#((open to: anyone who's likely to be a wedding guest at the future heavenly king's wedding)) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dfroza · 4 years

Text

A wedding invitation

yet not all were open to respond. and not all those who did respond were allowed to stay.

and why? what is the “proper” attire for such an event?

it is the pure clothing of humility and grace, the grace of becoming known as a True daughter or a son of God who is Light and Love itself. and this is only seen clearly in the True illumination of the Son.

the single path (the narrow road) that leads the heart (the eternal spirit) to be “Home”

Today’s reading of the Scriptures is from the book of Matthew with chapter 22:

[Parable of the Wedding Feast]

As was his custom, Jesus continued to teach the people by using allegories. He illustrated the reality of heaven’s kingdom realm by saying, “There once was a king who arranged an extravagant wedding feast for his son. On the day the festivities were set to begin, he sent his servants to summon all the invited guests, but they chose not to come. So the king sent even more servants to inform the invited guests, saying, ‘Come, for the sumptuous feast is now ready! The oxen and fattened cattle have been killed and everything is prepared, so come! Come to the wedding feast for my son and his bride!’

“But the invited guests were not impressed. One was preoccupied with his business; another went off to his farming enterprise. And the rest seized the king’s messengers and shamefully mistreated them, and even killed them. This infuriated the king! So he sent his soldiers to execute those murderers and had their city burned to the ground.

“Then the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, yet those who had been invited to attend didn’t deserve the honor. Now I want you to go into the streets and alleyways and invite anyone and everyone you find to come and enjoy the wedding feast in honor of my son.’

“So the servants went out into the city streets and invited everyone to come to the wedding feast, good and bad alike, until the banquet hall was crammed with people! Now, when the king entered the banquet hall, he looked with glee over all his guests. But then he noticed a guest who was not wearing the wedding robe provided for him. So he said, ‘My friend, how is it that you’re here and you’re not wearing your wedding garment?’ But the man was speechless.

“Then the king turned to his servants and said, ‘Tie him up and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be great sorrow, with weeping and grinding of teeth.’ For everyone is invited to enter in, but few respond in excellence.”

[The Pharisees Try to Entrap Jesus]

Then the Pharisees came together to make a plan to entrap Jesus with his own words. So they sent some of their disciples together with some staunch supporters of Herod. They said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that you’re an honest man of integrity and you teach us the truth of God’s ways. We can clearly see that you’re not one who speaks only to win the people’s favor, because you speak the truth without regard to the consequences. So tell us, then, what you think. Is it proper for us Jews to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

Jesus knew the malice that was hidden behind their cunning ploy and said, “Why are you testing me, you imposters who think you have all the answers? Show me one of the Roman coins.” So they brought him a silver coin used to pay the tax. “Now, tell me, whose head is on this coin and whose inscription is stamped on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Jesus said, “Precisely, for the coin bears the image of the emperor Caesar. Well, then, you should pay the emperor what is due to the emperor. But because you bear the image of God, give back to God all that belongs to him.”

The imposters were baffled in the presence of all the people and were unable to trap Jesus with his words. So they left, stunned by Jesus’ words.

[Marriage and the Resurrection]

Some of the Sadducees, a religious group that denied there was a resurrection of the dead, came to ask Jesus this question: “Teacher, the law of Moses teaches that if a man dies before he has children, his brother should marry the widow and raise up children for his brother’s family line. Now, there was a family with seven brothers. The oldest got married but soon died, leaving his widow for his brother. The second brother married and also died, and the third also. This was repeated down to the seventh brother, when finally the woman also died. So here’s our dilemma: Which of the seven brothers will be the woman’s husband when she’s resurrected from the dead, since they all were once married to her?”

Jesus answered them, “You are deluded, because your hearts are not filled with the revelation of the Scriptures or the power of God. For after the resurrection, men and women will not marry, just like the angels of heaven don’t marry. Haven’t you read what God said: ‘I am the Living God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

When the crowds heard this they were dazed, stunned over such wisdom!

[The Greatest Commandment]

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they called a meeting to discuss how to trap Jesus. Then one of them, a religious scholar, posed this question to test him: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

Jesus answered him, “‘Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’ This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is like it in importance: ‘You must love your friend in the same way you love yourself.’ Contained within these commandments to love you will find all the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.”

[Jesus, Son of David—Lord of David]

While all the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus took the opportunity to pose a question of his own: “What do you think about the Anointed One? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

Then Jesus said to them, “How is it that David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, could call his son the Lord? For didn’t he say:

The Lord Jehovah said to my Lord,

‘Sit near me in the place of authority

until I subdue all your enemies under Your feet’?

