they are not, and you do not want to get caught in their charade. Why did Jesus bring this up again? Well, we can deduce that in the end of these days (keep in mind there is NO end for good people!!) there will be a lot of deceit, a lot of corrupt churches and religions, and corrupt governments and leaders.

24:5 Many will come pretending to be Jesus. If you have read and studying the Bible, you won't be fooled by fakes. Already in history we have examples of people who tricked others into believing that they were holy or saviors... but they actually committed atrocities against people, killing, harming and confusing them. 

And some people come in Jesus' name by pretending to teach His word... but instead of teaching God's word, they teach their own selfish, greedy ideas. Someone might talk the talk but not walk the walk. They might be hypocrites. Watch them; observe them. You must also read the Bible for yourself -- someone might tell you something is in the Bible and if you do not know the Bible for yourself, they could make up anything they want and fool you easily. Back up what they say and do with the message in the Bible. 

24:6 Wars and rumors of wars. Well, that definitely could be speaking of the age we are in now. Many nations are embroiled in disagreement and war and certainly there are rumors of new wars starting both between and within countries. 

HOWEVER, do not read over the rest of the verse -- it's important. Jesus says two more things:

• 1) Do not be afraid. You never have to be afraid when a circumstance involves God. He is your Father and your protector you can expect only love from Him.

• 2) Rumblings of wars and rumors of wars, while they may begin the end of times, the end is not yet. By telling us this, Jesus warns us not to expect turmoil in the end. People commonly think that the end times will bring desperation, pain and fear but Jesus has just informed us that this is not true.

24:7 Countries will fight against each other. (This has happened all-throughout history so perhaps we will experience an increase in volume and frequency). Famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. 

We already know that many people are starving all over the world. Many people blame God for this. Actually, it is humanity who is responsible for suffering on the Earth. God teaches the way to eliminate such disparities but humans choose not to -- and this is why God put us here, so that He could see who we really are and what we allow when He is watching from afar. 

However, this has a double meaning. Jump into Amos, Chapter 8, verse 11 where God defines this famine. 

"Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord."

 From this verse we learn that in the end times, those who had not already reached to God but instead rejected Him, will lose Him. In the end times, we can expect that a lot of people will not have a strong relationship with God. This is also something that is true for our time now. Some people go to church but not many of them live the word of God when they leave church.

We can suppose that pestilences might be created by the poor conditions in slums and impoverished areas as well as because of corrupt scientific research (modification of the natural). Humans pollute the Earth with their factories and materials and this pollution negatively impacts our health, animals, the globe...it has consequences which cause diseases and ailments.

Earthquakes. This could be a double meaning. The Earth has always had Earthquakes, so perhaps we can expect an increase in frequency and magnitude. We also could expect that the Earth itself might be readying to rejuvenate itself. Nature is quite incredible, God has created nature and given it the ability to nourish and sustain itself. We are contributing to the death of much of nature and perhaps it suspects that it needs a shaking (figuratively and literally).

24:8 So, the aforementioned will begin the sorrows. The sorrows are a time when people COULD be happy and safe but instead are frustrated or troubled because they have looked away from God and His message -- not as a punishment, when we do not trust God, we become fearful because we do not feel His love and protection running through us.

Think of the sorrows more deeply, more as a metaphor. The word used, "sorrow," should actually be translated as "Labor pains". The original word was written in Greek as "Odin". Therefore we can understand that the sorrows expected towards the end times will be metaphorically similar to childbirth pains. These happenings will suggest that the Earth will be caused, by God, to begin to prepare itself for the new. In a way, we are children in the womb. Our time here is our chance to grow and to absorb nutrition (a healthy way of life) when our trial here is over, we will be birthed to our true parent -- God (provided we chose to receive our nutrition from Him).

24:9 If you do not trust God, this verse might read fearful to you. You do not ever have to be afraid. When deceit and greed are in abundance, you are going to be called and challenged to be your best self despite adversity. Your actions will speak volumes and will reverberate around the world. Remember Jesus, He had a grand and beautiful message and while the important people heard Him, the evil people tried to put Him out. They were unsuccessful. They will also be unsuccessful in putting you out. God protects you: He gives you courage and wisdom and He welcomes you into His house. For you, there is no death. There is nothing an evil person can take from you.

24:10 A lot of people lose their sense of honor. They will argue with each other because they cannot find happiness or rest on the path they have chosen. Do not fear these things; they are already around in the world -- people "die" defending their beliefs because their beliefs defending the rights of other people. People already argue and fight with each other but if you're kind, you are of God. If you are of God, His protective shield is over you feeding you with courage and strength and the reminder that to leave this world... means to immediately join with Him.

24:11 False prophets come and deceive many. Again, this can increase in frequency and degree but already among us are people who are claiming to be holy and just and instead are hateful criminals who commit injustices daily. All around the world evil people have taken power and using their control to do horrible things claiming to be of God... but they ARE NOT. They pollute His word. But we are warned and helped to be observant, to be vigilant so that they do not take over our minds.

24:12 Those without the courage from God will lose heart and become discouraged by all of violence. Some people even blame God for the violence even though He is opposed to it and not responsible for it. People grow cold because they give up their lives to defeat and hopelessness. Stay warm in God's comfort.

24:13 Endure. Be brave. Be bold. Be just and kind. The reward is to unite with your loving God. Work with Him to bring the innocents out of evil's control. Work for HIM not for the evil systems and people. He needs you. Work and be saved. And you will also feel strong and happy that you have been productive in saving people who deserve it.

24:14 God will reveal Himself to everyone, so that everyone knows the truth in the end of this age. Some will chose to join God's side... some love themselves and power and evil too much and will try to escape. God will eliminate them before they get anywhere.

24:15 Now we are going to talk about the anti-christ. First, let's discuss the purpose of the anti-christ's coming.

God wants to know if you know Him, the TRUE God. He wants to know if you were dedicated to the message. Meanwhile, Satan wants to draw you away from the word. Think of Satan as a set of qualities: greed, selfishness, violence, impatience, vengeance, deceit, mercilessness. Those qualities draw you away from the qualities God teaches: patience, selflessness, mercy, faith, hope, truth, forgiveness and wisdom.

The anti-christ's time here is a time where people are either duped by his false rule or if they can recognize the true God who brings, creates and fosters the good qualities. The qualities that Satan encompasses often promised you flattery, power and wealth and God wants to know if you will take the bait.

Conversely, God's qualities promise togetherness, unity, humility, mercy, patience and rest. God wants you to be able to RECOGNIZE these things. Kind hearts will know their Father. Evil hearts will know theirs. God wants to organize this Earth -- but He lets us choose which side we want to be on. While the anti-christ is here, many will choose his side because he will make it seem appealing. You must know that the anti-christ's promises are fake, brittle and temporary... he wants to control you, to use you so that he can have power and wealth. Anti-christ means INSTEAD of Christ. or Opposite of Christ.

God is so fair. He lets us decide where we want to be. Choose to be with God, study and recognize the falsehood, and the lies, be humble... do not seek or desire wealth, control and fame... because anti-christ gets a short and limited amount of time here and then he will be destroyed. Destroyed along with him will be his followers.

Recognize your TRUE God. Follow Him and work with Him in the service of saving and protecting humanity. Inherit your eternity where there love is given equally and in abundance.

The anti-christ is mentioned in the Bible A LOT; he comes and he tries to capture as many as he can. Anti-christ is taught in Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation, Matthew, Mark, Luke... and so many more places because God wants you to STUDY and recognize the powers which wish to steal you from Him.

24:16-18 God is saying, flee from Satan! He pretends to be Jesus so you can likely expect him in the places Jesus was... Satan puts on a good act: he has studied to bible so that his deception works, he knows the word very well. He knows how to be convincing. God is staying -- Do not stick around and give him the opportunity to convert or confuse you...do not linger. Instead, get to work against him.

24:19 This is a metaphor. Remember that God uses the analogy of marriage to explain his union with you. He's your father and your creator... He's your husband in the metaphor but He is not the type of husband people have on Earth.

