Doctor Luke: A contemporary historian of Jesus of Bethlehem,
writes a historical account which establishes
Jesus as “The Son of Man!”
Introduction:
Dr. Luke: A historian, who was contemporary to Jesus of Bethlehem, writes a 1st century A.D. historical account which establishes Jesus as the ‘Son of Man’ (uses the phrase 27 times). He does so in a Letter to Theophilus, a friend, who wants a clear, orderly report of the facts. He provides: facts, events, names and order in his report. This allows the reader, hearer or investigator varies ways to verify the story carefully, so that they might come to be persuaded that Jesus truly and actually is the “Son of Man”.
Date: A.D. 60ish
Treatise:
(1st) Since many have undertaken to write a narrative concerning the events that have been accomplished among us, just as the eyewitnesses and ministers of the Message from the beginning delivered to us, it seemed good to me, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write to you accurately and orderly, most noble Theophilus, in order that you ought to understand the certainty of the things you have been taught. {1:4}
(2nd) In the days of Herod, king of Judea [37-4 B.C.], there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was named Elizabeth, of the daughters of Aaron. They were both righteous before God, walking blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. However, they were childless, because Elizabeth could not have children, and they were both advanced in their days. While Zacharias was serving as a priest in the order of his division before God according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the Temple of the Lord [in Jerusalem] to burn incense. All the multitude of the people was outside, praying at the hour of incense. {1:10}
An angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared to him. When Zacharias saw him, he was disturbed, and fear fell upon him. The angel said to him, “You must not be afraid, Zacharias. Your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son, and you will call his name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will walk before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the upright, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people. [Mal.4:5-6] {1:17}
Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in days.” The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you, and to bring to you the good news of these things. Now behold! You will remain silent and unable to speak until these things happen, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” The people were waiting for Zacharias and were wondering why he was staying so long in the Temple. He came out but could not talk to them; and they recognized that he had seen a vision in the Temple. He was making signs to them and remained speechless. When the days of his service in the Temple were completed, he went to his home. After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant and secluded herself for five months, saying, “So the Lord has done for me in the days when He looked on me, to take away my disgrace among the people.” {1:25}
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth, a city of Galilee, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. He came to her, and said, “Greetings, one favored by God!”. She was extremely confused at the message and was wondering what kind of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Mariam, you must not be afraid. You have gained approval from God. And behold! You will become pregnant and bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be Great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David his father. He will reign forever over Jacob’s house, and there will be no end of His Kingdom.” But Mariam said to the angel, “How will this happen since I have not been with a man?” The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come over you, and the power of the Highest One will overshadow you, and the Holy One being born will be called God’s Son. And behold! Elizabeth, your relative, has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren, for no saying from God is impossible.” Mariam replied, “Behold! I am the bondmaid of the Lord. May that which you have spoken happen to me.” Then the angel departed. {1:38}
In those days Mariam arose and hurriedly went into the hill country, to a Judean city, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mariam’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was full of the Holy Spirit, and exclaimed loudly, “Blessed [are] you among women! Blessed [is] the fruit of your womb! How is it possible that my Lord’s mother should come to [be with] me? Behold! When the sound of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy! Happy is she who has believed that the things that the Lord has spoken to her will be fulfilled.” Mariam replied, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, because He has looked on the low position of his bondmaid. Behold! From now on all generations will consider me happy, because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His Name. His mercy is for generations and generations to those who fear him. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the arrogant in the imagination of their heart. He has taken the rulers down from their thrones and has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and has sent the rich away empty. He has helped Israel his servant; He has remembered His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” Mariam stayed with Elizabeth about three months and returned to her home. {1:56}
The time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. The neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had shown great kindness to her, and they were rejoicing with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they would have called him by the name of Zacharias his father. But his mother objected, “No! He will be called ‘John.'” They replied to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” They were making signs to his father to find out what he might want him to be called. He signaled for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all were surprised. Immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue was freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came on all the neighbors, and these things were being talked about in the whole of the Judean hill country. All who heard these things put them in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be? Indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.” Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied, saying, “Extoled [supremely praised above all!] be the Lord God of Israel, as [1] He has visited His people, bringing them redemption! [2] He has raised up the horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant, as He spoke long ago through the mouth of His holy Prophets, [a] delivering us from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us, [b] showing mercy to our fathers and [c] remembering His holy Covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to allow us, being delivered from our enemies, to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days! {1:75}
You child, will be called a Prophet of the Most High, for [A] you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, [1] to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, [B] through the tender mercies of our God, [1] with which the Dayspring from on high will visit us, [a] to shine upon those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, [b] to guide our feet into the Way of peace.” (The child grew and became strong in spirit. He was in the desert regions until the days of his appearance to Israel.) {1:80}
(3rd) In those days Caesar Augustus ordered that a world census be taken, which was first done when Quirinius [roughly 6 B.C.] was the governor of Syria. All were enrolled, each in his own city. Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem (because he was of David’s family) to be enrolled with Mariam his wife, who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she delivered her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling-cloths, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no place for them in the inn. {2:7}
In that region shepherds were staying out in the fields, keeping watch at night over their flocks. The Lord’s angel appeared to them, and the Lord’s glory shined around them, and they were much afraid. The angel said to them, “You all must not be afraid, for behold! I bring Good News with great joy to all people. Today in David’s city a Savior is born [bc6-5], Christ the Lord! This will be a sign to you: you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling-cloths and lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly a multitude from heaven with the angel was praising God, “Glory to God in the highest, and on the Earth peace among men of good will.” The angels returned to heaven, and the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made us aware.” They left immediately, and found both Mariam and Joseph, and the baby lying in the trough. They declared what had been told them about this child. Everyone who heard marveled at the things the shepherds told. Mariam treasured up these words in her memory, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they had seen and heard, even as it had been told to them. {2:20}
The eight days for his circumcision were fulfilled, and they called his name Jesus, as the angel had instructed before he was conceived. The days of her purification according to Moses’ law were fulfilled, and they brought him to Jerusalem to present to the Lord (as it is written, “Every male who opens the womb will be called holy to the Lord” [Ex.13:2,12,15]) and to give a sacrifice according to the Law of the Lord: “A pair of doves or two young pigeons.” [Lv.12:8] And behold! There was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was expecting the consolation [setting free] of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die before seeing the Lord’s Christ. By the Spirit he went to the Temple. Jesus’ parents brought him in, to do to him according to the custom of the Law. Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Dismiss your bondservant in peace, O Master, according to your Word, because my eyes have seen your Salvation [Is.52:10], which you prepared before the face of all the people, a light for revelation of the nations and glory of your people Israel.”[Is42:6] His father and mother were astonished at what was said about him. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mariam his mother, “Behold! This One is appointed for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against; also, a sword will pierce your soul, that the reasonings of many hearts might be revealed.”
