Olivia: The book of Matthew

Chapter the thirty- nine

Is Jesus talking about them? Is he referring to them taking religion and making it their own? And I laugh because once again, Jesus put somebody in their place. My phone rings and I would like to see that it's the unknown caller again.

Well, that's the answer to figure out who it is and what they want, but then I realize it is getting late and my stomach is growling so loud that it causes me to jump every time it does it. I'm gonna go to bed early tonight because then I can hopefully ignore the hunger and tomorrow will be a fresh day. I put my phone on silent and I went to sleep.

It's five in the morning, and I wake up with hunger. I remember Irene's words: that if I pray, the Lord will take care of me. I clasped my hands together and I looked up at my ceiling.

I prayed wholeheartedly, "Lord, I am so hungry. Please Help me through this."

I grab my Bible and happily open it to the spot where I had left off. Jesus is giving a parable about the wedding banquet. I'm a little excited because I love weddings. Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to the king, who is preparing a banquet for his son. The father sent servants to get those who had been invited, but when they got there, they refused to come.

The father makes a second attempt at sending servants and has them Tell them about the wonderful food that will be made. Two of the guests ignore them and go on their way; One goes to his field and the other to his business. The rest of the gas captures the service in Harm and kills them. I gasp and roll onto my stomach and lay across three beds with my head where my feet go.

I can't believe what I am reading, but I continue to read about how the king was angry and sent an army to destroy them and their city. He also decided that the people he had invited didn't deserve to come, instead he instructed the servants to go out and invite strangers. The servants did as he asked and the king found that one guest wasn't dressed appropriately and the king confronted him about it, but the man was speechless.

The king told the attendants, "'Tie him by his hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will weep and gnashing of teeth. For many are invited, but few are chosen.'"

I pause for a moment to use the restroom. As I leave the bathroom, I hear banging on the door. I crack open the curtain to the front door. I jump when Trevor's head appears.

He shouts, "I've been calling you all day. You better let me in!"

I open the door just a crack, but he flings it open and doesn't hold back his frustration, "I was worried about you!"

I try to apologize and he snaps, "What have you been doing?"

I smile big, "Praying, fasting, reading my Bible!"

He smiles back, "I'm not sure what fasting is, but I wouldn't mind reading the Bible with you?"

I explain to him where I left off, and he shakes his head, "I'm nowhere near there!"

I explain to him what everyone says, "Start in the book of Matthew!"

He nods but is on edge about how to find a Bible. He is insistent that he won't go to a library but leaves. He doesn't say anything else. I laugh his awkwardness off .

I continue to read, "Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar"

I'm not surprised that the Pharisees want to trap him so they tried to trick him by Asking,
"Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?"

I get excited as I continue to read, but out loud and in a mid-evil mastermind voice, "But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, 'You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax."

They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, 'Whose image is this? And whose inscription?' 'Caesar's,' they replied. Then he said to them, 'So give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.'"

When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. I hoot and holler, because I love Jesus's passion. I can feel it flowing through the scriptures the more I read. I get confused by what I see so, I reread it out loud.

I'm hoping that it will make more sense, "Marriage at the Resurrection,"

Rereading it doesn't solve my confusion. I choose to keep reading, because usually the Bible explains itself. It says that in that same day the Sadducee, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question, 'Teacher,' they said, 'Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?'
Jesus replied, 'You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.' When the crowds heard this, it astonished them at his teaching. I shout my air pistols in the air, feeling proud of Jesus standing his ground and turning them away.

I feel some sort of déjà vu as I continue to read and I whisper, "The Greatest Commandment"

I think hard and I'm pretty sure Jesus says that they are all great.

I continue to read about how one of the Pharisees that is considered and expert in law tried to test Jesus. "'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"

I start to clap and shout, "Amen!"

Excitedly and anxiously, continue to read, "This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

I look up to the sky and pray and ask, "Put you first and love others the way I love myself. It sounds simple enough.."

I half heartedly say this because loving God is easy, but loving myself and others is hard. I shake the thought off.

continuing to read, "Whose Son Is the Messiah?"

I may have a brain fart but I have to look up on the internet to find out that messiah means lord and savior. I sarcastically slap myself on the forehead because I know this! I continue to read about the Pharisees' fathering together. Jesus tests them this time.

I do my best impersonation of what I think Jesus sounds like,"'What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?' 'The son of David', they replied. He said to them, 'How is it that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says, 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.' If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?'No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on, no one dared to ask him any more questions."

I gape at my Bible for moments before I start to laugh hard, because I love Jesus' sass and style!