So in this metaphor: Jesus is saying, woe to the people who CHEAT on God with Satan. Woe to the people who bring to life Satan's plan. The pregnancy, the baby, are representative of giving life to Satan's work instead of God's. God went to watch from afar, so if he comes back and you're "pregnant" with Satan's works and ideas... He knows you have not been faithful to His (the True God's) kind, instructive word.

Woe to the people who work with Satan people God is sad to lose anybody. Woe to them because they will not get an eternity; they will cease to exist.

24:20 This verse needs to be broken down a bit to be understood. Our lives now, in the present, are the time to be harvested by God. God wants us to represent His wonderful house so that right now, we can inspire others to join it. When God comes, you do not want to be found as a person who troubled His children, or a person who kept them from learning or finding Him. Your flight, in "winter", would be too late. Nothing can be harvested in winter; nothing can be gathered in winter, the harvest time will have passed.

On, The Sabbath, God will be here and you want to find yourself already made a part of His family. Waiting until He gets here will not really count. Why?  Well, when God is standing before you, tangible and proven, everyone will believe in God. God wants you to believe in Him and trust Him before He shows himself to you so that He knows your love is true and also so that you were able to live and make decisions in complete freedom.

You want to take flight with God's flock and to do that, you need to be instrumental to Him during the end times. You need to love Him and love others.

24:21 A great tribulation that has never happened before -- Well, those living during the end times, and during this tribulation will indeed face a situation never faced by humans before. They will have to decide between the true God and the false- but convincing anti-God. Your tribulation is named as such because people will not understand why you are denying the supposed god (anti-christ). You will have identified him as the liar and evil entity that he is, but others will not yet have done so. Therefore, your life will require effort to maintain and support your beliefs.

24:22 Here is a bit of information about the anti-christ. He's going to be really, truly convincing. Satan is deceptive and charming. Although Satan is frequently imaged as a devil creature with horns or blood, or large teeth... he's actually quite... nice in appearance. Why? Because Satan is smart. He knows that nobody would choose his side if he were honest with them. Therefore he knows to be very smart, eloquent and charming. He has a short amount of time to convince people and he does is sufficiently.

Because God is all-knowing, He foresees that anti-christ will convince many, many, almost all, people to follow him. Satan is so successful in fact, that God had to shorten his amount of time here. Think about that. Satan is so convincing, God had to shorten his leash. Satan is a deceiver and he's good at what he does. He wants power, control and wealth and to get it, he flatters people into working with him. The humble (students of the TRUE God) do not need to be flattered and will recognize his tactics immediately.

The "elect" in this verse are the aforementioned, humble students of the true God. They are not deceived by Satan, they recognize him and reject him. Those who are elect will go through those tribulations of having to convince people that the false god is indeed false. This will be difficult. Will God at your side, it will happen no matter how difficult the work is. Nevertheless, Satan is so convincing that God shortens his time here for the elect -- they have a hard job against a really convincing entity.

The "elect" could be you. God loves everyone equally but He knows who helps Him, who loves Him and who works for Him and He pours love and courage into them because of their dedication.

24:23 Jesus really wants you to be vigilant. People who do not know the word of God will be continually swaying back and forth from one religion or religious figure or spiritual idea to another. They will not have the stability that you have. Jesus does not want you to choose the wrong God --therefore, learn about Him. Recognize Him so that you can reject all others who try to stand in His name for selfish reasons.

Someone might seem good but use your observational skills, taught by Jesus, to recognize authentic people and separate them from the selfish deceivers.

24:24 Deceptive people are very convincing. Satan will be difficult to deny. He will have wonders and actions that amaze people. He will perform miracles. No one will understand why he is being rejected by you. But you were taught. You know that any miracles he performs are only to capture people. Satan does not help people... he controls them for his benefit.

It's important to God that you know about the anti-christ so that you can recognize and deny him. God does not want you under Satan's trap, so let's figure out what he's like! To learn more about Satan, I'll take you temporarily to: Ezekiel 28. Briefly, here are some things we learn about him:

Ezekiel 28:1 The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and spoke of Satan.
Ezekiel 28:2 Satan desires to be a god, but God debases him as the regular man he is.
Ezekiel 28:3 God declares (for us to pay attention to) that Satan is VERY wise. He is intelligent; and therefore his plans to control and take power are well developed and well executed.
Ezekiel 28: 4 With his abilities of wisdom and understanding, Satan has been able to twist the word of God to gain selfish desires for himself -- he will do this on Earth.
Ezekiel 28:5 Satan is able to negotiate trades and deals to gain wealth and power. Riches and control make Satan happy.
Ezekiel 28:6-7 God will work through the elect to bring him down and to save all of the people from his deception.

God uses the words "the beauty of your wisdom" when speaking to Satan. We cannot read over this. Satan is beautiful. That might sound shocking to a lot of people but it is the truth and the word of God. Satan is able to procure followers because he is so impressive. Are you impressed by external beauty, power and wealth? I hope not!

Ezekiel 28:12 When Satan was created, God was very generous and fair. He gave many gifts to Satan -- but Satan abused them and will abuse them again here on Earth to try to take many people down with him. Satan, according to this verse, is beautiful, wise, and has an appearance of being perfect.

Ezekiel 28:14 God gave Satan many gifts and also gave him important jobs, which he took advantage of. God gave him protection and a place in His house.
Ezekiel 28:15-19 God explains that Satan turned evil because of how impressed with himself he became. Satan chose wealth, beauty and power over God's love and protection. Satan became filled with violence.

God wants us to know that we should expect this to happen while Satan is with us. He will appear beautiful, charming, intelligent... but is secretly violent, ugly, and deceptive. You're in on Satan's secret! He cannot fool you.

Now, we will return to Matthew 24.

24:25 God has indeed told us before hand. As we just learned, God taught us about Satan even before the New Testament. God repeatedly teaches us about the coming anti-christ so that he cannot fool us.

24:26 Do not follow people's wild ideas about who and where God is. You know because you are studying. God is not lost and therefore does not need to be found by people. You don't need to waste time investigating or believing in false gods because you recognize your True God.

24:27 When God comes, He will immediately be everywhere. There won't be rumor or questions or searching. When God comes the entire universe receives the brilliance and vibration of Him.

It is understandable if you find these concepts concerning Satan and end times intimidating or difficult. I just want to take a few moments to remind you that your work with God is very personal. You have a relationship specifically with God and he knows, understands and loves you. By living your life in a fair, kind, courageous manner, you are doing your work for Him -- and you're doing it wonderfully! One day at a time, you can conquer your adversaries big or small as they are. Do not worry or grow anxious over the future because God is working with you right now, calmly and slowly and He always will.

Every day remember this verse: 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

God is never going to overwhelm you with work. He cares about you and He knows what you can and cannot handle. He trusts important tasks with strong, humble people: a caring parent, a supportive sibling, an unwavering friend, a teacher... there are so many situations He places us in, specifically, where He knows we can do the most good with our personality and our love and kindness.

24:28 Vultures swoop in during vulnerable situations. You want to trust the true God so that you do not become the easy prey of a vulture. We can understand this "vulture" to be anxiety or sadness during a difficult life circumstance. God really will strengthen you and He will become your courage... in life, we all have difficult times, but God supplies us the gumption and the wisdom to get through them unscathed.

24:29 Jesus speaks of the time when the TRUE God will come. Do not be afraid of this description. We have enough knowledge now to understand what solar and lunar eclipses are and to recognize meteor showers (stars appearing "fall"). Jesus wants us to know that God works with and through the whole universe -- He's that big and brilliant. You should find comfort in the fact that He controls it all. You don't have to fear anything; we and it all rests in His hands.

24.30 Jesus teaches that people are going to be quite ashamed with themselves that they fell for Satan. This leads me to believe that people will immediately know the truth upon the arrival of the True God. People will mourn because they will realize they chose the god who represents the wrong things -- the things that will fail them and leave them hungry. But God loves and forgives all when we are sincere, always remember that.

24:31 God, Jesus and their trusted workers (their angels) will gather together all of children who love and recognize God. These people have distinguished themselves. How? They worked with God throughout their lives, in the end times and even before.