[And] There was a prophetess named Anna (a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher) who had lived with her husband for seven years from her virginity. She was an eighty-four year old widow, and did not leave the Temple, but served in fasting and prayers night and day. She arrived at that very hour and was thanking God and talking about Him to all who were expecting Jerusalem’s redemption. Everything according to the Law was completed, and they returned to their own city, Nazareth of Galilee. The child grew and became strong, being filled with wisdom, and God’s Grace was upon him. {2:40}
Each year his parents went to the Passover Feast at Jerusalem. When he was twelve years old, they went up after the custom of the Feast. After the days were completed and they returned, the child Jesus stayed in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know. They thought he was in the caravan and went a day’s journey. They were searching for him among their relatives and acquaintances. They did not find him, and returned to Jerusalem, continuing to look for him. Three days later they found him in the Temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and answers. They saw him and were astonished; his mother said to him, “Son, why did you do this to us? Behold! Your father and I have sought you sorrowfully [with great distress].” He answered, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know I must attend to the things of the Father?” They did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. He went down with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother kept all of these events in her heart. Jesus advanced in wisdom and height and in favor with God and men. {2:53}
(4th) In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberias Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea, Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was the tetrarch of the Iturea-Trachonitis area, and Lysanius was the tetrarch of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s Word came to John the son of Zacharias in the desert [A.D. 26-27]. He went through all of the country around the Jordan preaching the immersion from a reform of mind & life, that sins might be forgiven, as it is written in the Book of the words of Isaiah the prophet [Isa. 40:3-5], “A voice crying in the desert, ‘Prepare the Lord’s [Yahweh’s] Way. Make His paths straight. Every valley will be filled; every mountain and hill will be leveled; crooked ways will be straightened; rough ways will be made smooth; and all people will see God’s Salvation!’” He said to the crowds that were coming out to be immersed by him, “Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Bear fruits worthy of reform (of mind & life), and do not say among yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father,’ for God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these rocks. The axe already lies at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut and thrown into the fire.” The crowds were asking, “What then shall we do?” He replied, “Let him with two coats give to him who does not have; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” Tax collectors came to him to be immersed, and asked, “Teacher, what shall we do?” He answered, “Collect no more than is assigned to you.” Soldiers asked, “What shall we do?” He responded to them, “Do not extort from anyone, do not blackmail anyone, and be content with your wages.” The people were in expectation; all were wondering if John were the Christ. He answered, “I immerse you in water; but One mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie: He will immerse you in the Holy Spirit and fire. He has his winnowing shovel in his hand to cleanse the threshing floor, gathering the wheat into his barn, but He will burn the straw with unquenchable fire.” So, exhorting with many other words, he continued to proclaim the Good News to the people. (But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by John about Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and about all the evil things Herod had done, added this also to the list: he imprisoned John.) {3:20}
All the people were immersed, and Jesus also was immersed; and while He was praying, [Is.42:1] the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit – in a bodily form as a dove – came down on Him, and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son. I am well pleased with You.” {3:22}
(5th) Jesus was about thirty years old when He began His teaching. [AD27ish] He was the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, of Matthat, of Levi, of Melchi, of Jannai, of Joseph, of Mattathias, of Amos, of Nahum, of Esli, of Naggai, of Maath, of Mattathias, of Semein, of Josech, of Joda, of Joanan, of Rhesa, of Zerubbabel, of Shealtiel, of Neri, of Melchi, of Addi, of Cosam, of Elmada, of Er, of Jesus, of Eliezer, of Jorim, of Matthat, of Levi, of Symeon, of Judas, of Joseph, of Jonam, of Eliakim, of Melea, of Menna, of Mattatha, of Nathan, of David, of Jesse, of Obed, of Boaz, of Sala, of Nahshon, of Amminadab, of Admin, of Arni, of Hezron, of Perez, of Judah, of Jacob, of Isaac, of Abraham, of Terah, of Nahor, of Serug, of Reu, of Peleg, of Eber, of Shelah, of Arphaxad, of Shem, of Noah, of Lamech, of Methuselah, of Enoch, of Jared, of Mahalaleel, of Cainan, of Enos, of Seth, of Adam, of God. {3:38}
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where He was tempted forty days by the devil. He ate nothing in those days, and when they were finished, he was hungry. The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, command this rock to become bread.” Jesus replied to him, “It is written, [Deut. 8:3] ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” The devil led Him up a high mountain and showed Him in a moment all of the earth’s kingdoms, and said, “To you I will give all this authority and glory. It has been delivered to me, and I give it to anyone I wish. If you will worship me, all will be yours!” Jesus responded to him, “It is written, [Deut. 5:8-10, 6:13] ‘You will worship the Lord your God and will serve only Him.’” The devil brought Him into Jerusalem, placed Him on the summit of the Temple, and said to him, “If you are God’s Son, cast yourself down, for it is written, [Ps.91:9-12] ‘I will command His angels to guard You,’ and ‘they will carry You in their hands, so that You will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus replied, “It is said, [Deut. 6:16] ‘You will not test the Lord your God.'” The devil completed every temptation and left Him until another time. {4:13}
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, [AD27] and His fame spread into all the surrounding country. He continued to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. In Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was His custom, and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, and He unrolled it and found the place where it was written, [Isa. 61:1-2] “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to evangelize the Good News to the poor; to proclaim release to the captives and sight to the blind; to send away in liberty the down-trodden; and to announce the acceptable year of the Lord.” He rolled the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All in the synagogue fastened their eyes on Him. He began to say, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.” Everyone approved of him, and marveled at the gracious words that had come from his mouth, and were saying, “Is not this the son of Joseph?” Jesus replied to them, “Certainly you will quote this parable to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!” “Do here, in your home city, the things we have heard that you did in Capernaum!” He continued, “I assure you that no prophet is accepted in his home city. But in truth I say to you, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when heaven was shut for three and a half years, as a great famine came on all the Earth; but Elijah was not sent to anyone except to a widow in Sarepta of Sidon. [I Kg17:9] Also, many lepers were in Israel in the days of Elisha, but none of them was cleansed, except Naaman the Syrian.” [2 Kg5:1f] All in the synagogue were filled with anger upon hearing these words. They arose, threw him out of the city, and took him to the top of a hill on which their city was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But He passed through the midst of them and escaped. {4:30}
He went to Capernaum and taught on the Sabbath. They were amazed at His teaching, because He spoke with authority. There was a man in the synagogue with the spirit of an unclean demon, and the man cried loudly, “Let us alone! What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are, the Holy One of God.” Jesus rebuked him and commanded, “You must be quiet and come out of him.” The demon threw the man down and came out of him but did not injure him. Everyone became excited and said to one another, “What is this word? He commands unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” The report about Him spread in all the surrounding area. He left the synagogue and went to Simon’s house, where Simon’s mother-in-law had a high fever. They asked Him about her, and He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She arose and immediately began serving. As the sun was setting all those who had people sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus, Who placed His hands on each person and healed them. Demons were going out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God.” He rebuked them and did not let them speak, because they knew that He was the Christ. {4:41}
(6th) When day came, He went out into a desert place. The crowds sought Him and came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said, “I must evangelize the Good News of God’s Kingdom in other cities also. I was sent for this purpose.” He continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee. As He was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, a crowd was pressing against Him, listening to God’s Message. He saw two boats beside the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. He stepped into Simon’s boat and asked him to put out a little from the land. He then sat down and taught the people. After He finished, He said to Simon, “You must put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we have labored all night long and have caught nothing, but at Your word I will let down the nets.” They did so and caught so many fish that their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat, so that they would come and help them. They did so, filling both boats so that they were sinking. Simon saw [realized] what had happened, and fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, because I am a sinful man.” He was amazed at the catch of fish, as also were his partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch people.” Then they brought the boats to the land, left everything, and followed Him. {5:11}
While He was in one of the cities, a man full of leprosy saw Jesus, fell on his face, and begged Him, “Lord, if you should want to, you can cleanse me.” Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean!” His leprosy immediately disappeared. Jesus commanded him to tell no one, and said, “Show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for evidence to them.” However, the news about Jesus spread even more, and large crowds came together to hear Him and to be healed by Him from their diseases. He then withdrew into the desert and prayed.
On one of those days, as He was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the Law from every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem were sitting nearby; and the Lord’s power to heal was with Him. And listen to this! Men were bringing on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus. They found no way to get into the house because of the crowd, so they climbed to the roof, removed tiles, and let him down on his stretcher in the midst, in front of Jesus. Jesus saw their faith, and said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.” The scribes and Pharisees began to argue among themselves, saying, “Who is this fellow who blasphemes? Who but God can forgive sins!” Jesus perceived their reasonings, and replied to them, “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know the ^Son of man^ has power on Earth to forgive sins –”, He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your stretcher, and go to your house!” He arose at once, picked up his stretcher, and went home, praising God. All of the people were amazed, and praised God, and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen wonderful things today!” {5:26}
Afterward, Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi at the tax office, and said, “You must follow Me.” He arose, left everything, and followed Jesus. Jesus, and many tax collectors and others were there, sitting with them. The Pharisees and their scribes murmured against His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus replied to them, “Healthy people do not need a physician, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous to reform (mind & life), but sinners.”
They said, “John’s disciples fast often with prayers, as do the Pharisees; but your disciples eat and drink.” Jesus responded, “Can the bridegroom’s friends fast while he is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and they will then fast.” And He spoke a parable to them, “No one uses a piece of new cloth to patch an old garment, for if he does, the new will tear the old and will not match the old. Likewise, no one puts new wine in old wineskins, for if he does, the new wine will split the skins, the wine will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. But one must put new wine in new wineskins, and both are saved. No one who has drunk old wine wants the new, for he says, “The old is better.” {5:39}
On a Sabbath, as He was going through grain fields, His disciples were pulling and eating heads of wheat, rubbing them with their hands. Some Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? [1 Samuel 21:1-6] How he entered God’s House, and ate the sacred bread, and gave to those with him, which was only lawful for the priests to eat?” He continued, “The ^Son of man^ is Lord of the Sabbath!” {6:5}
On another Sabbath, He entered a synagogue [Jewish place of worship & study- in their communities] and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was withered. The Scribes and Pharisees were watching closely, to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. He knew their thoughts, but said to the man whose hand was withered, “Get up and stand here.” He arose and stood. Jesus said to them, “I ask you if it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil; to save life or destroy it?” He had looked around at everyone, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He did so, and it was restored. They were enraged and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. {6:11}
In those days He went into the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, He called His disciples and chose twelve, whom He also called apostles: Simon, whom He named Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. He descended with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people – from all of Judea and Jerusalem and the coast of Tyre and Sidon – came to hear Him and to be healed of all their sicknesses. Those who were troubled with unclean spirits were healed, and all the people were trying to touch Him, because power was coming out of Him, and He was healing everyone. {6:19}