“So how could David call his own son ‘the Lord Jehovah’?”

No one could come up with an answer. And from that day on none of the Pharisees had the courage to question Jesus any longer.

The Book of Matthew, Chapter 22 (The Passion Translation)

A set of posts to accompany Today’s reading by John Parsons:

There is no fear in God's compassionate love, and therefore over and over the Spirit of God says, al tira' - "don't be afraid..." When we are afraid, we are believing the lie there is something beyond God's control or reach, and therefore God is "not enough"... In times of testing you must remind yourself of what is real. God formed you in your mother's womb, breathed into you nishmat chayim, the breath of life, and numbers all your days... Every breath you take, every heartbeat in your chest is ordained from heaven, and indeed, there is not a moment of your life apart from God's sovereign and sustaining grace. So what, then, are you afraid of? Dying? Judgment in the world to come? Being left unloved, bereft of home, abandoned, consigned to outer darkness? King David said, "If I make my bed in Hell, behold, you are there" (Psalm 139:8). Look, the LORD God is not only present in your "happy moments," when you feel "put together" and respectable, but he is present in your desperate moments, in your hunger, your thirst, and in your secrets. May we never lose sight of God's love, especially in times of distress and trouble, since we trust that he is always working all things together for our ultimate good (Rom. 8:28).

The Name of the LORD (יהוה) means “Presence” and “Love” (Exod. 3:14; 34:6-7). Yeshua said, “I go to prepare a place for you,” which means that his presence and love are waiting for you in whatever lies ahead (Rom. 8:35-39). To worry is “practicing the absence” of God instead of practicing His Presence... Trust the word of the Holy Spirit: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for healing peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11). The Word always speaks hope.

Take comfort that your Heavenly Father sees when the sparrow falls; he arrays the flower in its hidden valley; and he calls each star by name. More importantly, the Lord sees you and knows your struggle with fear. Come to him with your needy heart and trust him to deliver you from the burdens of your soul (Matt. 11:28). Shalom means being free from fear.

This is a word for the exiles of every age: Be not afraid - al-tira' – not of man, nor of war, nor of tribulation, nor even of death itself (Rom. 8:35-39). If God be for us, who can be against us? Indeed, Yeshua came to die to destroy the power of death "and to release all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (Heb. 2:14-15). The resurrection of the Messiah is the focal point of history - not the "dust of death." Death does not have the final word. Indeed, because Yeshua is alive, we also shall live (John 14:19). May your chesed, O LORD, be upon us, as we wait for You (Psalm 33:22). [Hebrew for Christians]

7.6.20 • Facebook

As I’ve discussed elsewhere on the site over the years, the climax of the revelation of the Torah at Sinai was not the giving of the Ten Commandments (עשרת הדיברות) to Israel but was instead the vision of the Altar of the sanctuary (מזבח המשכן)... However -- as our Torah portion this week (i.e., Pinchas) makes clear -- the central sacrifice upon this altar was the daily sacrifice (i.e., korban tamid: קרבן תמיד) of a defect-free male lamb with unleavened bread and wine. The LORD calls this "my offering" (קרבני) and "my bread" (לחמי) [Num. 28:1-8]. In other words, the service and ministry of the Mishkan (i.e., Tabernacle) constantly foretold the coming of the great Lamb of God (שה האלהים) who would be offered upon the altar of the cross to secure our eternal redemption (John 1:29; Heb. 9:11-12).

The sacrifice of the lamb represents “God’s food,” a pleasing aroma (ריח ניחחי), for it most satisfied the hunger of God's heart (Eph. 5:2). Indeed, Yeshua's offering upon the cross represents God's hunger for our atonement, our healing from the sickness of death, since it restored what was lost to Him through sin, namely, communion with his children. God could never be satisfied until He was able to let truth and love meet (Psalm 85:10). [Hebrew for Christians]

7.6.20 • Facebook

Sometimes we say that we "hunger for God," but it is vital to remember that it is God who first hungers for us. God desires our love and fellowship. He comes to seek fruit among the trees - but does He find any? He walks in the cool of the day, calling out to us, but are we attuned to hear His voice? Do we accept the invitation to be in His Presence? When God “knocks on the door of your heart” to commune with you, what “food” will you be serving? (Rev. 3:20). Every day we are given an opportunity to “feed God” through expressing faith, hope, and love. Ultimately it is our obedience to the truth is what “feeds” Him: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). [Hebrew for Christians]