24:32 Jesus wants you to learn The Parable of the Fig Tree so that you can recognize the beginning of the end times. The Parable of the Fig Tree is an involved parable and is worthy of its own lecture. For now, we will interpret this verse in it's purest, simplest form (and will return to Parable of the Fig tree in it's own lecture).

Summer is representative of the time of God coming to Earth. When these signs of the end times begin to happen, we can understand that we are in spring. These events are a symbol of "budding" and preparing for the summer.

24:33 We have learned from scripture in this chapter that we are likely at least in the beginning stages of the end times --Based on Jesus' examples of what to watch for. So, Jesus reminds us, specifically, that God will return to us soon.

24:34 Everything God and Jesus teach and prepare you for will be accomplished. You can be sure that they've included everything you need to know. How can you be sure? Jump back to Matthew 24:25 I have told you beforehand. Jesus is thorough.

24:35 God will recreate our home, He can reorganize the entire universe if He wants to; He can and will rid the world of all evil... but one thing He wants you to know that will never go away, can never go away, is Himself. God is reliable, stable and constant. His message of Love exists in an eternity.

24:36 God prepares us for the relative time of His coming but only He knows the specific day, date and time. The information of when God will return is His -- therefore you do not need to fear when false-teachers pretend to predict an end times date. You never need to fear, God clears up the truth for you and when He comes... you're going home to home. That's beautiful, not frightening.

24:37 Noah, of Genesis, is referenced here. Jesus is explaining that history will repeat itself.

24:38-39 God lets us know that on Earth, before the flood, people were behaving poorly and were caught off guard by God's presence (which subsequently caused the flood). By "behaving poorly" I mean that they were awful. They were vengeful, unmerciful, greedy, selfish, and unjust. They engaged themselves in Satan's qualities; they mixed in with him so much that God had a difficult time finding a person who was not even a little bit corrupted by him.

Sadly, the same can be said for the end times. People will, and many already have, abandoned God and traded their souls over for money and fame. Few people love their neighbors (their fellow humans) as they love themselves and so selfishness abounds.

Side note: if the Flood is a difficult concept for you to understand, I understand -- it was for me to. When something seems difficult to comprehend in the Bible, you can usually work to understand it through metaphor. The metaphor is that God cleaned the Earth. God is a scientist; He's The Scientist... He created science! He has plenty of methods of rejuvenating the Earth but the important message is that God wanted to flush the evil out of the world. And He will return to do it again.

To return: people will be so entangled in their usual, routine affairs that they will be caught of guard by God's appearance. (But you will not because you study!) They realize too late Who and What the truth is.

24:40 We begin a new metaphor and we must read this carefully so that we do not misinterpret it. *Then* there will be two men in the field, and one will be taken. Jesus is showing us the sequence of events that happen at God's appearance. First, let's recap. God is going to work with and through His true students to do as much good as they can throughout the end times. He relies on them as beloved instruments in accomplishing the teaching and spreading of His word. So, on Earth, when God appears one man will be taken and the other left.

Guess who is taken? The evil, ignorant man. This man has been taken by his corrupt desires. They are taken away (such as the evil men were taken away by the flood).
The good, honest man is left to remain with God.

24:41 Likewise two woman will be living on Earth: one of the women lives a good life and the other a corrupt life. The corrupt woman is taken away (such as the evil were taken away by the flood.)

So we know that nobody is "taken" anywhere until God returns. Some people believe that God will procure His good children up out of the world but this is an incorrect interpretation. It is not written in the Bible. God works WITH His children on Earth in the end times so that they can reveal and deny the anti-christ. We all complete our trial and our journey here.

24:42 Stay alert. Jesus wants you to be aware of your surroundings. He wants you to be aware of the environment you are living in. You know what to look for around the time of God's coming... but you do not know specifically when; therefore, you must keep on your toes so that falsity or greed does not distract you.

24:43 Jesus teaches us a bit of common sense. If we knew exactly when God was coming, everyone would be on their best behavior in order to be approved by Him. This would be fake. God wants to know how we behave when His presence is not overt. He wants to know if we love Him, trust Him and believe in Him but He also wants to see how we treat others when we don't think we're being watched.

24:44 Be ready. How can you be ready? Be a good person. Be an observant person. Distinguish truth from lies with God's help. Nothing can sneak up on you if you're alert and guilt-free.

24:45 Be a faithful and wise servant by spreading the messages and love of God. Do not go out forcing people to convert to a religion or ideology. Instead, be a person of God. Be fair with everyone, be kind, be honest and your actions will do all of the teaching. When someone wants to learn, be there and be ready and able to help them delve into the word. People need food. This is a metaphor: people need the word of God, whether they realize or not. God teaches us how to live a peaceful and productive life and His love carries us through all adversity. His love and teaching is our fruit. God wants you to feed in due season. Well, it's due season. So many people need feeding. Let your godly actions feed them. You can be the example that changes a heart.

24:46 You are so blessed by God when He comes and finds you working diligently to help others.

24:47 God will bless you abundantly because of your good work. There is nothing you will lack. He will immerse you in love and courage.

24:48 Some people choose to behave horribly because they convince themselves that there will not be an repercussions (and mainly because they do not have good, kind hearts). God recognizes these people. They think no one is watching and therefore they give in to wicked actions and thoughts.

24:49 These wicked people spend their lives hurting others, partying aimlessly through life and accomplishing no good work (instead they work very hard to destroy good humans).

24:50-51 God will come and catch them in the act. They will be guilty. They will be eliminated by Him -- and they will be angry at themselves for giving up their place in God's loving eternity. 

NT: The Book of Matthew, Chapter 23

Matthew 23:1-39

23:1 Jesus has a message for the disciples and for the multitudes of people who loved to gather and learn from Him. We, of course, can learn from and apply to our own lives what Jesus is about to teach.

After the Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes are continually shut down by Jesus -- He really means business and He has a strong message against them. He's had enough of their games against Him but more than that, He's angered and tired of their games against the children of God. He's going to expose them, in this 23rd chapter, as the greedy and deceptive leaders they are.

23:2 The scribes and the Pharisees are sitting in the societal, higher-authority place where Moses used to sit. They took over the position so that they could have power and control but they did not took over the message of God Moses taught. People were confused and corrupted by this. It happens today as well: In many countries and churches, people who are teachers of multitudes, teach neglectful and sometimes corrupted messages. However, because these people have positions of authority, their followers often trust what they are saying and are therefore led astray from what God wants them to know. You must be aware and vigilant for people who abuse their power or their stage. 

23:3 Jesus is saying that while we do have to participate in our society (often to stay in it and survive), we should not adopt the behavior of corrupt presidents or church officials.

23:4 Jesus is warning that many people with authority will command you to be fair, honest and kind even they themselves are not honest, fair or kind. Many people in positions of authority use their power to deceive and create unjust governments. They are hypocrites and Jesus does not want you to be victims of their hypocrisy.

23:5 These people in authority know how to play their game in tricking people -- they make their tools fancy, their clothes elegant and awe-inspiring. They want to trick you into believing that they are special, extraordinarily holy -- but you should know that God loves and favors the humble. The grand gestures of corrupt authoritarians are strategic, meant to convince you to listen to them, to fear them, to revere them. You revere only God --who protects you and leads you away from these awful people.

23:6 Jesus is teaching you to be observant. These messages are powerful, important and instructive to you if you become observant. Notice that, observe that, people in positions of power (both in government and in church) are surrounded by grand architecture, wardrobe, technology, vehicles... everything around them is an expression of their wealth instead of an expression of God's word.

This is where you can go deeper with your observations: How did Jesus teach? How did Jesus exemplify leadership and authority? (Which as the Son of God He surely has.) Jesus was humble. Jesus taught in open-air, among people and nature. His word did not require ornate buildings or even any money at all. 

When a person or entity or public figure has your best interest at heart, they won't use fancy words, they won't drive fancy cars -- they will be simple, succinct and humble. However, so many get trapped within the hierarchy of churches and governments and because of that, they become entrapped by wealth, power and control.