He turned His eyes toward His disciples, and said, [I] “Oh, the great happiness of the beggar [not just poor], because God’s Kingdom is yours. [II] Oh, the great happiness of those now hungry, because you will be filled. [III] Oh, the great happiness of the ones weeping, because you will laugh [rejoice]. [IV] Oh, the great happiness of you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and cast out your name as evil because of the ^Son of man^. You all must rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, now, listen carefully! Your reward in heaven is great, for their fathers treated the prophets in these same ways. But [1] woe [exclamation of great calamity] to you the rich, for you are receiving [now] your comfort. [2] Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. [3] Woe to those laughing now because you will mourn and weep. [4] Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers did these same things to the false prophets. Now, I say to those who hear, you all [A] must love your enemies, [B] must do good to them who hate you, [C] must bless those persecuting you, [D] must pray for those mistreating you all. You all [E] must offer the other cheek to the one who strikes you on the right, and do not withhold your shirt from the one who takes your coat. You all [F] must give to everyone who asks you and [G] must not ask the one who seizes your property to return it. [H] It is imperative that you treat people the same way you all want [desire] them to treat you. If you love the ones who love you, what credit is this to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is this to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is this to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, that they may receive an equal amount. [1] It is imperative to love your enemies, and [2] to do good and [3] to lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, Who is kind to the unthankful and evil. [4] You all must be merciful as your Father is merciful. [5] You all must not judge, and you will not be judged; [6] You must not condemn, and you will not be condemned. [7] It is imperative you forgive and you all will be forgiven. [8] You all must give, and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will give into your bosom. As you measure, it will be measured to you all.” {6:38}
He then spoke a parable to them, “A blind man cannot lead a blind man, can he? Both will fall into a pit, will they not? A disciple is not superior to his teacher. When he is fully trained, he will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, you must let me pick the speck out of your eye,’ if you do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrites, it is imperative you first remove the log from your eye, and then you will see clearly to pick a speck from your brother’s eye. A good tree does not bear bad fruit, neither does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is known by its own fruit. Neither are figs gathered from thorn trees, nor grapes from bramble bushes. A good man brings forth good from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil man brings forth evil from the evil treasure of his heart. The mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. Why do you all call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, but you refuse to “practice” what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My Words, and carries them out, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the river broke against that house but could not shake it, because the house was soundly built. But the one who hears and does not carry out what I say is like a man who builds a house on the ground without a foundation: the river broke against it, and it collapsed immediately, and it was completely destroyed.” {6:49}
He finished all of these words in the ears of the people and went to Capernaum. There was a slave of a certain centurion, who was very precious to him, and who was sick and about to die. The centurion heard about Jesus and sent elders of the Jews to Him to ask Him to come and heal his slave. They went to Jesus, and earnestly entreated Him, saying, “He deserves that you grant him this; he loves our nation, and has built a synagogue for us.” Jesus started out with them, but before he had gotten far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, You must not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that You should come under my roof, neither am I worthy to come to You. Only say the word and my servant must be healed. I also am a man set under authority and have soldiers under me. I say to a soldier, ‘Go!’ and he goes. To another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. To my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Jesus was amazed when He heard these words, and turned to the crowd following Him and said, “I assure you that I have not found such faith, no, not in Israel.” The friends who had been sent returned to the house and found the slave well. {7:10}
Next, He went toward a village called Nain, accompanied by His disciples and a large crowd. He came near the gate of the village and behold! The only son of a mother, having died, was being carried out; she was a widow, and a large crowd was with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her, and He said, “You must not weep.” He approached the coffin and touched it; and the ones carrying it stood still. Jesus commanded, “Young man, you must arise.” He sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. All of the people were full of wonder and praised God, saying, “A great Prophet has been raised up among us,” and “God has visited His people.” This news about Him went throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. {7:17}
John’s disciples told him about all these things. After summoning a certain pair of his disciples, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the Coming One or should we expect another?” The men came to Him and said, “John the immerser sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Coming One or should we expect another?'” In that hour Jesus healed many from sicknesses and plagues and evil spirits and made many blind people to see. He replied, “You must go tell John the things you have seen and heard: The blind see, cripples walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the beggars have the Good News evangelized to them. Also, incredibly happy [overjoyed] is the one who is not offended at Me.”
After John’s messengers had gone, He began to speak to the crowds about John. “What did you go into the desert to see [scrutinize]? A reed shaken by the wind? But more so, what did you go to see [observe]? A man wearing soft clothes? Behold! Those who wear gorgeous clothes live in luxury in kings’ palaces. But what did you go to see [observe]? A Prophet? Yes, I assure you, and more than a Prophet. This is he about whom it is written, ‘Behold! I send MY messenger before You, who will prepare the Way of you before You.’ [Malachi 3:1] I assure you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; nevertheless, the least in God’s Kingdom is greater than he.” (When they heard this, all of the people and the tax collectors justified God, being immersed with the immersion of John; but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected God’s counsel against themselves, not submitting to his immersion.) “With what will I compare this generation, and what are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace, and call to one another, ‘We played the flute, but you did not dance; we mourned, but you did not weep.’ John the immerser came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The ^Son of man^ has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is justified by all of her children.” {7:35}
One of the Pharisees asked Him to dine with him, and Jesus entered the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. And behold! A woman who was a sinner in the town learned that Jesus was sitting at the table in the Pharisee’s house, and brought an alabaster bottle of perfume. Standing behind Him, weeping at His feet, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and to dry them with her hair. Tenderly she kissed His feet and poured the perfume on them. The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw it, and said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort the woman is who clings to him, that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered, saying to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he said, “Speak, Teacher.” “A certain lender had two debtors, one who owed a hundred dollars, and the other ten. When they could not pay, he forgave both. Which will love him more?” Simon answered, “He, I suppose, whom he forgave more.” Jesus replied, “You are right.” He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, and you gave me no water for my feet; but this woman has wet My feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she, from the time I arrived, has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with perfume. Therefore, I assure you, her many sins are forgiven, because she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” He said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who were at the table with Him began to say among themselves, “Who is this that forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. You must go in peace.” {7:50}
(7th) Then, He passed through cities and villages, evangelizing the Good News of God’s Kingdom. The twelve were with Him, and some women who had been healed of evil spirits and afflictions: Mary of Magdala (from whom seven demons had been driven out), Joanna (the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward), Susanna, and many others, who were serving them of their own possessions. A large crowd from every city came to Him, and He spoke by a parable, “A sower went to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell by the side of the path, where it was trampled on and eaten by the birds. Other seed fell on a rock but when it grew up, it withered, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew with the seed and choked it. Other seed fell on good ground, where it grew and produced fruit a hundred-fold.” After He said these things He called out, “He who has ears to hear, it is imperative that he hears!” His disciples asked Him the meaning of this parable, and He explained, “To you it is given to understand the Mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to others I speak in parables, that though they see [look], they might not see; and though they hear, they might not understand. This is the parable: the seed is God’s Message; those beside the path are ones who heard; then the devil comes and takes the Message from their hearts, in order that they may not be persuaded and be saved. Those on the rock are hearers who receive the Message joyfully, but they have no root; they believe for awhile but in time of temptation fall away. That which fell among the thorns are the ones who heard, but as they went their way, the cares and riches and pleasures of life choked them, and they bore no fruit to maturity. That which fell on the good ground are those who hear the Message with a truly good heart, hold on to it, and bear fruit with patient endurance. No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a vessel or places it under a bed, but on a stand, that those coming in may see the light. Nothing is hidden which will not be revealed, and nothing is covered that will not be understood and brought to light. You all must be careful, therefore, how you must hear: whoever has, to him will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.” {8:18}
His mother and brothers came to Him, but they could not get close to Him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and brothers are outside, wanting to see you.” He replied to them, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear and obey God’s Message.” {8:21}
One day He entered a boat with His disciples, and said, “Let us go to the other side of the lake.” They put out to sea. While they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. A windstorm struck the lake, and they were being swamped, and were in danger. They came to Jesus and awoke Him, exclaiming, “Master, Master, we are dying!” He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging water; they quieted, and there was a calm. He asked, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and marveled, asking one another, “Who is this that commands the winds and the water, and they obey him?” They arrived in the country of the Gadarenes, which is across from Galilee. As He stepped on the shore, a man from the city who had demons met Him. He had not worn clothing for a long time, and had not lived in any house, but among the tombs. He saw Jesus, cried out, fell before Him, and exclaimed with a loud voice, “What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torture me.” Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of him. He had seized him often. He was bound with chains and fetters and kept under guard; but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert places. Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion!”; as many demons had entered into him. They were begging Jesus that he would not order them to go into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside; and the demons begged Him to allow them to enter the pigs, and He did. Then the demons went out of the man into the pigs, and the herd rushed down a steep bank into the lake and was drowned. The herdsmen saw what had happened and ran and told it in the city and in the country. Then the people who went out to see what had happened came to Jesus, and they found the man, from whom the demons had been expelled, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and sane; and they were afraid. Those who saw how the demon-possessed man was healed told the news to the ones who had just arrived. Then the whole crowd from the country of the Gadarenes asked Him to leave, because they were greatly afraid; so, He entered a boat and returned. The one from whom the demons had departed begged to be with Him, but the Lord sent him away, saying, “You must go back home and tell what God has done for you.” He left and spread throughout the whole city the report of what Jesus had done for him. {8:39}
Jesus returned, and a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. And behold! A man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, approached him and fell at his feet, and begged him to come to his house, because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. As Jesus was going, the crowds pushed against Him. A woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had spent everything she had on physicians, and could not be healed, approached Jesus from behind. She touched the fringe of his coat, and her hemorrhage immediately ceased. Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” While all were denying, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing against you.” Jesus responded, “Someone touched me, for I know that power has gone from me.” The woman saw that she was not hidden, and she came trembling and fell down before Him, and told in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him and how she was instantly healed. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole. You must go in peace.” While He was yet speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came, saying, “Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” Jesus heard this and answered him, “You must not be afraid; you must only believe, and she will live.” He came to the house, but did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter, John, James, and the child’s parents. And all were crying and mourning greatly over her, but He said, “You all must not weep, because she is not dead, but sleeping.” However, they ridiculed him, knowing she was dead. But He took her hand and said, “Child, you must arise.” Her spirit returned and immediately she stood up. He asked that she be given something to eat. Her parents were amazed. He charged them to tell no one what had happened {8:56}
Jesus called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over demons, and the ability to cure diseases; and He sent them to preach God’s Kingdom and to heal the sick. And He said to them, “Take nothing for the road, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor food, nor money, nor two coats. You must abide in the house you enter and depart from there. Whoever does not receive you, as you leave that city, shake off the dust of your feet for a testimony against them.” They departed and went through every town, evangelizing the Good News and healing everywhere. Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening, and he was puzzled. Some told him that John had been raised from the dead; some said that Elijah had appeared; others reported that one of the prophets of old had been raised. Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who is this of whom I hear such things?” And he was seeking to see Jesus. The apostles returned, and they told Jesus what they had done. He took them with Him and withdrew privately to a desert place.
