The Living Bible (322 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Not long afterwards he began a tour of the cities and villages of Galilee
*
to announce the coming of the Kingdom of God, and took his twelve disciples with him.
2
Some women went along, from whom he had cast out demons or whom he had healed; among them were Mary Magdalene (Jesus had cast out seven demons from her),
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Joanna, Chuza’s wife (Chuza was King Herod’s business manager and was in charge of his palace and domestic affairs), Susanna, and many others who were contributing from their private means to the support of Jesus and his disciples.
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One day he gave this illustration to a large crowd that was gathering to hear him—while many others were still on the way, coming from other towns.
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“A farmer went out to his field to sow grain. As he scattered the seed on the ground, some of it fell on a footpath and was trampled on; and the birds came and ate it as it lay exposed.
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Other seed fell on shallow soil with rock beneath. This seed began to grow, but soon withered and died for lack of moisture.
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Other seed landed in thistle patches, and the young grain stalks were soon choked out.
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Still other fell on fertile soil; this seed grew and produced a crop one hundred times as large as he had planted.”
(As he was giving this illustration he said,
“If anyone has listening ears, use them now!”
)
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His apostles asked him what the story meant.
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He replied,
“God has granted you to know the meaning of these parables, for they tell a great deal about the Kingdom of God. But these crowds hear the words and do not understand, just as the ancient prophets predicted.
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“This is its meaning: The seed is God’s message to men.
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The hard path where some seed fell represents the hard hearts of those who hear the words of God, but then the devil comes and steals the words away and prevents people from believing and being saved.
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The stony ground represents those who enjoy listening to sermons, but somehow the message never really gets through to them and doesn’t take root and grow. They know the message is true, and sort of believe for a while; but when the hot winds of persecution blow, they lose interest.
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The seed among the thorns represents those who listen and believe God’s words but whose faith afterwards is choked out by worry and riches and the responsibilities and pleasures of life. And so they are never able to help anyone else to believe the Good News.
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“But the good soil represents honest, good-hearted people. They listen to God’s words and cling to them and steadily spread them to others who also soon believe.”
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Another time he asked,
*
“Who ever heard of someone lighting a lamp and then covering it up to keep it from shining? No, lamps are mounted in the open where they can be seen.
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This illustrates the fact that someday everything in men’s hearts
*
shall be brought to light and made plain to all.
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So be careful how you listen; for whoever has, to him shall be given more; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”
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Once when his mother and brothers came to see him, they couldn’t get into the house where he was teaching because of the crowds.
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When Jesus heard they were standing outside and wanted to see him,
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he remarked,
“My mother and my brothers are all those who hear the message of God and obey it.”
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One day about that time, as he and his disciples were out in a boat, he suggested that they cross to the other side of the lake.
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On the way across he lay down for a nap, and while he was sleeping the wind began to rise. A fierce storm developed that threatened to swamp them, and they were in real danger.
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They rushed over and woke him up. “Master, Master, we are sinking!” they screamed.
So he spoke to the storm:
“Quiet down,”
he said, and the wind and waves subsided and all was calm!
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Then he asked them,
“Where is your faith?”
And they were filled with awe and fear of him and said to one another, “Who is this man, that even the winds and waves obey him?”
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So they arrived at the other side, in the Gerasene country across the lake from Galilee.
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As he was climbing out of the boat a man from the city of Gadara came to meet him, a man who had been demon-possessed for a long time. Homeless and naked, he lived in a cemetery among the tombs.
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As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell to the ground before him, screaming, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of God Most High? Please, I beg you, oh, don’t torment me!”
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For Jesus was already commanding the demon to leave him. This demon had often taken control of the man so that even when shackled with chains he simply broke them and rushed out into the desert, completely under the demon’s power.
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“What is your name?”
Jesus asked the demon. “Legion,” they replied—for the man was filled with thousands of them!
*
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They kept begging Jesus not to order them into the Bottomless Pit.
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A herd of pigs was feeding on the mountainside nearby, and the demons pled with him to let them enter into the pigs. And Jesus said they could.