Jesus did not need to convince people with anything but the TRUTH, the PROTECTION and WISDOM from God. He retreated into natural settings when He wanted to pray; Jesus found comfort in God's creations not man's.

23:7 These people even give themselves titles. They require that they are called by official names which speak of their position in authority. Their desire is to be powerful not be helpful. You must be able to discern the difference between the humble and the proud.

23:8 Jesus wants you to remember that your Teacher is God. If you are ever needing advice or guidance, you should ask God. God will help you -- He will help you selflessly and comprehensively. God has unique ways of reaching people and with Him, our ability to remain courageous is strengthened. Through God we are better able to distinguish the true from the false.

23:9 Jesus means to tell you not to worship another as a father. It's okay to call your parent your father, because though you deeply love your parent, you do not worship them as the creator of ALL life and universe. Some churches which have hierarchical systems, require that its students call certain persons "Father" and this is wrong. Your leader, your God is your true Father and no church official should try to adopt His name.

23:10 Likewise, do not consider any other person or thing your holy Teacher. Jesus is your teacher through God and you should only revere His teachings. It's a blessing, of course, for us to have other types of teachers... but your holy Teacher must remain God. All wisdom comes from God and therefore all teachers get their knowledge from the Holy Teacher, the one you should revere. Why should you revere your Holy Teacher? Because He loves you, created this world for you, guides you...

23:11 Jesus is reminding us that the people who have the power over us on Earth, the people who abuse our rights and spend our money on themselves will be leveled by God. God loves those of us who are meek and humble, those of us who do not need fancy things and do not crave power and control (especially at others' expense!). People who walk over the righteous will be sprinkled into the ground as ash. God eliminates the greedy and heartless. They have no power over us in God's house. The lose everything and we gain everything. The dynamic switches, is balanced by God, where the deserving are fed and housed and loved.

23:12 The humble will be rewarded, highlighted by God. The proud will be diminished.

23:13 Woe to the people who block innocent people from the true message of God. It's true that many of us require teachers and the people who became terrible, selfish teachers will be diminished by God. Jesus is so angry because a bad ruler is a bad example to the people living under his rule. Many people are not given the opportunity or wisdom to be good, honest and fair because they have never seen goodness, honesty or justice. The people who BLOCK God's wisdom are in trouble because their actions work to bring so many innocents along with them.

23:14 There is a metaphor here: the widow is the child of God who is not aware of their union with God. So, Jesus is saying: Woe to the people who destroy the children's chance to live in His house. (Keep in mind that all innocent people are loved and forgiven by God -- but people need God when they are on Earth because life can be very difficult. It is a blessing to be a member of God's house while we are here on Earth and Jesus is so infuriated by people who take away that chance for others.) 

Jesus points out that not only do these people confuse the children -- they work really elaborately to do so with long, fancy prayers that trick the students into believing they know what they're talking about. Do not be awed by people who have great wealth or eloquence of speech. God does not care about wealth, He doesn't need it and with Him, neither do you. God does not admire people who can trick people with their deceptive eloquence... you must be aware of the MESSAGE a person is teaching you. You must observe if the person teaching the message is also following the message. Beware of hypocrites.

23:15 First, let's define the word "Proselyte" 

Proselyte: A person who has converted from one opinion, religion, or party to another, especially recently. 

The message in this verse is against people who travel the world "converting" people to their religion in horrible ways and for horrible reasons. In the past, thousands and thousands of people have been forced into conversion so that they converters could rule over them. In their mission, the converters have hurt, lied to, killed and corrupted the people who they have come into contact with. By doing this, their actions spoke terrible messages to the people they were controlling. God is angry with people who use His message to create a corrupt religion for their own benefit - to obtain wealth and power. 

Their actions were never good-natured. They always intended to claim a people rather them teach them of patience, peace and courage. They corrupted people, people who were good and made them very bad. God is aware of this... nothing slips by Him.

This particular circumstance still happens today -- people try to convert people to their way of life not because they care but because they crave a following to rule over. It makes me think about colonialism, which irreparably ruined much of the world, but also of individuals controlling other individuals just because they are arrogant and power-hunger. Do not get caught in another's corrupted rule. Likewise, do not control anyone. If someone seeks your help, be kind and honest and SELFLESS in helping them. 

23:16 This verse, essentially, wants you to be careful so that nobody talks you into giving them your money. Did Jesus ask anyone for money? No, of course not. So a church that requires and commands you to give them your money in order to be a member is a fake church. 

Do not allow a church to guilt-trip you into contributing. Also, if a church does not appear to spending the money effectively (on helping others) do not waste your money on that establishment. You do not need a fancy church. Jesus taught outside. Wisdom and true are not better received in expensive pews -- in fact, money often corrupts the message.

If you find a good church, and you want to contribute to it because you see that it is honest and fair and truthful, let it be your decision to contribute and not anyone else's.

23:17-19 Jesus does not want you to worship a building, gold, an altar... or anything else that is not God. All of those things are from and because of God. Without Him, there is nothing.

23:20 Jesus reminds you to worship God and to be appreciative of the things God has created, if they are used to teach His true word, but not to worship them or anything except Him. God knows that no person, thing or entity could ever love you as much as He loves you -- and He wants you to stay with Him because nobody will protect you better than He will. He's not selfish; God is selfLESS, everything He wants is for YOUR benefit.

23:21-22 Pledge yourself to God by working in places where you have opportunity to teach and lead people through God's word. If you pledge yourself to God's word, you pledge yourself to God. You appreciate the church because of Who it in service for.

23:23 God is saying -- you are in trouble if you are pretending to be a good person by doing a few okay-ish things among thousands of bad things. God weighs our works and do you know what weighs heaviest? He tells us: Justice. Mercy. Faith. If you are not bringing justice, mercy and faith to the world... you really should reconsider what you are bringing, because it might not be good or purposeful.

Practice being fair; try to give forgiveness to those who ask and deserve it and stick with your God who loves you.

23:24 Do not punish and judge people for the small things they might be doing wrong, because by being so unkind and unfair, you are doing much, much worse than them.

23:25 Be careful for people who put on a good show. Some people make their appearance impressive but their interior selves are bad. Listen to what people are teaching, look into their eyes, observe their actions and look for humility in them. Do not judge a person on how they look outside because their inside could chew you up and swallow you. Do not judge a person on how they look for YOUR benefit as well as for theirs.

23:26 If you are clean (kind and honest) inside, it will reflect your outward appearance because people will see the kindness of your heart through your eyes, actions and humility.

23:27 A double meaning here in this verse: Evil people might look powerful and beautiful on the outside but inside, their souls, are sentenced to be eliminated. Only evil dies and these are the dead bones Jesus is referring to.

23:28 Jesus is spending a lot of time on this message because of its level of importance. This is not ancient. We must apply this advice to our lives. People are out there corrupting and controlling others and God does not want you to be a victim or a contributor of injustice. Be observant.

23:29 These evil people, who claim to be kind and are not, are responsible for killing the good prophets and righteous people sent by God.

23:30 These evil people lie and pretend that they would be good people, helpers of prophets if they got the chance. They lie to appear good to fool you.

23:31 There are many hypocrites in the world who say one thing and do the opposite. There are many ways to harm God's children -- but none of them will admit to it. Rather, they pretend they are pure and fair because they do not want to be punished for stepping on people to secure their wealth and power. But they cannot hide from God and they will have to account for what they've done... God will make them vanish.

23:32 The lowercase use of "father" in this sentence lets us know that Jesus considers evil people not to be children of God's but instead of a different, corrupt father -- greed, evil, selfishness. 

23:33 Here you get a sense of Jesus' anger. He does not like to see kind people harmed or taken advantage of. He's telling them -- dream all you want, there is no way for an evil person to escape God.

23:34 Jesus reminds them and tells them that God sends and has sent many of His children to Earth as workers of His word. Those workers have been harmed and killed and continue to be by evil people. He knows exactly who is responsible... God knows everyone and He knows everything about everyone. We are all unique and recognized by Him -- there is no escaping Him. You should find comfort in this if anyone has done anything evil to you. God knows you, loves you. God will extract them from your life forever.