The crowds learned of it and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about God’s Kingdom and cured those who needed to be healed. The day was nearly gone, and the twelve approached Jesus and said to Him, “You must dismiss the people, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages for food and lodging, because we are here in a desert.” He replied to them, “You all must give them food.” But they answered, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.) He said to his disciples, “You must have them to sit in groups of about fifty each.” They did so, and Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up into heaven, and gave thanks. He then broke them and gave them to the disciples who passed them to the people. After everyone had eaten and was satisfied, twelve baskets of broken pieces were collected. As He was praying by Himself, his disciples were with him; and He asked them, “Who do the people say that I am?” They replied, “John the immerser; but others say Elijah; yet others say that one of the prophets of old has been raised.” Then He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter responded, “The Christ of God.” He then gave them strict orders to tell no one. He said, “The ^Son of man^ must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes; he must be killed, and be raised on the third day.” {9:22}
Then He announced to all the people, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, [1] it is imperative he deny himself, [2] he must take up his cross daily, and [3] he must follow Me. Because, anyone who wishes to save his life shall lose it; and anyone who loses his life for My sake shall save it. What profit does a man have if he gains the whole world, but loses himself or is cast away? Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the ^Son of man^ will be ashamed of him, when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Indeed, I assure you, some who stand here will by no means taste death before they see God’s Kingdom.” {9:27}
Now about eight days after He had said these things, he took Peter, John, and James into the mountain to pray. While He was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothing became white and gleaming. And behold! Two men were talking with Him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and were speaking of His departure, which was going to be accomplished at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those with him were in heavy sleep. When fully awake they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. As the two were leaving, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Should we make three tents: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah?” (He did not know what he was saying). While he was talking, a cloud came and overshadowed them. As they entered the cloud, they were afraid. A Voice spoke from the cloud, “This is My chosen Son; it is imperative that you all hear Him!” After the Voice, Jesus was found alone. They were silent and told no one in those days what they had seen. The next day they came down from the mountain and a large crowd met them. Behold! A man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg you, You must look at my son, because he is my only child. And behold! A spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. The spirit convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and leaves him only after a struggle, bruising him. I begged your disciples to cast him out, but they could not.” Jesus replied, “Unpersuaded and perverted generation! How long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here!” As he was coming, the demon tore him and convulsed him. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and returned him to his father. All the people were astonished at the majesty of God. While the people were marveling at all the things He was doing, He spoke to his disciples, “It is imperative that you all listen carefully: the ^Son of man^ is about to be delivered into men’s hands.” But they did not understand His Message, and it had been concealed from them, so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about His meaning. Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. Jesus perceived the thought of their heart, and took a little child and placed him at His side, and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My Name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him Who sent Me. The least among you is the greatest.” John remarked, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your Name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us.” Jesus replied to him, “You must not forbid him. He who is not against us is for us.” {9:50}
The days were fulfilled for Him to be taken up, and He set His face to go to Jerusalem. He sent messengers before Him, who left and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for Him; but the people would not receive him, because his face was set to Jerusalem. His disciples, James and John, saw this, and said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and consume them, as Elijah did?” But he turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. As they were going along the road, a certain man said to him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus responded to him, “The foxes have dens, and the birds have nests, but the ^Son of man^ does not have a place to rest His head.” He said to another, “You must follow Me.” He replied, “Lord, You must allow me first to go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “You must leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and must proclaim God’s Kingdom.” Then another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first You must allow me to say farewell to my family.” Jesus said to him, “No one who looks back after putting his hand to the plough is fit for God’s Kingdom.” {9:62}
After these things, the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them by two’s before Him into each city and place where He was about to go. And he was saying to them, “The harvest is plenteous, but the workers are few; you must ask, therefore, to the Master of the harvest that He might send workers into His harvest. You must be on your way; behold, I am sending you as lambs in the midst of wolves. You all ought carry neither a purse, nor a bag, nor sandals. You should not greet anyone along the way. When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon it; if not, it will return to you. You must stay in the same house, eating and drinking what is provided, for the worker is worthy of his hire. You must not go from house to house. When you go into a city, and they should receive you, you must eat the things given you, you must heal the sick, and you must announce to them, ‘God’s Kingdom has drawn near to you.’ But if they do not receive you, go into the streets and you must say, ‘We are wiping off against you the dust of your city which has stuck to our feet; but you all must understand this, that God’s Kingdom has drawn near.’ I assure you that Sodom will have a more lenient judgment on that day than that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles done among you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed their minds and lives long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. Yet Tyre and Sidon will have a more lenient judgment than you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades! The one who hears you, hears Me, and the one who rejects you, rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me, rejects the One who sent Me.” {10:16}
The seventy-two returned joyfully, saying, “Lord, even the demons subject themselves to us in Your name!” He replied to them, “I saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven. Behold! I have given you the authority to walk on snakes and scorpions, and on all the enemy’s power, and you will not be injured at all. However, you must not rejoice that the spirits subject themselves to you; rather, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and You have revealed them to children. Yes, Father, because such was well pleasing in your sight.” “All things have been delivered to Me by my Father; and no one understands Who the Son is, except the Father; and no one [understands] Who the Father is, except the Son and the one to whom the Son may wish to reveal Him.” He turned to the disciples and said to them privately, “Oh the incredible happiness of the eyes which see what you see. I assure you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and did not; and to hear what you hear and did not!’ {10:24}
Immediately, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “What is written in the Law? What do you read?” He replied, “You will love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your understanding [Duet6:5], and your neighbor as yourself.” [Lv19:18] Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. You must do this, and you will live.” But he, wishing to justify himself, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of thieves. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half-dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite came to the place, looked, and passed by on the other side. But when a certain Samaritan, who was traveling, came upon him, and saw him, his heart went out to him. He went to him, and bound his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He put him on his own beast, brought him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he gave forty cents to the innkeeper, and said, ‘You must take care of him, and when I come, I will pay you for what you spend in addition.’ Which of these three seems to you to have been a neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? The lawyer replied, “He who showed mercy to him.” Jesus said to him, “You must go and must do likewise.” {10:37}
Now as they journeyed, Jesus went into a village where a woman named Martha received him into her house. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to His words. But Martha, distracted by many duties, asked Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then that she should lend me a hand!” The Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but only one is needful. Mary has chosen the good part, and it will not be taken from her.”
While He was in a certain place praying, as He paused, one of his disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He responded to them, “When you pray, you must say, ‘Father, may your Name be set apart. May your Kingdom come. You must give us our food day by day. You must forgive our sins, because we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Do not lead us into temptation.’” And He said to them, “What man among you who has a friend will go to him at midnight, and say to him, ‘You must loan me three loaves of bread, for my friend has come to me from a journey, and I have no food for him.’ And the man inside answers, ‘Do not bother me, for the door is shut, and my children are asleep with me, and I cannot get up to give to you.’ I assure you that, though he will not get up and give to him because the man is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. I assure you, you must ask, and it will be given to you; you must seek, and you will find; you must knock, and it will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and it will be opened to the one who knocks. Who among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake? Or if he asks an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you who are evil know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to the ones who ask Him.” {11:13}
Now Jesus was casting out a demon that could not speak; after the demon had gone out, the man spoke, and the crowds marveled. However, some of them said, “He is casting out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.” And others, putting Him to the test, were seeking a sign out of heaven from him. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a divided house falls. If Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then God’s Kingdom has come upon you. When a well-armed strong man guards his house, his possessions are safe; but if a man stronger than he comes and conquers him, then he takes the armor on which he relied, and divides his goods.” “The one who is not on my side is against Me, and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.” “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through waterless places seeking a resting place. When he finds none, he says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When he comes, he finds the house swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they come and dwell there. The last condition of that man is worse than the first.” While he was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Happy is the womb that carried you, and the breasts that you sucked.” He replied, “Happy are they who hear and keep God’s Word.” While crowds were gathering, He began to say, “This evil generation seeks a sign, but none will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the ^Son of man^ will be to this generation. The queen of the south will appear at the judgment with the people of this generation and will condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom, but behold! Someone greater than Solomon is here. The Ninevites will appear at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they reformed their minds & lives unto Jonah’s preaching but behold! Someone greater than Jonah is here. No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it into a closet or under a measuring basket, but on a stand, that those coming in may see the light. The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is sincere, all of your body is light; but if it is evil, your body is dark. You must take care, therefore, that the light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is light, with no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp shines on you in its brightness.” {11:37}
(8th) While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him to have a meal with him. He entered his house and sat at the table. But the Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. The Lord said to him, “You Pharisees, you must wash the outside of a cup and of a platter, but your insides are full of extortion and evil. Fools! Did not He who made the outside also make the inside? But you must give a gift of things that are within; and behold! All things will be clean to you.” “Woe to you Pharisees! Because you give a tenth of mint and rue and every vegetable, but disregard justice and the love of God. It is necessary to practice these, while not neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! Because you love the best seat in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! Because you are like unseen graves on which men unknowingly walk”.