7.6.20 • Facebook

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is Deuteronomy 9 where Moses goes over the History lessons of the people wandering about in the wilderness and preparing them to take possession of the land that would be Israel and the sacred ground of Jerusalem:

Moses: Listen to me, Israel! Today you’re going to cross the Jordan and enter the land you’ll take away from nations that are bigger and stronger than you. They live in huge cities that have defense walls as high as the sky. They’re big and tall, giants descended from the Anakim. You know all about them from the 12 spies I sent into the land—you’ve heard the saying, “Who can ever fight with the descendants of Anak?” So I want you to know today that it will be the Eternal your God who will go across the Jordan ahead of you. A blazing fire, He’ll destroy those nations. He’ll subdue them so you can destroy them quickly and take their place, as He has promised you will. When the Eternal your God has driven them out ahead of you, then don’t begin to believe He gave you this land because you’re so good and righteous! It’s just the opposite; He is giving you their land because those other nations are so bad! It’s not because you’ve conducted yourselves so well or because you have such pure hearts that you’re going to take the land; the Eternal your God is driving out those other nations ahead of you because they’re so wicked. He’s keeping His word, the promise He made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I’ll say it again: the Eternal One your God isn’t giving you this good land because you’re so good. You’re stubborn, obstinate people. Remember—don’t forget—how you kept infuriating Him in the wilderness. From the day you came out of Egypt until the day you arrived here, you’ve been rebelling against Him.

Even at Horeb, you infuriated Him. The Eternal got so angry with you He was ready to destroy you! When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets—the tablets of the covenant He made with you—I stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn’t eat or drink anything all that time, preparing myself to receive these holy words. At the end of those 40 days and nights, the Eternal gave me those two stone tablets of the covenant. On them He’d engraved with His own finger everything He told you on the day you gathered at the mountain, when He spoke to you from inside the fire. The Eternal told me, “Get up, and go back down the mountain as fast as you can! While you’ve been up here surrounded by My holiness, the people you led out of Egypt have become corrupt! How quickly they’ve left the path I commanded them to stay on. They’ve melted gold and poured it into a mold and made themselves an idol! I’ve seen how stubborn and obstinate these people are. Don’t try to stop Me—I’m going to destroy them! I’ll wipe out every last trace of them under the sky, and I’ll make a bigger and stronger nation out of just you.”

The mountain was still blazing with fire as I hurried back down it, carrying the two covenant tablets in my hands. I saw with my own eyes how you had sinned against the Eternal, your True God: you’d cast an idol in the shape of a young bull!

Moses: How quickly you left the path the Eternal commanded you to stay on. Right before your eyes I took the two tablets, hurled them onto the ground, and smashed them to pieces. I went back up the mountain, and for another 40 days and nights I prostrated myself before Him, lying face down on the ground in grief and petition, not eating or drinking anything as before. You had sinned so seriously—you did what the Eternal had just told you was wrong, and this made Him furious! I was afraid He was so violently angry with you that He’d destroy you, as He said He would. But one more time, the Eternal One listened to me, and He spared you. I had to pray particularly for Aaron because the Eternal was furious with him for making the idol—He would have killed my brother! I took the calf idol you made, that embodiment of your sin, and I burned it up. Then I crushed what was left, ground it into tiny pieces until it was as fine as dust, and threw the dust into the riverbed that rushes down the mountain.

You and your parents were always making the Eternal furious! At Taberah, you whined and complained; at Massah, you were sure the Lord was going to let you die of thirst; at Kibroth-hattaavah, you said you were sick of the food He provided! At Kadesh-barnea, when you finally reached the promised land, the Eternal sent you in: “Go and take possession of the land—I’ve given it to you!” But you defied this direct order from the Eternal, your True God! You didn’t trust Him, and you didn’t listen to His voice. You’ve been rebelling against Him from the day I met you!

That’s why, at Horeb, I lay face down before the Eternal for 40 days and nights, praying for you: He said He was going to destroy you, and I knew He had every reason to! I prayed to Him, “Eternal Lord, please don’t destroy Your people! They’re Your own possession: You liberated them from another master—You brought them out of Egypt with overwhelming power. Remember Your loyal servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; please forget about how stubborn and wicked and sinful these people are. Don’t let their actions spoil Your greater plan. Otherwise, the people back in the land You brought us out of will be saying, “The Eternal couldn’t really bring them into that land He promised them. He actually hated those people, and He brought them out into the desert in order to kill them off.” Remember they are Your people, Your own possession, the ones You brought out of Egypt Yourself with such overwhelming power!

The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 9 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Tuesday, july 7 of 2020 with a paired chapter from each Testament along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

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