23:35 Every sin will be accounted for. Likewise, all the GOOD that YOU do will also be acknowledged by God.

23:36 Jesus locks it in. Jesus has foretold the truth, and it will happen. God takes care of business and stands by His word.

23:37 Jesus is anguished here. God wants to love and welcome everyone. God does love and welcome everyone. He wishes so deeply, more than we can ever fathom, to protect us all under His wing but the sad truth is that some people refuse Him. He wants everyone in His safe house but so many people willingly walk out.

God forgives every person who sincerely asks Him to. God forgives every thing so that a person can feel happy and worthy of His house. Good is so good and true and impartial... anyone who is willing and excited to be kind to others is welcome (even if they arrive late!)

23:38 Jesus warns the evil that their life will be empty and difficult without Him -- why? Because God teaches the way to live a loving, productive life. By rejecting God, you reject the wisdom to create a beautiful life. 

So many people think of God the wrong way -- they believe that God is vengeful or that He makes the road difficult... but people make the road difficult for themselves and God is not vengeful but merciful and forgiving. He does not punish us, neither while we are on Earth nor when we die. We punish ourselves when we make bad decisions -- we bring bad repercussions into our lives when we are unjust and mean. And when an evil person meets God in Heaven... He does not torture them (He is a God of LIFE and LOVE) He eliminates evil from the picture -- wastes no time on anything or person who chooses bows to evil, greed and selfishness after being presented the alternative (humility, selflessness, goodness).

23:39 Jesus warns -- if you want to live with Him, eternally, you must accept God's way.

Be kind in your life. Have patience with people. Support people, do not break them down.

NT: The Book of Matthew, Chapter 22

Matthew 22:1-46

22:1 Jesus is going to continue to use parables because He believed that the best way to teach someone about a difficult concept was to relate it to circumstances they are familiar with. So He continues teaching in parable.

22:2 God arranged a union between His son, Jesus and the people of the world. Unfortunately, the people of the world refused to unite with Jesus and everything He was teaching them.

22:3 God sent people to teach others about how wonderful God and Jesus are. He sent people to lead the way by being kind, honest, wise and fair but people refused to be those things. They chose wealth, power and greed.

22:4 God continued to send people to try to bring them into His comfort. He sent people to tell them that God was ready and prepared to heal and comfort everyone... but even with this information, people refused.

22:5 Jesus is telling us something important here, something we can relate to today. Everybody says that they like justice, kindness, and honesty but everybody does not exhibit those traits. In fact, many people are unjust, mean and deceitful. Why? People are cruel because they look out for themselves even if it is at the expense of others. For people like this, what Jesus taught seems like a nice concept to them... but they do not follow it. They choose not to follow it because they think that they can get further, faster, if they use different methods. Jesus came to teach us that our lives on Earth are short and sometimes difficult but that a kind person will live with ease for an eternity. Some people do not try to understand this. They return to their business or home and continue living by their own selfish rules. Be careful that you don't trade kindness for selfishness. The greedy method of living does not yield positive results.

22:6 While some people just ignored the message, others went out of their way to destroy the message -- but killing the messengers (even though they were faultless).

Allow people to have their own opinions, even if you do not agree with them. If they are not harming another person, animal, or institution you can offer your opinion, kindly, but you should not mute theirs. If they are truly wrong, God will communicate with them after their life.

22:7 God will return to clean out the unkind, the murderers... everything that contradicts His sweet and loving world will be eliminated.

22:8 God does not cancel the wedding just because the guests refused to show. He throws the party anyway -- He brings heaven, peace and eternity regardless of the actions of the evil. Awful people will never ruin anything God creates or plans.

22:9 Instead of cancelling the event, God invites everyone to the wedding (not just the people who claim to love Him, because He found out by their refusal to be kind that they truly did not love Him). God invites everyone to join Him in the eternity because He knows that even non-believers can have kind hearts. If you live by God's advice, even if you can't bring yourself to understand the concept of Him, He wants to bring you into His house. He loves loving people. He loves kindness and justice and truth. He throws the party for people who live their lives with those traits regardless of their religion, occupation, mistakes,...He welcomes the broken.

22:10 And guess what? God gathers so many people with His kindness that His eternal house, his party is full and exuberant. It lacks nothing and no one. All of the loving, pure hearts are there.

22:11 There will always be an evil person trying to enjoy the benefits of the people who really deserve them. At this party, God notices someone there who has not done the work to earn it.

22:12 God gives every person their chance to explain themselves -- in a way, this is done by God understand the nature of our true hearts. This party guest however, cannot explain himself... he cannot explain himself because he knows he does not belong. He knows that he was cruel and unfair during his lifetime -- and he knows that he did not apologize for it. This person knows that they did not even want to apologize. And for this reason they will not be allowed to live with the kind.

22:13  When God sees somebody who is trying to attend the party, but has not lived an honest life, He removes them. Completely. They are not allowed to pretend and enjoy the same benefits of those who actually do work to do and be good.

22:14 God reminds us that He has invited everyone to come to His party -- to share in His eternal life. God also reminds us that although he has invited everybody, there is a much smaller group of people that He, personally, hand-selects to be there. Not many people work to be special to God. Although God loves everyone equally, some people are so kind of heart that He can trust them to take on the responsibility of spreading His great word. There are many ways you can spread God's message -- your art, your thought, your compassion towards others... Use the talent and opportunity He has given you to be chosen to do wonderful things for others.

22:15 The Pharisees are still looking for a way to discredit Jesus. They despise Jesus because they are not kind or fair and Jesus is disrupting the strength of their power. Jesus is educating the people they control and have power over and because of that they are threatened by Him. They want Him out of their way and they won't stop. Mean people can be persistent, so you also must be resilient. Continue to come alive, continue to be brave under God's love and protection. Nobody can take anything away from you that God cannot replace. And God's replacements are everlasting... they are so much better than anything you had before.

22:16-17 This verse can be a bit confusing, here is what the pharisees actually mean to say: They trying to use Jesus' words against Him. Jesus constantly teaches that He does not bow or pray to any man because He knows that the true creator, the true Father is God. Jesus teaches us this so that we will never sell our souls to a corrupt man. The pharisees try to trick Jesus by saying: Well, if you don't listen to laws of any man, should people stop paying their taxes?

They pharisees are doing several things wrong in this argument but one of them is this: they are trying to confuse the word of Jesus. Jesus was not teaching people that they should be anarchists who aren't participants in fair societies... He was teaching people not worship, revere or become slaves to any man. He told us this for our own good -- humans often are not fair or kind and God does not want us trapped under anyone's evil control. God does not want us to run around like hooligans refusing to participate in organization while we are here on Earth -- He just does not want us to become entangled in religion and thought that is corrupt.

22:18 You cannot fool Jesus, or God. Jesus knew that the pharisees true intention was just to confuse Jesus and His followers and therefore discount their beliefs... but Jesus is too smart, too perceptive to be tricked by deception.

Jesus calls them hypocrites. Jesus knows that the pharisees are trying to make Him seem evil... but they are actually the evil ones... they are aware of their own sin... and yet are trying to pin it on others. It won't work with God-- He seems right through their schemes.

22:19 Jesus wants to teach a clear message -- He asks for a piece of the tax money (for a lesson).

22:20 Jesus asks a question He already knows the answer to, the ruler's image is on the coin.

22:21 Jesus is telling them this: participate in your social system (government) if you believe it is running fairly and honestly. God does not want or require your money -- God is above money. Way above. Jesus is telling them that what God wants is your love, compassion, your kindness, your honesty... those are the payments you make to Him. Therefore, by paying taxes, you are not appointing a new god (you are not doing anything wrong).

22:22 The Pharisees marveled at Jesus' ability to shut them down so quickly and efficiently. When even your enemies are amazed by your abilities... you know that you're working with God. He makes us wise, courageous, successful in our endeavors.

22:23 Jesus' next group of adversaries wants their turn to try to trick Him -- it won't work. These people in particular do not believe in Heaven... or in any kind of life after death. They are going to try to make Jesus' message invalid...but they will fail, because Jesus' message is truth and valid.