Then a certain lawyer replied to him, “Teacher, you insult us by saying these things.” Jesus answered, “Woe to you lawyers! Because you load men with burdens that are hard to carry, but you do not touch them with one of your fingers. Woe to you! Because you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So, you are witnesses, and you approve of your fathers’ deeds; because they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore, the wisdom of God has spoken, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles,’ and they will kill and persecute some of them, so that the blood of all the prophets will be required of this generation; the blood poured out from the foundation of the world, from Abel’s blood to the blood of Zachariah who was slain between the altar and the Temple. Indeed, I assure you, it will be required from this generation. Woe to you lawyers! Because you take away the key of understanding; you yourselves did not enter, and you refused those who were entering.” As He went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees became very hostile, and began to draw Him out on many subjects, lying in wait for Him, in order to catch Him in His speech. {11:54}
When thousands of people gathered, and were stepping on one another, He began first to speak to His disciples, “You all must guard yourselves against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed or hidden that shall not be made known. What you have spoken in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the ear in a private room will be proclaimed on the housetops. I assure you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who can kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will show you Whom you have to fear: fear Him Who – after killing – has power to cast into Hell! Indeed, I assure you, you all ought to fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet, God has not forgotten one of them. The hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows. I assure you, everyone who acknowledges Me in the presence of men, the ^Son of man^ shall acknowledge him in the presence of God’s angels; but whoever denies Me in the presence of men, I will also deny him in the presence of God’s angels. Everyone who speaks a word against the ^Son of man^, it will be forgiven him; but he who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven! When they lead you before the synagogues and rulers and authorities, do not worry how you will defend yourselves, or what you will say; the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say.” Then a man in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who made me judge or arbitrator over you?” Then He spoke to the people, “It is imperative that you all watch, and guard yourselves from all greediness, for a man’s life is not the abundance of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The field of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. And he said to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have a place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones, and I will store there all of my grain and goods; and I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things laid up for years to come. You must take it easy, eat, drink, and rejoice.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool, this night your soul is required of you, and whose shall be the things you have prepared?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.” Then He said to His disciples, “You all must not worry about your life, what you will eat; neither about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. You must consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap and have neither barns nor storerooms; and God feeds them. How much more are you worth than the birds! Which one of you can add a few inches to his height by worrying? If then you cannot do the least thing, why worry about the rest? You all must consider how the lilies grow: they neither toil nor weave, but even Solomon in all his splendor was not clothed like one of these. If God clothes in this fashion the grass of the field, which today is, but disappears tomorrow, how much more will He clothe you, people of little faith! Do not be preoccupied with what you will eat and drink. Do not live in a state of anxiety. The nations of the world seek all of these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, continually seek His Kingdom, and these things shall be added to you. You must not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom. You all must sell what you own and must give the money to charity. You must make for yourselves purses that do not get old, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, and no moth destroys. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Your waist must be girded about, and your lamps burning. Be like men who expect their master, when he will return from the marriage banquet, that when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. Oh, the incredible happiness of those slaves whose master will return and find them watching. I assure you that he will gird himself, have them to sit at the table, and come and serve them. And whether he comes in the second or even third watch and finds them ready, those slaves are very happy. You know this, that if the master of the house had known when a thief would come, he would not have allowed his house to be plundered. You all must be ready, because the ^Son of man^ will come in an hour you do not expect.” Peter asked, “Lord, are you speaking this parable to us or to everybody?” The Lord replied, “Who then is a wise and faithful steward, whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute food at the proper time? Incredibly happy is that slave whose master, when he comes, will find that he is doing this. Truly I assure you he will set him over all his possessions. But, if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and to be drunk, then the master of that slave will come on a day he does not expect, and at a time he does not know, and will punish him severely, and will make him share the lot of the unbelievers. That slave who knew his master’s will but did not prepare or do his will, shall receive many strokes; but that one who did not know, yet he does things deserving of punishment, shall receive few strokes; and the one to whom much is entrusted, of him more will be asked.” “I came to throw fire upon the Earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have an immersion to undergo, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the earth? No, I assure you, but rather division. Five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three; they will be divided father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” {12:53}
Then He said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say that rain is coming, and so it does. When the south wind blows, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. Hypocrites, you know how to interpret the face of the earth and heaven, but not the present time. Why do you not judge [discern] what is right even of yourselves?” “As you go before a ruler with an opponent, do your best to come to terms with him on the way, for fear that he will take you before the judge, and the judge will deliver you to the officer, and the officer will put you in jail. I assure you, you will not be freed until you have paid back even the last cent.”
At that time some were telling Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He replied to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were more sinful than all the Galileans, because they suffered these things? No! I assure you all, that unless you reform mind & life, all of you will likewise perish. Or those eighteen who were killed when a tower in Siloam fell, do you suppose that they had sinned more than all the inhabitants of Jerusalem? No! I assure you, but unless you reform mind & life, all of you will likewise perish.”
Then He spoke this parable, “A man who had a fig tree in his vineyard came seeking fruit but found none. He said to the vineyard worker, “Look! Three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. You must cut it down! Why does it waste the soil?” He answered, “You must let it stand one more year, until I have dug around it and put on manure. Then if it bears fruit for the next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.” {13:9}
He was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Behold! A woman was there who had suffered with a spirit of infirmity eighteen years; she was bent over and unable to stand upright. Jesus saw her, and called her to Himself and said, “Woman, you have been released from your infirmity.” He placed His hand on her, and she immediately stood upright and praised God. Then the ruler of the synagogue, angry because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days during which one must work. Come and be healed on them, but not on the Sabbath!” The Lord answered him, “Hypocrites, does not each of you take his ox or his donkey from the barn for watering on the Sabbath? But this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound, mind you, for eighteen years, was it not necessary that she should be released from this bond ‘on’ the Sabbath day?” After He spoke these words, all of His opponents were ashamed, but the multitude was rejoicing because of all the glorious things He was doing. {13:17}
Then He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? With what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds nested in its branches.” Again, He said, “With what shall I compare God’s Kingdom? It is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until all of the dough was leavened.”
Then He went through the cities and villages, teaching as He made His way to Jerusalem. And a certain one said to Him, “Lord, are few being saved?” He responded to him, “You all must strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I assure you, will seek to enter, but will be unable. When the householder will arise and shut the door, you will stand outside knocking on the door, and saying, ‘Lord, you must open to us.’ But he will reply to you, ‘I do not know from where you have come.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ Again, he will say, ‘I do not know you. Go away! All of you workers of unrighteousness!’” “There you will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, but you are cast out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom. Behold! The last will be first, and the first last.” {13:30}
At that time some Pharisees came and said to him, “You must go away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “You must go and say to that fox, ‘Behold! I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I complete My work.’ It is necessary that I go on My way today and tomorrow and on the coming day, for a prophet cannot perish outside of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have wanted to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold! Your house is forsaken! I assure you, you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Lord’s Name.’” [Ps118:26] {13:35}
He entered the house of a ruler of the Pharisees to have a meal, and they were watching Him closely. And behold! A man was there in front of Him who was suffering with dropsy. Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal a man on the Sabbath or not?” They remained silent. Jesus took the man, and healed him, and sent him away. Then He asked them, “Which one of you, having a son or an ox fall into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath?” They could not answer. He noticed that the dinner guests were picking seats of honor, and He spoke a parable to them, “When someone invites you to a marriage feast, do not take the place of honor, lest he also invited someone more honorable than you; and the host will come and say to you, ‘You must let this man have your place,’ and then with disgrace you will begin to occupy the lowest seat. But when you are invited, You ought to take the lowest seat, so that when your host may say, ‘Friend, you must come up higher,’ then you will receive honor in the presence of all the guests. Everyone who exalts himself will be brought low, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Then He began to speak to his host, “When you give a dinner or supper, you must invite neither your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors, lest they invite you in return, and you will be repaid. But when you entertain, invite the beggars, the crippled, the maimed, and the blind. You will be happy (because they cannot repay you), for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” One of the guests who sat at the table with Him heard these things, and said to Him, “Happy is he who feasts in God’s kingdom.” Jesus replied to him, “A certain man prepared a lavish dinner, and invited many. He sent a slave at the dinner hour to say to the ones who had been invited, ‘You must come, for the dinner is ready!’ They all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a farm, and I need to go and see it. Please you must have me excused.’ Another answered, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them. Please have me excused.’ A third responded, ‘I have gotten married, so I cannot come.’ The slave came and reported these things to his master, and the householder became angry and said to the slave, ‘Go now into the streets and lanes of the city, and you must bring in the beggars, the lame, the blind, and the crippled.’ The slave said, ‘Lord, what you commanded is done, and there is still room.’ The master replied, ‘Go into the highways and hedgerows and constrain them to come, that my house may be filled! I assure you that none of the ones invited shall taste of my dinner.’” {14:24}
A large crowd was following Him, and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” “Which one of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, to see if he can complete it? If he lays the foundation and cannot finish, then all who see it will mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build, but could not finish.’ Or what king, setting out to wage war on another king, does not first sit down and get advice if he can meet – with ten thousand men – the king who is coming against him with twenty thousand men? If not, while the other is far off, he sends a messenger asking for peace. So, every one of you who does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if it has lost its taste, how will you flavor it? It is useful neither for the soil, nor for the dung heap; it is thrown away. He who has ears, it is imperative he hears Me!”