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So they left the man and went into the pigs, and immediately the whole herd rushed down the mountainside and fell over a cliff into the lake below, where they drowned.
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The herdsmen rushed away to the nearby city, spreading the news as they ran.
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Soon a crowd came out to see for themselves what had happened and saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting quietly at Jesus’ feet, clothed and sane! And the whole crowd was badly frightened.
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Then those who had seen it happen told how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
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And everyone begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone (for a deep wave of fear had swept over them). So he returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake.
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The man who had been demon-possessed begged to go too, but Jesus said no.
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“Go back to your family,”
he told him,
“and tell them what a wonderful thing God has done for you.”
So he went all through the city telling everyone about Jesus’ mighty miracle.
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On the other side of the lake the crowds received him with open arms, for they had been waiting for him.
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And now a man named Jairus, a leader of a Jewish synagogue, came and fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come home with him,
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for his only child was dying, a little girl twelve years old. Jesus went with him, pushing through the crowds.
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As they went a woman who wanted to be healed came up behind and touched him, for she had been slowly bleeding for twelve years, and could find no cure (though she had spent everything she had on doctors
*
). But the instant she touched the edge of his robe, the bleeding stopped.
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“Who touched me?”
Jesus asked.
Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, so many are crowding against you. . . . ”
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But Jesus told him,
“No, it was someone who deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”
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When the woman realized that Jesus knew, she began to tremble and fell to her knees before him and told why she had touched him and that now she was well.
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“Daughter,”
he said to her,
“your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
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While he was still speaking to her, a messenger arrived from the Jairus’s home with the news that the little girl was dead. “She’s gone,” he told her father; “there’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”
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But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to the father,
“Don’t be afraid! Just trust me, and she’ll be all right.”
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When they arrived at the house, Jesus wouldn’t let anyone into the room except Peter, James, John, and the little girl’s father and mother.
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The home was filled with mourning people, but he said,
“Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she is only asleep!”
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This brought scoffing and laughter, for they all knew she was dead.
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Then he took her by the hand and called,
“Get up, little girl!”
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And at that moment her life returned and she jumped up!
“Give her something to eat!”
he said.
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Her parents were overcome with happiness, but Jesus insisted that they not tell anyone the details of what had happened.
One day Jesus called together his twelve apostles and gave them authority over all demons—power to cast them out—and to heal all diseases.
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Then he sent them away to tell everyone about the coming of the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
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“Don’t even take along a walking stick,”
he instructed them,
“nor a beggar’s bag, nor food, nor money. Not even an extra coat.
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Be a guest in only one home at each village.
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“If the people of a town won’t listen to you when you enter it, turn around and leave, demonstrating God’s anger against it
*
by shaking its dust from your feet as you go.”
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So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.
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When reports of Jesus’ miracles reached Herod, the governor,
*
he was worried and puzzled, for some were saying, “This is John the Baptist come back to life again”;
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and others, “It is Elijah or some other ancient prophet risen from the dead.” These rumors were circulating all over the land.
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“I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such strange stories?” And he tried to see him.
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After the apostles returned to Jesus and reported what they had done, he slipped quietly away with them toward the city of Bethsaida.
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But the crowds found out where he was going and followed. And he welcomed them, teaching them again about the Kingdom of God and curing those who were ill.
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Late in the afternoon all twelve of the disciples came and urged him to send the people away to the nearby villages and farms, to find food and lodging for the night. “For there is nothing to eat here in this deserted spot,” they said.
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But Jesus replied,
“
You
feed them!”
“Why, we have only five loaves of bread and two fish among the lot of us,” they protested; “or are you expecting us to go and buy enough for this whole mob?”
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For there were about 5,000 men there!
“Just tell them to sit down on the ground in groups of about fifty each,”
Jesus replied.
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So they did.
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Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and looked up into the sky and gave thanks; then he broke off pieces for his disciples to set before the crowd.
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And everyone ate and ate; still, twelve basketfuls of scraps were picked up afterwards!