22:24  Moses instructed the people that if a brother dies, his sibling should take care of the wife after he leaves. Moses learned this from God -- God wants everyone to be taken care of. God wants a sibling to absorb the responsibility of feeding and caring for the family that is left behind. Simple as that. God wants a family member to support another family member in the time that they require it.

22:25-28 The Sadducees ask Jesus this: If all of the brothers eventually die, each having had the responsibility of caring for the wife, whose wife is she when heaven comes?

By asking this question, the Sadducees are hoping to confuse the idea of heaven but actually there is an explanation!

22:29 Jesus tells them this first: you are mistaken. He wants them to know that they misunderstood the message. First of all, the message is not about marriage or husbands or wives. God just wants to make sure everyone is taken care of. A wife does not belong to anyone except God.

But there's more.

Jesus tells them that they do not understand the power of God. What does He mean by this? Let's examine it in the next verse.

22:30 In heaven there is no marriage. The union in Heaven is the union of God with His children. God becomes our provider, our protector, the person who most loves us. Therefore, even in technicality, the woman is none of the men's wife. She, like all of us, belong to our sweet God.

In heaven, we do not do the same things we do on Earth. Our lives are so much more brilliant...they are elevated above the traditions we have on Earth. It might be hard for us to understand now, but know that in Heaven marriage isn't necessary -- we are united with God, we arrive at our spiritual home. We will never experience the amazing love of God before His house and when we have it, we will not need anything to supplement it.

22:31 Jesus reminds them (and us) that in Heaven there is no such thing as death!

22:32 God is a God of the LIVING... when we leave Earth we immediately enter Heaven. We immediately come alive in a new form. God is a creator of LIFE and he only destroys that which destroys or corrupts life.

22:33 Again, Jesus band of enemies walks always astonished. He is brilliant and wise, they cannot win against Him.

22:34 They're back. The Pharisees are going to continue to try to get Jesus out of their way.

22:35 Here we see that someone who was likely in a high position of society (wealthy and powerful), as a lawyer, wants to test Jesus.

22:36 He wants to know what the special commandment from God is.

22:37-38 Jesus tells him (and us) that we should love God with our everything... with everything we have we should love him. God wants us to love Him because when we decide to love Him, it means we have decided to love his message -- it means we have decided to be kind, fair and compassionate. God is always looking out for US... not for Himself. He knows that if we live our lives as good people we will find happiness, safety, determination, motivation, love, friendship...

22:39 Jesus explains that the second special commandment is that we love others as we love ourselves. We should protect and nurture other people with the same compassion we have for ourselves. When another is cold, we should desire desperately to give them heat... when another is hungry, we should feed them as if we were starving...We should protect others are we protect ourselves. We should put others' needs in the forefront of our minds and hearts because LOVE is life and LIFE is love. Compassion is so important because it denies selfishness and greed -- the things which corrupt the world and ruin it for others.

We should not separate ourselves from others -- they are our siblings. We are all part of each other.

The pharisees were hoping that Jesus would not be able to choose a commandment that encompassed all of them -- but Jesus did. By loving God and by loving others, you cover the important messages from God.

22:40 Jesus tells us that we should always keep those commandments and utilize and refer to them in everything that we do.

22:41 Jesus switches the perspective -- He has a question for the pharisees. Jesus knows everything, He just wants to teach them something.

22:42 Jesus is confirming with them that Christ came from David's genealogy.

22:43-45 Jesus is teaching us that even though He was born through David... Jesus is still the Lord's son, shared with David's family and the Earth for teaching. David still calls Jesus Lord.

22:46 Jesus' enemies were done questioning Him because they knew that He was right and they they could not triumph against Him.

NT: The Book of Matthew: Chapter 21

Matthew 21:1-46

21:1-2 Jesus, through God, has a plan both in this verse and in life. Everything they foretell happens because of something and happens for something although it may not only be clear to us.

I know that for a lot of people this concept is difficult to accept and even understand -- but it's true, our experiences on Earth create who we authentically are. God allows for the repercussions of our our decisions because He gives us complete freedom. He doesn't punish us but humanity punishes itself with the selfish choices it makes. God lets the plan unfold -- right now, we are in the part of His plan where He lets us choose our own way. He doesn't choose suffering or pain or disparity... He chose to give us our freedom because he's not despotic. Humans create and allow suffering, pain and disparity not God. So, when Jesus has a plan, we listen because ultimately He has our best interest at heart (where we understand His plan in the beginning or not).

21:3 When God requests something it happens immediately. There are no barriers. He created everything and therefore everything exists only under His will. 

21:4 Jesus' plan here it to fulfill scripture and for a purpose -- He has a symbol He wants to teach us for an important reason.

21:5 For scripture foretold that Jesus would come to the people on a donkey or a colt. There is a symbol in this.

21:6 The disciples went. They trusted Jesus and His plan and they were willing to work to have it come into fruition. We are lucky enough to join the mission but we must be productive and brave. Jesus did not chose procrastinators because the mission was and remains important.

21:7 Jesus mounts the donkey/colt. Here we should get into the metaphor. Jesus, during His first visit to the Earth, came and started as a baby. He grew to be a young man and teacher, healer, friend to all. By riding a small donkey, the metaphor teaches that Jesus' came in a peaceful manner, with a new message for love in life. 

Jesus arriving on a donkey/colt was planned by God. He has a productive, thought-out plan for humanity which began even before we got here. Whether a person can accept this metaphor, that the colt and donkey were part of God's plan before colts or donkeys even existed, does not necessarily matter. What matters most is that you understand the metaphor.

However -- God does plan much in advance and He uses details of circumstances to prove it to us. The scripture which told of Jesus' coming on a colt was written before Jesus came.

When Jesus returns, He will not be riding the metaphorical colt/donkey because he will not be returning as a baby and He had already completed His work as a teacher. When Jesus returns, He returns as King.

In Zechariah 9:9 predates Matthew 21, in predicting Jesus' arrival. 

21:8 Another wonderful, instructive metaphor! Jesus sets the direction and then allows us to help all of His children down the path toward arrival into God's protection and love. People worked to keep the path accessible. When there was a barrier they removed it. God still needs people to work this hard for His other children. There are so many ways you can help to keep the path visible. You can also be a teacher, a comforter, a guide, an example to others on how to survive and grow from the journey.

21:9 Before Jesus and after Jesus' time here, there have been people who are pure and kind of heart. We are just as important, just as loved as those who inspired Jesus' coming and those who lived during His time here. Remember, God has seen the entire plan. He wants to keep and protect all of us; we each are uniquely important to Him. No matter where we exist on the timeline, we can follow God, we can lead the way for others by being merciful and forgiving.

21:10 When people see an astonishing sight, such as Jesus and His multitudes, or a person or group of people who are kind despite having difficulty in life... they want to know how and what inspired their resilience. Proudly answer as the multitudes did in 21:11...

21:11 Jesus is the reason for this multitude of people, of love and forgiveness. 

21:12 Jesus discovers that a church, which claimed to preach the beautiful and fair word of God, was instead existed in corruption. The church was swindling money out of people and neglecting to teach them anything besides greed and suffering. Understandably, Jesus was infuriated. 

God is so, indescribably perturbed by people who fool and use His beloved children. He cleans them out of the way when they are discovered. You can always rest assured that God sides with YOU. If you are kind you can always expect and delight in His presence beside you. Find comfort in Him.

He turns the place upside-down so that it can no longer function. It was functioning for the wrong purpose and God puts the flame out of people and institutions that do.

21:13 Here Jesus is saying to them that they know better. They are going directly against the text and way of life they claim to preach. A house of God, a church, does not exist to take people's money. The word of God can be taught in a field, in a parking lot, on a sidewalk... anywhere, for free. To use the church as a business to trick people into spending loads of money (which is used for frivolity) is contradictory to God's word and plan.

21:14 Jesus gathered that church's victims and welcomed them into His arms. He opened their minds to the corruption and trickery they were under and they found peace and relief in Him.

This happens in churches still -- church elders build grand building and archways, windows with fancy glass and color... and this money is taken from church goers who think they are doing good. Choose God over money and grandeur. If a church collects money, it should be used strictly to help people who need it. Do not be fooled. Likewise, do not use your money on frivolous things because money becomes a god to so many. People devote their trust and love to money and they sink in the consequences.