All the tax collectors and sinners came near to hear Him. However, the Pharisees and the scribes complained, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” He replied to them with this parable, saying, “Which man of you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? When he has found it, he puts it upon his shoulder, and rejoices. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, exclaiming, ‘You all must rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I assure you that, in the same way, there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who reforms his mind & life, more than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to reform. Or what woman, who has lost one of her ten silver coins, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors, exclaiming, ‘All of you must rejoice with me, because I have my coin which was lost.’ In the same manner, I assure you, there is rejoicing in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who reforms their mind & life.” {15:10}
He continued, “A certain man had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘You must give me my part of your estate.’ He divided to them his living. Not long afterward, the younger son gathered his belongings and went to a far country, where he squandered his money, living immorally. After he had spent everything, that country suffered a severe famine, and he became destitute. He then hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to be fed some of the carob pods which the pigs were eating, and no one was giving him anything. When he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough, but I am perishing here with starvation. I will arise and go to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. You ought to make me as one of your hired hands.”’ He arose and went to his father. While he was yet far away, his father saw him and his heart went out to him; he ran and embraced him warmly and kissed him tenderly. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ The father said to his slaves, ‘You must bring out quickly a robe, the best one, and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger, and sandals on his feet. You must bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let us eat and rejoice, because this my son was dead, but has come back to life! He was lost but has been found!’ And they began to celebrate. His older son was in the field, and as he returned and came near the house, he heard music and dancing. He summoned one of the servants and asked what these things meant. The servant told him, ‘Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has recovered him in good health.’ However, he became angry, and did not want to go inside; but his father came out and was pleading with him. He answered his father, ‘Look! I have slaved for you for these many years and have never disobeyed you; yet you have never given me even the kid of a goat, that I might rejoice with my friends. But when this your son who has wasted your money with prostitutes returns, you kill the fatted calf!’ The father replied to him, ‘You are always with me, and all of my things are yours. We must rejoice and be happy, because this one, your brother, was dead, but has come back to life! He was lost but has been found!’” {15:32}
And He said to the disciples, “A certain rich man received a report that his manager was squandering his money. He called him in and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? You must give me the records of your stewardship, for you cannot be manager any longer.’ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master has taken the stewardship from me? I cannot dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do, so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, men will receive me into their houses.’ He summoned each of his master’s debtors, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager answered, ‘You must take your statement, sit down quickly, and write four hundred.’ Then he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He replied to him, ‘A thousand bushels of wheat.’ The manager said, ‘You must take your statement and write eight hundred.’ The master commended the dishonest manager, because he acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light. I assure you, you all must make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it is gone, they will receive you into everlasting dwelling places! The one who is faithful in little things is also faithful in big things, and the one who is dishonest in small things is also dishonest in large things. If therefore you are not faithful with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true riches? If you are not faithful with another’s property, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Now the Pharisees, who loved money, were listening to these words, and they were ridiculing him. Jesus said to them, “You justify yourselves before men, but God understands your hearts. That which is exalted among men is detestable in the sight of God! The Law and the Prophets were until the time of John; but from that time, God’s Kingdom is being evangelized, and everyone into it is pressing. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one part of a letter of the Law to fall. Everyone who divorces and remarries commits adultery, and he who marries a divorcee commits adultery.” {16:18}
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, enjoying luxuries every day. There was also a beggar named Lazarus, lying at his gate, covered with sores, craving even the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs licked his sores. Lazarus died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and he was buried. He lifted up his eyes in Hades, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. He cried out, ‘Father Abraham, you must have mercy on me! You must send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, because I am suffering in this flame!’ Abraham answered, ‘Son, you must remember that you received good things during your lifetime, while Lazarus received evil; now he is comforted here, while you are suffering. Besides all of this, a great chasm stands between us and you, so that those who wish to cross to you cannot, neither can they cross from there to us.’ Then he said, ‘I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so that they do not come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; they must listen to them.’ But he answered, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will reform their minds and lives.’ Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if one should arise from the dead.’” Then He said to his disciples, “Causes of stumbling must come, but woe to him through whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were tied around his neck and that he should be thrown into the sea, rather than causing one of these little ones to stumble. You must watch yourselves.” {17:3}
“If your brother sins, it is imperative that you rebuke him; and if he is willing to reform (mind and life), you must forgive him. If he sins against you seven times a day, and turns to you seven times, and says, ‘I reform!’, you will forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “You must increase our faith.” He answered, “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, and you command a mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ it will obey you. Which of you, having a slave who plows or keeps sheep, after he comes in from the field, will say to him, “You must come now and sit down to dinner”? Instead, would you not say, “You must prepare what I shall eat and, when you have dressed, serve me, until I have eaten and drunk; and afterward you may eat and drink.” Would you thank the slave because he did the things that had been commanded? In the same manner also, when you have done all things that have been commanded you, you must say, ‘We are unworthy slaves. We have done what we ought to do!’” {17:10}
On His way to Jerusalem, He was crossing through the borderland between Galilee and Samaria. While He was going into a certain village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance, and lifted their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master, you must show us mercy!” He saw them, and said to them, “You all must go and show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and praised God with a loud voice, and fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. He was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was none found to return to give God the glory, except this foreigner?” Jesus said to him, “Arise and go! Your faith has saved you.” After, He was asked by the Pharisees when God’s Kingdom would come, He replied, “God’s Kingdom does not come by watching. People will not say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘There! Look!’, because God’s Kingdom is inside of you.” Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will want to see one of the days of the ^Son of man^ but you will not. They will say to you, ‘Look! There!’ or, ‘Look! Here!’ Do not follow or run after them. As the lightning shines from one part of heaven to another, so shall the ^Son of man^ be in His day. But He must first suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. “As it was in Noah’s days, so will it be in the days of the ^Son of man^. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed everyone. So it was in Lot’s days: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building houses; but on the day that Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from heaven and destroyed everyone. Things will be the same way in the day that the ^Son of man^ is revealed. In that day, whoever is on a house top, with his goods inside, he must not go down to take them; and whoever is in a field, he must not return for the things that are left behind. You must remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it. I assure you, in that night, two men will be on one bed: one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together: one will be taken, and the other left. They answered Him, asking, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the carcass is, the vultures will be gathered.” He told them a parable, that they must always pray and never lose heart, saying, “A judge in a certain city neither revered God nor respected man. A widow in that city continued to come to him, begging, ‘You must avenge me against my opponent.’ He was unwilling for awhile, but later said to himself, ‘Though I neither revere God nor regard man, yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will avenge her, otherwise she will wear me out by her continual coming.’ The Lord continued, “You all must hear [discern] what the unjust judge says. Will not God give justice to His chosen people who are crying to Him day and night, and will He not be patient with them? I assure you that He will avenge them without delay. But when the ^Son of man^ has come, will He find ‘the Faith’ on the Earth?” He told this parable to those who regarded themselves as being righteous while looking down on everyone else, “Two men went up into the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of my earnings.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance and was unwilling simply to lift his eyes toward heaven, but repeatedly beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ I assure you that this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself shall be brought low, but the one who lowers himself shall be exalted.”
They were bringing their babies to Him that He might touch them. The disciples saw this and were rebuking them. But Jesus invited them, saying, “It is imperative that you all allow the little children to come to Me, and you must stop forbidding them; because God’s Kingdom belongs to such ones as these. I assure you, whoever does not receive God’s Kingdom like a little child will by no means enter It. A ruler asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God! You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery; Do not murder; Do not steal; Do not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’” He responded, “I have obeyed all of these things since I was young.” Jesus heard this, and said to him, “You lack ‘one’ thing: you must sell everything you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, as you must follow Me.” The man heard these things, and was deeply distressed, for he was very rich. Jesus saw that he was deeply distressed, and said, “How difficult it is for rich people to enter God’s Kingdom! It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter God’s Kingdom.” Those who had listened asked, “Who can be saved?” He replied, “The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.” Peter said, “Behold! We have left our possessions and have followed you.” Jesus responded to them, “I assure you that there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of God’s Kingdom, who shall not receive an abundance in this time, and eternal life in the world to come.” {18:30}
He took the twelve and said to them, “Behold! We are going to Jerusalem, and all things written by the Prophets about the ^Son of man^ shall be fulfilled. He shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be ridiculed, violently abused, and spit upon. After they beat Him with a whip, they shall kill Him, but He shall rise on the third day.” They did not understand any of these things; and this matter was hidden from them, and they did not perceive what was said.
