In today's epistle reading the apostle Paul declares unequivocally that Jesus is God's promised Messiah. But Paul also states boldly that Jesus is much more than God's Messiah. He is the very image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation, and the first-born from the dead. You can't get a much more exalted and clearer description of Jesus the king than this! Yet most of his own people rejected Jesus and many continue to do so today, failing to recognize him as God's appointed ruler over the cosmos, both now and forever. Why is that? Check out what Fr. Maney has to say about this and see what you think. Lectionary texts for today are Jeremiah 23.1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1.11-20; Luke 23.33-43.