There should never be an abundance of money, in any person's bank, if there is an abundance of suffering in the world.

And truly many of us are guilty of having more than we need, often buying things we desire when people around the world have less than even what they require to be alive.

21:15 The leaders of this church Jesus stormed into were not happy with what He had to say. They were so in love with money that they closed their ears to the message He had to say. Do not let money control you in such a way that you lose your common sense at the expense of a human life.

21:16 Jesus reminds us that innocent, young child and babies who have not yet been corrupted by the world are full of pure wisdom. It's true, children often see through corruption and deceit. Right and wrong for children is often clear. Adults confuse and make situations complex with their desires for power, wealth and fame.

He reminds the church leaders that the children who are cheering because of Jesus are cheering because they have heard the truth. They have heard a truth that makes sense.

21:17 Jesus continued on -- likely realizing how much work was to be done! And truly, there is so much to be done. Humans have created a lot of problems in the world. You can choose any place on the Earth and there will be an abundance of good the place is starving for.

With God you are never mission-less. You are never direction-less. There is always an opportunity to create happiness or opportunity for a person suffering.

21:18 Jesus is hungering to teach an important lesson. Upon waking up, He has a plan... He has a lesson to bring truth.

21:19 Jesus arrives at a tree and finds that there is no fruit. The metaphor is this: When God sees a person or organization that is not producing good, healthy produce (people), He puts an end to it. Forever.

21:20 People will marvel at God... they will wonder, "How did you eliminate evil so easily... so quickly?" 

21:21 Jesus teaches us that good, honest, kind hearts will always persevere against evil - quickly and easily. When you give your trust to God nothing and no person can win against you. They might continue to try... but they fail each time because you are strong and courageous in God. You are protected by Him because you believe that He will protect you. He loves to have you on the mission, bringing others into His house because of your actions.

Jesus tells us that we have power against adversity. You can change the world, a mountain is a symbol for a nation. Your voice, coupled with God's wisdom can and will accomplish beautiful things with its impact.

21:22 This verse is so tender, so personally written to each of us. Honestly, when I read it I am so overcome by its truth, but the love existing within it. Not only are you loved by God, you were made by Him... He's your father, your kin, and when you accept your place in His family... there is nothing He will not do for you. He will cross or eliminate every mountain, every stone and pebble in your way.

God is eager to remove the fear from your life. God is eager to remove the pain in your heart. God is eager to eliminate the confusion or addiction in your mind. He wants to heal you. His purpose is love. He wants you to open yourself up to let Him pour His light into you... healing everything, in every crevice. When you call to Him, He hears you. When you ask of Him and you truly believe He is capable... when you trust Him, He will move that mountain just to see you smile. You will receive. 

How beautiful and freeing is it that we have a God who gives, freely and abundantly? You will receive. God does not take anything from you except that which damages or scares you. He gives. You receive. You will receive... believe. Everyday reaffirm your trust in Him -- ask and be patient because He's working on it... specifically for you. He loves you.

21:23 Jesus reaches a new location to teach to people who are starving for truth and love. Jesus is teaching pure, kind things and yet... his adversaries arrive and question His authority. I find it particularly ironic that they were questioning the authority of the Teacher whose father... well, owns the place. And by place I mean, the Earth... and universe. Likely one is not going to have any more authority than having authority over... everything...ever. But anyway, here's another lesson. When you're doing something good and true and right, do not allow yourself to be walked over or tested by evil people. Likewise, do not taunt and tempt people who are doing their best and are teaching a good message. 

21:24 Jesus uses their own logic against them to answer their question.

21:25-26 John the Baptist cleared the way for Jesus (through God). So, if the they answer that John was from men they contradict what this entire population of people believes --dangerous. Yet, if they admit John was sent from Heaven... they give Jesus credit for His authority.

21:27 Jesus (and God) does not waste His time with deception and trickery. These adversaries know the truth, they just want to twist the truth because they fear they are losing their power to Jesus. If they will not listen to the beautiful message Jesus is teaching... He really has nothing else to say to them. God will help us in anyway He can... but He instructs us and we openly reject it... He accepts that you ignore Him... and He makes it easy for you. He moves on to more important matters... saving the kind.

21:28 (The Parable of the Two Sons) A man had two sons, you can understand this to mean that God has two types of people in the world. These two types of people live and work on the Earth. By work, here we can understand that to mean work in relation to other people (i.e having compassion, being truthful, selfless, humble).

21:29 One of the children refuses to work for Him in keeping God's children safe and happy. An example of this could be someone who does not really appear to be a great character on the surface. 

21:30 God asks the other child to go work on the Earth, too. This child says that he/she will. But does not. This person lies to get the favor of God, thinking they can trick him by saying the right things rather than actually doing the right things.

21:31 Jesus explains here that He welcomes people who have done bad in their lives but turned their lives and selves around. We don't begin perfect or productive but we can become productive and good and this is a process God delights to see. God is explaining that the groups of people others like to judge and exclude or scoff at, are the very groups God will welcome into His house before the deceptive, judging types.

21:32 When John the baptist came, teaching of Jesus and God's message, the people of churches did not listen. The arrogant and powerful people who claimed to be the most holy revealed themselves to be wicked and corrupt. The people who were judged by them heard and saw the truth and changed. God loves us based on who we are inside and we cannot fool Him.

Keep in mind that if others put you down or do not accept you because of something you have done, their inability to accept you despite it speaks badly of them, not of you.

Likewise, do not judge and hate others because you do not know what is in their heart; you do not know what lead them to make certain decisions that you do not agree with. In their hearts, they can be the most selfless and kind of all.

21:33 These next verses exemplify God' story with the Earth. God created the Earth and built it so that it would house and sustain its inhabitants.

21:34 Before Jesus, God sent strong, kind people in His name to teach and lead the rest of His children. He sent them to take inventory... to see how we were doing.

21:35 The teachers sent were destroyed by the inhabitants of the Earth. People refused to hear truth and killed those bringing it.

21:36 He continued to try to help and save people. He wanted to save the evil from corruption and He wanted to save the kind from the evil. The teachers kept being harassed and killed.

21:37 God brought His son to Earth, Jesus, hoping that the people of the world would accept the message directly from the source...

21:38  ...but people beat and rejected even Jesus, who healed and taught and comforted.

21:39 They killed even Jesus.

21:40 Jesus is saying... when God comes... those who beat and rejected truth and kindness, well, what do you think they can expect?

21:41 Well, they can expect to be eliminated. They can expect to lose their spots in God's heart to those who were kind and just. People who are evil do not really fear this moment because they do not love God -- they refuse to contemplate His existence or to accept it and because of this, they fool themselves into believing that they will reign forever on the Earth with their wealth, fame and power. Wrong. They will not.

This is not to say that atheists are bad, everyone has their own personal circumstance. God loves everyone and a lot of people do not have the chance or opportunity to understand Him. God forgives this... they will have their chance to see Him, in truth and to accept or reject Him like everyone else.

An atheist can have a good heart -- accept everyone, God does, if they are kind.

21:42 Jesus and God are the center of everything. Jesus, who was rejected, is our foundation.

21:43 Understand that all of God's gifts and love will be given to those who were kind and good and were trampled on by the wicked and evil-doers. The evil lose everything and the kind gain it.

21:44 Isaiah 8:14 If a person rejects the foundation of what Jesus teaches, they become victims and participants in corruption and evil. Metaphorically speaking, Jesus the solid, foundation stone will crush them to powder so that they cannot do anymore harm to anyone.

21:45 The chief priests and Pharisees accurately perceived that Jesus was talking about them -- and they were not pleased.

21:46 They would have liked to kill Jesus right then but they were to afraid to upset the many people who loved and followed Jesus.

NT: The Book of Matthew, Chapter 20

Matthew 20:1-34

20:1 We begin a new parable in this chapter. In verse one, we can understand that God is the landowner, Earth is the vineyard and humanity are the laborers.