As He approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting beside the road, begging. He heard that a crowd was passing and asked what this meant. They told him that Jesus, the Nazarene, was passing by. He cried, saying, “Jesus, son of David, you must have mercy on me.” Those in front commanded him to be quiet, but he continued to cry even more, “Son of David, you must have mercy on me.” Jesus stopped, and commanded that the man be brought to Him. After he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, I want to see.” Jesus said to him, “You must look up! Your faith has saved you.” He immediately recovered his sight, and began to follow Him, glorifying God. All the people who saw what had happened praised God. He entered Jericho, and was passing through, and behold! A man named Zacchaeus, a wealthy chief tax collector, was seeking to see Jesus, but he could not because of the crowd and because he was short. He ran in front of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree, that he might see Jesus, because He was about to pass that way. As Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, you must come down now, for I must visit in your home today.” He came down immediately and received Him joyfully. All who saw what happened were grumbling, saying, “He has gone to be a guest of a sinner!” Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold! I give half of my income to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged anyone, I will repay him fourfold.” Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this home today, because he is also a son of Abraham. Indeed, the ^Son of man^ has come to seek and to save the lost.” As they listened to these things, He proceeded to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they expected that God’s Kingdom would soon appear. Therefore, He said, “A certain nobleman traveled to a distant country in order to receive a kingship, and then returned. He summoned ten of his slaves, gave them two hundred dollars, and said to them, ‘Do business until I return.’ But his citizens despised him, and sent representatives after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ When he returned from receiving the kingship, he summoned to him the slaves to whom he had given the money, to learn what profit they had earned. The first came and said, ‘Lord, your twenty dollars have gained two hundred dollars.’ He replied to him, ‘Splendid, good slave! Because you were faithful in a small matter, you must take power over ten cities.’ The second one came and said, ‘Your twenty dollars have gained a hundred dollars.’ He said to this one, ‘You must be over five cities.’ Then the other came and said, ‘Lord, look! Here is your money, which I kept stored away in a napkin for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man: you take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, worthless slave! You knew that I am a stern man, that I take up what I have not laid down and reap what I have not sown. Why did you not put my money in the bank, so that, upon my return, I could have collected it with interest?’ He said to those who stood by, ‘You must take the twenty dollars from him, and must give to the one who has the two hundred dollars.’ They said to him, ‘Lord, he has two hundred dollars.’ “I assure you that it shall be given to everyone who has; but from the one who does not have, even what he has shall be taken away.” “Now, you must bring here these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and must slay them in my presence.” {19:27}
(9th) After He said these things, He walked ahead of them, going up to Jerusalem. As He approached Bethphage and Bethany, on the mount of Olives, He sent two disciples, saying, “You must go into the next village. As you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat. Untie him and bring him. If anyone asks why you are untying the colt, you shall answer in this way, ‘The Lord needs him.’” They who were sent found things as He had told them. While they were untying the colt, his owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs him.” They led him to Jesus, and after they had thrown their garments on the colt, they set Jesus on him [Zechariah 9:9]. As He was riding, they scattered their garments on the road. While He was approaching the slope of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the Lord’s name! Peace in heaven and glory on high!” [Ps.118:26] Then some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, you must rebuke your disciples.” He replied, “I assure you that if these will become quiet, the stones will cry out.” As He came near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “If only you too had understood, on this day, the things which make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. The days will come when your enemies will set up barricades against you [A.D.70], and they will encircle you, and hem you in on all sides, and they will completely destroy you all, and your children with you; they will not leave one stone on another among you, because you did not understand the time of your visitation.” He entered the Temple, and began to cast out those who were selling, saying, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer {Isaiah 56:7},’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers.'” He continued to teach in the Temple every day. The chief priests, the scribes, and the prominent citizens were seeking to destroy Him, but they did not find what they might do, for all of the people hung upon Him, listening. {19:48}
One day, while He was teaching the people in the Temple and evangelizing the Good News, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, saying to him, “You must tell us by what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority?” He replied to them, “I also will ask you a question, and you must give Me an answer: was John’s immersion from heaven or from men? They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why therefore did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘from men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a Prophet.” They answered that they did not know. And Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” {20:8}
[compare Mt.22:33-44 & Mk 12:1-12 to this Text for correct translation in your testament of this following Text]
Then, He began to tell this parable to the people, “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenant farmers, and then went away for a long time. At the right season he sent a slave, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again, he sent another slave, whom they also beat, treated shamefully, and sent away empty-handed. He then sent yet a third, whom they also wounded and threw out. Then the master of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’ When the farmers saw him, they plotted with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir: let us kill him, so that we may get the inheritance.’ Then they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the master of the vineyard do to them?” [Crowd answers] “He shall come and destroy these farmers and shall give the vineyard to others.” They [Pharisees] heard this, and exclaimed, “Never!!!” He then looked straight at them and said, “Why therefore is this written, ‘The Stone which the builders rejected, this One has become the Keystone’? [Ps.118:22]; Everyone who falls on that Stone will be broken to pieces, and It will crush the one on whom It falls.” [Daniel 2:31-35] In that very hour the scribes and chief priests sought to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the people, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. They watched Him closely, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, so that they might catch Him in His speech, in order to deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. They asked Him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and that you show no partiality; rather, you teach God’s Way truthfully. Is it lawful or is it not – for us to pay tribute to Caesar?” But He perceived their trickery, and said to them, “Show me a coin! Whose are the image and inscription?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then you must give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They could not catch Him by His speech before the people, and they marveled at his answer and kept quiet. Some of the Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Him and asked him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote [Deuteronomy 25:5] to us, ‘If a man’s childless brother dies, leaving a wife, then his brother shall take his wife and raise up children to his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers: the first took a wife and died childless; and the second, and the third took her; likewise, also all seven died childless. Afterward the wife also died. Whose wife will she be in the resurrection? The seven had taken her as wife.” Jesus said to them, “The sons of this world marry and are given in marriage; but those who have been accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more, because they are like angels, and they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But, that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed at the thorn-bush, when he called the Lord, ‘the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ [Exodus 3:6] So, God is not the God of the dead, but more so, of the living, for all men are alive [present tense] to Him.” Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” No one dared anymore to ask Him anything. Then, He asked them, “How is it possible that they call the Christ the son of David? David himself says in the book of Psalms, “The Lord My said to my Lord, ‘You must sit at right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’[Ps.110:1] Since David calls Him “Lord,” how is He then his son?” While all the people were listening, He said to His disciples, “It is imperative that you all watch out for the scribes who desire to parade in long robes, and love greetings in the market-places, and the most prominent seats in the synagogues, and the most honorable places at dinners. They devour widows’ houses and pray long prayers for show. These shall receive greater condemnation.” {20:47}
He looked up and saw the rich casting their contributions into the treasury, and He saw a needy widow giving two small copper coins, and said, “Indeed, I assure you that this poor widow has given more than all the rest, for they all gave of their abundance, but she of her poverty, even all her living.” {21:4}
Some spoke about the beautiful stones and offerings adorning the Temple, and Jesus said, “As to these things which you see, the days shall come when not a stone of the Temple will be left on another.” They asked Him, “Teacher, when shall these things be, and what is the sign when these things are about to happen?” He answered, “It is imperative that you all beware, lest you are led astray; for many shall come in My Name, saying, “I am he,” and, “The time is near!” Do not go after them. Also, when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified, for these things must come first, but the end is not right away.” Then He said to them, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and widespread famines and pestilences; there will be terrors and great heavenly signs. But before all of this, they will lay their hands on you all and persecute you, delivering you into synagogues and prisons, leading you before kings and governors on account of My Name. This will result for you in a testimony.” “Therefore, you must resolve in your hearts not to prepare beforehand how to defend yourselves, as “I” will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries can withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends; and some of you will be killed. You will be hated by all men because of My Name; but not a hair of your head will be lost. You will possess your souls by patient endurance.” “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, understand then that her desolation is near. Then those in Judea must escape to the mountains, and those inside the city must get out, and those outside must not enter, for those days of punishment are the fulfillment of all that has been written. In those days, woe to those who are pregnant, or are nursing! Great distress will be on the land and anger against this people. They will fall by the mouth of the sword and be carried captive into all nations. Jerusalem will be trodden by the Gentiles until their times are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the Earth, there will be anguish of the nations in perplexity at the sound of the sea and rolling of the waves. Men will lose heart from fearful expectation of the things coming upon the world, for the heavenly powers will be shaken. Then they shall see the ^Son of man^ coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin, you all must stand upright and lift up your heads, for your redemption is near.” Then He spoke to them a parable, “You must look at the fig tree, and all the trees: when they produce leaves, when you see it for yourselves, you know that summer is near. In like manner, when you see these things, you understand that God’s Kingdom is near. Indeed, I assure you that this generation will not pass away until all things have happened.” “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words will never pass away. You must watch yourselves, so that your hearts do not become weighed down in reveling, drunkenness, and anxieties of everyday life. That day will come on you suddenly like a trap; it shall come upon everyone who dwells on the face of the Earth. You must watch and pray at all times, so that you may be able to escape all these things that are going to happen, and to stand before the ^Son of man^.”
He continued to teach in the Temple every day and spent each night in the mount of Olives. All the people kept on coming to the Temple early each morning to hear Him. {21:38}
(10th) The Feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to destroy Him, but they were afraid of the people. Satan entered Judas Iscariot (one of the Twelve) and he went out and conferred with the chief priests and captains about how he might deliver Jesus to them. They rejoiced and promised to give him money. He agreed and started seeking an opportunity to deliver Him to them in the absence of a crowd.
(10th) The day of unleavened bread arrived, when it was necessary to sacrifice the Passover. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and you must prepare the Passover for us.” They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?” He said, “Listen carefully! When you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. You must follow him into the house which he enters, and say to the householder, ‘The Teacher asks, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?'” He will show you a large furnished room upstairs. You must prepare the Passover there.” They went and found everything as the Lord had told them and prepared the Passover.