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One day as he was alone, praying, with his disciples nearby, he came over and asked them,
“Who are the people saying I am?”
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“John the Baptist,” they told him, “or perhaps Elijah or one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”
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Then he asked them,
“Who do you think I am?”
Peter replied, “The Messiah—the Christ of God!”
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He gave them strict orders not to speak of this to anyone.
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“For I, the Messiah,
*
must suffer much,”
he said,
“and be rejected by the Jewish leaders—the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Law—and be killed; and three days later I will come back to life again!”
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Then he said to all,
“Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and
keep close to me!
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Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it, but whoever insists on keeping his life will lose it;
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and what profit is there in gaining the whole world when it means forfeiting one’s self?
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“When I, the Messiah, come in my glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels, I will be ashamed then of all who are ashamed of me and of my words now.
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But this is the simple truth—some of you who are standing here right now will not die until you have seen the Kingdom of God.”
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Eight days later he took Peter, James, and John with him into the hills to pray.
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And as he was praying, his face began to shine,
*
and his clothes became dazzling white and blazed with light.
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Then two men appeared and began talking with him—Moses and Elijah!
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They were splendid in appearance, glorious to see; and they were speaking of his death at Jerusalem, to be carried out in accordance with God’s plan.
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Peter and the others had been very drowsy and had fallen asleep. Now they woke up and saw Jesus covered with brightness and glory, and the two men standing with him.
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As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, all confused and not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, this is wonderful! We’ll put up three shelters—one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah!”
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But even as he was saying this, a bright cloud formed above them; and terror gripped them as it covered them.
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And a voice from the cloud said,
“This
is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to
him.”
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Then, as the voice died away, Jesus was there alone with his disciples. They didn’t tell anyone what they had seen until long afterwards.
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The next day as they descended from the hill, a huge crowd met him,
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and a man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, this boy here is my only son,
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and a demon keeps seizing him, making him scream; and it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth; it is always hitting him and hardly ever leaves him alone.
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I begged your disciples to cast the demon out, but they couldn’t.”
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“O you stubborn faithless people,”
Jesus said to his disciples,
*
“how long should I put up with you? Bring him here.”
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As the boy was coming the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus ordered the demon to come out, and healed the boy and handed him over to his father.
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Awe gripped the people as they saw this display of the power of God.
Meanwhile, as they were exclaiming over all the wonderful things he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples,
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“Listen to me and remember what I say. I, the Messiah,
*
am going to be betrayed.”
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But the disciples didn’t know what he meant, for their minds had been sealed and they were afraid to ask him.
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Now came an argument among them as to which of them would be greatest in the coming Kingdom!
*
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But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he stood a little child beside him
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and said to them,
“Anyone who takes care of a little child like this is caring for me! And whoever cares for me is caring for God who sent me. Your care for others is the measure of your greatness.”
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His disciple John came to him and said, “Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons. And we told him not to. After all, he isn’t in our group.”
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But Jesus said,
“You shouldn’t have done that! For anyone who is not against you is for you.”
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As the time drew near for his return to heaven, he moved steadily onward toward Jerusalem with an iron will.
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One day he sent messengers ahead to reserve rooms for them in a Samaritan village.
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But they were turned away! The people of the village refused to have anything to do with them because they were headed for Jerusalem.
*
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When word came back of what had happened, James and John said to Jesus, “Master, shall we order fire down from heaven to burn them up?”
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But Jesus turned and rebuked them,
*
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and they went on to another village.
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As they were walking along someone said to Jesus, “I will always follow you no matter where you go.”
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But Jesus replied,
“Remember, I don’t even own a place to lay my head. Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Messiah,
*
have no earthly home at all.”
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Another time, when he invited a man to come with him and to be his disciple, the man agreed—but wanted to wait until his father’s death.
*
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Jesus replied,
“Let those without eternal life concern themselves with things like that.
*
Your duty is to come and preach the coming of the Kingdom of God to all the world.”
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Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will come, but first let me ask permission of those at home.”
*
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But Jesus told him,
“Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