20:2 God has had an understanding with certain believers since early in their lives -- they agree to do His work because they love what He stands for and in return, they get His love and protection.

20:3 Time passes -- you can think of this two ways, time passes in an individual's lifetime and also time passes in humanity's lifetime. God is there throughout time creating relationships with people as generations pass and also as individuals age and mature over their lifetimes. He is always ready for us when we are ready for Him. He continues to welcome new laborers, those who missed their chance in the beginning continue to get chances as He makes himself available over and over again.

20:4 He creates and begins relationships with people -- offering them answers to their prayers in the form of love, courage and perseverance. Each laborer (servant/lover of God) has a unique agreement and understanding with Him that is promised to be fair.

20:5 He continues to come throughout our lifetime, offering all that He is to those who will accept it.

20:6 Humanity has been here for a long time -- those of us living now have been taught and have experienced the repercussions and achievements of those who have come before us. Also, as individuals some of us grow older without maturing either spiritually or generally in life. When we are listening, God asks us... "Are you ready to begin? To become passionate and beloved and purposeful?" In other words, when we spend our lives away from wisdom, we become greedy or lazy which is the symbol for "idleness" in this verse.

20:7 Some people answer God that they have never had the opportunity to be better -- either they were not taught or they did not try -- but regardless, God offers even the late-comers to join His family with the same fair deal as He made with the early-risers. Why? Because God is impartial; He loves all people equally and His is so forgiving and patient -- when we are ready to join Him, He's right there ready for you.

20:8 When it is our time to meet God, we get to bask in that relationship we made with Him --regardless of when we joined His mission. God does not pick favorite people and He considers all work done in His name valuable no matter who did it. The last to join His family is equal to the first person to join. And that is really beautiful -- we do not have to compete for God's attention or His love, it is there, abundantly for each of us. God accepts and understands that we each are on our own program.

20:9 The last received the same as the first: His Love, His Gratitude for our work, His Eternal House...

20:10 But we are not quite as perfect and fair as God is -- often we fall quite short. The parable here lets us know that some people want to be loved more than others, they want a higher prize for the same work... this is not true compassion. A lover, child and student of God wants equality for all people. A child of God exhibits honest humility -- and would never be comfortable in any kind of hierarchical position. A child of God accepts his or herself as a part of a family.

20:11 Some people are greedy -- they complain to God; they want better and more rewards. But God loves those who do His work without and despite the promise of a reward.

20:12 These people are counted their deeds and comparing them with others --which immediately taints any good that they have done. God is not keeping score. For God, compassion is immeasurable. We should be thankful that God rewards us equally and we should be as fair with others.

God knows each of our struggles. It is a wonderful moment for Him when someone who has made the wrong decisions their entire life chooses to change for the better -- those people have traveled a long and difficult journey and because of this God believes they have earned equal love from Him.

20:13 God reminds these workers in this parable that He has had a unique and beautiful relationship with them all their lives and that He has been perfectly fair with them. He was been perfectly honest -- having agreed on terms with each participants.

20:14 God reminds us to take what we have earned with gratitude and especially without complaint. He will continue to be fair and loving to all of His children.

20:15 God reminds us this too -- this universe, this world... is His. It has been created by Him. He will distribute His compassion equally as He wishes to. If a person has difficulty accepting equal portions of Love from God... that person is exhibiting a characteristic of evil: greed.

How can we relate this to today? Do not always measure your earnings against another person's. Envy and jealousy are spawned by selfishness -- be compassionate and selfless in all things. The world needs people to be giving and empathetic and fair in all things.

Sometimes it appears that we have worked longer for something than someone else and yet been given the same reward -- we need to consider that the other person might have worked a shorter amount of time, but their journey much harder. God finds the perfect balance -- He knows every detail of our lives and in that we should be so glad, so grateful.

God asks us not let our greediness question His goodness.

20:16 Remember, God puts at the forefront of His mind, those who have struggled against people and circumstances -- because they have worked hard and are compassionate. They are kind despite all of the challenges they have faced.

God tells us that He has invited and encouraged many to be a part of His mission but many succumb to their jealousy, their envy and their greed instead. Some people are so kind, selfless and compassionate that He has chosen them to be His loving-dutiful workers.

He has chosen some because even though they have worker long, hard hours in His name, they never count the time or labor of others. It is rare for a person to be so selfless and God chooses these people for great missions (with equal reward!).

20:17 Now, Jesus has a message specifically for the disciples so they go off on their own for a while.

20:18 Jesus tells them about the death and Resurrection that was coming soon.

20:19 Jesus tells them that He will be mocked and beaten and killed but that He will rise. His Resurrection will be for a purpose and He wishes to prepare them. Jesus does not set this story up with drama or fear, instead, He tells them simply and succinctly what will happen and assures them that He will not be gone.

20:20 A great and important message comes from the following verses (20-28).

20:21 A mother is requesting that her sons work with Jesus -- that they can do His work. It seems glorious to her, to be working with such a brilliant teacher who has so many followers. And it is glorious -- but not in the way many imagine... let's continue:

20:22 A lot of us have a really noble thought -- we want to be courageous and strong and purposeful. However, we forget that with courage and strength comes great, difficult purpose to accomplish. Jesus preached the word and He helped many people -- but He was also hated and killed for it by others. We are going to have adversaries in life and the stronger we become -- the harder our adversaries are going to work against us. We must be aware that with great blessings we are expected to do great, extraordinarily selfless things. We cannot work for God hoping for fame or reward or even friendship -- we have to work for nothing to accomplish everything.

20:23 Jesus tells them (and us) that God has chosen who will be His workers because He knows who can handle it. He knows who is humble and courageous and capable. We certainly can ask Him for the ability to serve Him but we also must remind ourselves that He will give us the tasks He knows we can handle.

20:24 The other disciples are a little uncomfortable because they do not want anyone to follow God simply for the reward or the fame.

20:25 Jesus explains further -- those with great power on Earth often use it to exercise control over others for their own gain...

20:26 But to be powerful with God is to give up your control and to give up your gain so that others can take control of their own lives and can gain patience, forgiveness, love...

As one of God's workers -- you must not love or require power. You have to be humble because God only gives great tasks to those who will not be corrupted by them.

20:27 If you want to succeed in God eye's you must put everyone else's needs before yours. All of your love and attention must be given to those around you. In other words -- you must give up a lot if it means others will succeed -- you must give them your attention, your time, your charity, your patience, your forgiveness... you must not have any power over them in order to be considered powerful in the eyes of God.

20:28 Jesus gave up His entire life here for others. Jesus had the power and the opportunity to come here and to be selfish but instead He gave up everything for everyone else. You must not see fame and glory in Jesus' story but instead you must realize in it the selflessness, the humility...that Jesus could have come and behaved as a king but instead He came and worked as our servant.

20:29 Jesus returns to teaching the multitudes.

20:30 Two blind men call out to Jesus for His help. Let's interpret blindness as confusion, as not understanding truth, wisdom and love. They want God's help to guide them to a more meaningful, purposeful life... they call out for Jesus.

20:31 These men are overlooked by others because they appear unimportant to them -- they disregard them because they seem to have nothing to offer... they are not wealthy, powerful or beautiful and so people do not acknowledge their cries for help -- But God always acknowledges those who call out for Him. He is impartial, He loves all and sees potential and good in all.

20:32 Jesus asks them, His family, what would you like? How can I help? God is always listening to what you need from Him. God listens to your specific prayers.

20:33 The men want the love and wisdom of God, they accept it... they believe in it's beauty.

20:34 Immediately -- Immediately Jesus welcomes them to the family of God -- they asked, they believe, they desire to work for God's amazing mission... they are welcomed without hesitation.

Do not read over that word --Immediately-- God works without hesitation. You can always be sure that your prayers are heard and serviced even before the moment you speak or think them. God delivers when it is best for us but He hears immediately and He responds immediately -- listen for Him to speak to your His comfort. When you are ready to accept that you are a child of His, He is there...right there, in that moment, cheering you home and welcoming you.

Most important: the two men followed Him right then... they began to learn how to do their job. They did not hesitate to begin their work with and for God and His children.