The hour arrived, and Jesus sat at the table with His Apostles. He said to them, “I have deeply longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I assure you that I will not again eat It until It is fulfilled in God’s Kingdom.” He took a cup, and gave thanks, and said, “You all must take this and distribute it among yourselves. I assure you that I will not from now on drink of the fruit of the vine until God’s Kingdom has come.” He took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you. You all must do this in My memory.” Likewise, He took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood which is poured out for you. But look! The hand of the one who betrays Me is on the table. The ^Son of man^ goes even as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed.” They began to question among themselves which one of them was going to do this. Then there was a dispute among them as to which one of them was recognized as the greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles rule over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But you shall not be this way. The greatest among you must be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. Who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves!” “You have stayed with Me during my trials; and I assign to you a kingdom even as my Father has assigned a Kingdom to Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom; and you shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for you all, to sift you all as wheat, but I have prayed for you (Simon), that your faith may not fail; and when you have returned, strengthen your brothers.” He said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus answered, “I assure you, Peter, a rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.” And He said to them, “When I sent you without a purse, bag, and sandals, did you lack anything?” They answered, “Nothing.” Then He said to them, “But now he who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag; and let the one who does not have a sword sell his coat and must buy one. I assure you that what has been written, must be fulfilled in Me, ‘He was numbered among the criminals’ [Is.53:12]; for that which is written about Me has fulfillment.” And they said, “Lord, look! Here are two swords.” He said to them, “They are enough.” {22:38}
He went out to the mount of Olives, according to custom, and the disciples followed Him. When He was at the place, He said to them, “You all must pray that you do not enter temptation.” He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, kneeled down, and prayed, saying, “Father, if You are willing, You must take this cup away from Me! Nevertheless, not my will be done, but Yours must be.” An angel appeared from heaven and strengthened Him. Becoming greatly distressed, He prayed more fervently; and His sweat became like clots of blood falling to the ground. He arose from prayer and went to the disciples and found them sleeping from the exhaustion. He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Arise and pray that you do not enter temptation.” {22:46}
While He was yet speaking, behold, there was a crowd; and the one named Judas (who was one of the Twelve) was leading them. He came near to kiss Him. Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the ^Son of man^ with a kiss?” The ones who were with Him saw what was about to happen, and asked, “Lord, will we strike with the sword?” One of them struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear. Jesus answered, “Enough! You must do no more of this!” and He touched the ear and healed him. Jesus spoke to the chief priests, the captains of the Temple, and the elders who had come after Him, “Have you come with swords and clubs as against a thief? I was with you daily in the Temple, and you did not raise a hand against Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
They seized Him, led Him away, and brought Him into the High Priest’s house; and Peter was following at a distance. They kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, and Peter was sitting in their midst. A certain servant-girl saw him as he sat near the light, looked straight at him, and said, “This man was with him.” But he denied, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A while later, another saw him, and said, “You are one of them.” Peter replied, “Man, I am not.” About an hour later, yet another insisted, saying, “Without a doubt, this man was with Him, because he also is a Galilean.” But Peter answered, “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” Immediately, while he was yet speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter, who remembered the Lord’s saying, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” He went outside and wept bitterly. Those holding Jesus were ridiculing him and beating him. They blindfolded him, and asked Him, saying, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” They continued to say many other insulting things against Him.
When day came, the elders of the people (both the chief priests and scribes) assembled, and brought him into their council, saying, “If you are the Christ, you must tell us.” He replied to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the ^Son of man^ will sit at the right hand of God’s power.” They all said, “Are you then God’s Son?” He answered, “It is as you say! I AM!” They exclaimed, “What further need do we have of testimony? We have heard for ourselves from His own mouth.”
And all the crowd arose and led Him to Pilate. They began to bring charges against Him, saying, “We have found this man misleading our nation, forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ a king.” Pilate questioned Him, “Are you the Jews’ king?” Jesus replied, “You are speaking.” Then Pilate told the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no guilt in this man.” But they insisted, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.” Pilate heard what they said and asked if the man was a Galilean. After he learned that he was of Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was in Jerusalem in those days.
Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus, because for a long time he had wanted to see Him, for he had heard about him, and was hoping to see Him perform some miracle. Herod asked him many questions, but He answered nothing. The chief priests and the scribes stood and accused Him sharply. Herod and his soldiers treated Him with contempt and ridiculed Him; they put a splendid robe on Him and sent Him back to Pilate. Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies until that day, became friends. Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and announced to them, “You brought this man before me as one who incites the people to revolt. Behold! I have judged Him before you and have found in Him no guilt regarding the charges of which you accuse Him; and neither has Herod, for he has returned Him to us. Behold! He has done nothing worthy of death. I will therefore flog Him and release Him.” The whole multitude shouted together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!” (He was in prison for a certain insurrection in the city and for murder.) Pilate again addressed them, wanting to release Jesus. But they shouted, “Crucify, crucify him!” He spoke to them a third time, “What evil has he done? I have found in Him nothing worthy of death. Therefore, after flogging him, I will release him.” But they persisted in demanding with loud cries that He be crucified, and their cries prevailed. Pilate decided that their request should be granted: he released the one whom they had requested, who had been imprisoned for insurrection and murder; and he delivered Jesus to their will. {23:25}
As they led Him away, they seized Simon, a certain Cyrenian who was coming in from the country and laid the cross on him to carry behind Jesus. A large crowd of people was following Him, and some women who were mourning and wailing. Jesus turned toward them, and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me; but weep for yourselves, and your children. Behold! The days come when they will say, ‘Oh the incredible happiness of those who are childless, and the wombs that have not conceived, and the breasts that have not nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’, and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ If they do these things to the green wood, what shall they do when it withers?”
Then two others, who were criminals, were also led away with Him to be killed. They came to a place that is called “The Skull,” and they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. Jesus said, “Father, You ought to forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” {23:34}
They cast lots to divide His garments. The crowd stood there and watched. The rulers continued to sneer, saying, “He saved others, let Him save Himself, if He is God’s Christ, the Chosen One!” The soldiers also approached Him and mocked Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the king of the Jews, save Yourself!” And a superscription was placed above him, “This is the King of the Jews.” Then one of the criminals who were crucified taunted Him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, rebuking him, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? We indeed justly, for we are receiving just payment for the things we have done; but this man has done nothing wrong!” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into your Kingdom!” And Jesus said to him, “Indeed, I assure you that you will be with Me in Paradise today.” It was already about noon, and darkness came on all the land until three o’clock. The light of the sun failed, and the curtain of the Temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands.” [Ps.31:5] He said this and died. The centurion saw what happened, and praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was righteous.” All the people, who had gathered for this spectacle, saw what happened, and went home, beating their breasts. Everyone who knew Him, and the women who were following Him from Galilee, stood at a distance to see these things. And behold! A man named Joseph, who was a council member, and a good and righteous man, who had not agreed with their decision and deed, who was from the Jewish city of Arimathea, was expecting God’s Kingdom; he went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. He took it down, wrapped it in a fine linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut out in rock in which no one ever before had been laid. {23:53}
It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had followed, who had accompanied Him from Galilee, looked at the tomb, and how His body was placed. Then they went home and prepared aromatic spices and perfume. They rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment. {23:56}
(11th) On the 1st day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, carrying the aromatic spices which they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away, and went in, but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzled about this, behold! Two men in dazzling clothes stood before them. They became terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. The men said to them, “Why are you seeking among the dead Him who lives? He is not here but has been raised! Remember what He told you while He was yet with you in Galilee, saying, “The ^Son of man^ must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified and be raised on the third day.” They remembered His words, turned back from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the others. Mary of Magdala, Joanna, Mary (James’ mother), and the rest of the women were with them. They were telling the Apostles these things; but their words appeared to them as idle talk, and they did not believe them. However, Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He stooped down and saw only the linen cloths, and then returned home, wondering in himself about what had happened. {24:12}
And behold! Two of them were going on the same day to Emmaus (a village seven and a half miles from Jerusalem), and were talking with each other about all these events. While they were talking and questioning, Jesus Himself drew near and was walking with them. However, their eyes were held back so as not to recognize Him. He asked them, “What are these words which you are exchanging with each other while you walk?” They stood still, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, replied, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not understand the things that have happened in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They said, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a powerful prophet in action and speech before God and all the people, how the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and crucified him. We were hoping that he would soon redeem Israel, but besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.” Also, some of our women have astonished us: they were at the tomb early but did not find His body; they returned and reported a vision of angels who said that He is alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found it as the women had reported, but they did not see Him.” He replied, “You foolish men and slow in heart to believe everything which the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter His Glory?” Then He explained to them all the things in the Scriptures about Himself, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets. As they approached the village where they were going, He acted as if He would go farther. However, they urged Him, saying, “You must stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day has already drawn to a close.” Then He went in to stay with them. While He sat at the table, He took bread and gave thanks and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. Then He disappeared! They said to each other, “Was not our heart burning in us as He was speaking to us on the road, as He was opening to us the Scriptures?” They arose and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven gathered together, and the others with them, saying, “Indeed, the Lord has been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then they reported what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized Him in the breaking of the bread. {24:35}
While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said, “Peace to you.” They were startled, and became fearful, thinking that they were looking at a spirit. He said, “Why are you disturbed, and why do questions rise in your heart? Look at My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself! You all must touch Me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” After He said these things, He showed His hands and feet to them. While they continued in their disbelief from joy and wonder, He asked them, “Do you have any food here?” Then they gave Him a piece of broiled fish. He took it and ate before them, and said, “These are My words which I spoke to you when I was with you, that all things written about Me in Moses’ Law and in the Prophets and in the Psalms, must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds that they might understand the Scriptures, and said, “It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that a reformation of mind & life, so that sins might be forgiven should be proclaimed in His Name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Behold, I am sending My Father’s promise upon you all. You must stay in the city until you are clothed with power from above.”
Then He led them out to Bethany, where He lifted up His hands and He blessed them. As He did so, He parted from them and was carried into heaven! They worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were constantly in the Temple, praising God.