12. While Jesus was ministering in a certain town, a man came along who was covered up with leprosy. As soon as he saw Jesus, he literally fell on his face to the ground, and with great emotion started begging Him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can heal me...You can make me clean!"
13. Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man that society considered untouchable, and said to him, "Hey...I'm totally willing...you don't have to beg...be clean!" And just like that the leprosy completely left him.
14. Then Jesus said to him, "Look, don't tell anyone about this...but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them."
15. But, of course, there was no way to keep something like this quiet. The news about Him spread even more, and very fast. As a result, huge crowds of people came to hear Him, and to be healed of their sicknesses and diseases.
16. But when the crowds got bigger and more demanding like this, Jesus withdrew to lonely places to pray and to meditate.
17. One day as He was teaching in the home of someone, some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to listen to Him. People had come from every village of Galilee, from Judea, and Jerusalem on this occasion, and the tangible power to heal the sick was present and unusually strong that day.
18. And some men came carrying a paralyzed friend of theirs on a mat, and tried to get him into the house to lay him before Jesus.
19. But the crowd was too thick and tightly packed into the house, so when they realized that they couldn't find a way to get through, they just went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles, into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20. When Jesus saw their innovation, and the proactive way that their faith manifested into action, He said to the man, "My friend, all your sins are forgiven!"
21. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were offended, even scandalized at these words, and began thinking to themselves, "Who does this upstart think He is? And why does He so glibly speak blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
22. Jesus instinctively knew what they were thinking and asked them, "Why are you thinking these things, internally?
23. I mean, which is easier...to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up off of that stretcher and walk'?
24. Allow Me to demonstrate this concept to you, and to show you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Then He said to the man, "Get up! Pick up your mat and go home, whole!"
25. And immediately he stood up in front of all of them, picked up what he had been lying on, just as Jesus instructed him, and went home praising God.
26. Everyone there was amazed by the whole scenario, and gave praise to God. They were all filled with awe and said to one another, "Remember what took place on this day...we have seen remarkable things here!"
27. Not long after this Jesus encountered a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office, as he did every day. When He saw him, He focused His entire attention on Him, and, without wasting any words, said to him, "I want you to join Me right now as a disciple, and follow Me wherever I go."
28. These words were so direct, authoritative, and inexplicably compelling to Levi, that he completely left everything in his life as a tax man, and got up right then and there to follow Jesus into a completely new and different reality.
29. One evening, Levi (also known as Matthew), hosted a great banquet in Jesus' honor at his own house, and invited a large company of tax collectors, and others of dubious reputation. And all of these people were comfortably reclining at the table with Jesus, laughing and talking with Him.
30. Now the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining about this, and protesting to Jesus' disciples, saying, "Why are you all eating and even drinking with these tax collectors and openly sinful people?"
31. Jesus overheard them and said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick.
32. I haven't come to invite and call the ones that everyone assumes are righteous, but the ones who are perceived as the unrighteous...the ones who are considered the worst of the worst...and the ones who, indeed, need to change their ways by changing their mindsets."
33. Then they said to Him, "Well, the disciples of John practice fasting often and offer up prayers and petitions...and so do the disciples of the Pharisees...but Yours spend all their time at parties, eating and drinking with riff-raff!"
34. And Jesus said to them, "Do you think you can make the wedding guests fast as long as the bridegroom is with them?
35. Look, the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then, believe Me, they will do their fasting."
36. He also told them a proverb, saying, "No one puts a patch from a new garment on an old garment, because, if he does, he will tear the new one, and the patch from that garment will not match the old one.
37. In the same way, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the fresh wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled everywhere, and the skins will be ruined.
38. The bottom line is this...new wine must be put into fresh wineskins!
39. No one, after drinking fine, aged wine immediately desires new wine, for he says, the old is good or better. So, in other words, I am having to show you a whole new way to think about how you perceive right and wrong...about how you discern what is 'acceptable' and what is 'unacceptable'...about who you think is fit or unfit. My intention is to turn your minds into new wineskins, and to create within you a taste and a craving for the new wine!"
1. On one particular day Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Lake Galilee, and great crowds pressed in on Him there so that they could hear the message of God.
2. And as the crowd got bigger and closer, He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge...boats that the fishermen had left while they were washing their nets.
3. Without asking permission, or explaining what He was doing, He stepped into one of the boats and asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water a few feet. Then He sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.
4. When he had finished His message, He turned to Simon and said, “Now I want you to go out where it's deeper, and let down your nets there to catch some fish.”
5. “Teacher,” Simon replied, “You should know that we fished here all night long...we worked really hard...and we didn’t catch a thing." Jesus had no response to his words, so after a short, awkward pause, Simon said, "But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”
6. As soon as Simon did what Jesus told him to do, he started catching fish immediately...and he continued to catch so many that the nets he used began to tear from the enormous amount of fish!
7. In fact, the haul was so big that he had to yell for his partners to come help him with it, and when they brought out the other boat, both boats became filled to capacity with fish...filled to the point that they were on the verge of sinking.
8. When Simon Peter perceived what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please just leave me...I’m too much of a sinner to be around You...You're out of my league, and I don't know how to handle this kind of thing.”
9. He was overwhelmed and awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were his fishing partners.
10. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were there, too, and they were equally amazed and engulfed with awe at the miracle. Jesus calmly replied to Simon, “Hey...don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing like this all the time...but you'll be fishing for people!”
11. When they got back to shore, they just left everything they had and started following Jesus.
14. After this, Jesus returned to Galilee full of the power of the Holy Spirit, and His fame spread through the whole region and surrounding area.
15. And He conducted a series of well-received teachings in their synagogues, because at this point in His ministry He was being accepted, recognized and highly honored by just about everyone.
16. So one particular day He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath. And at the appropriate time in the service He stood up to read in the congregation.
17. Without hesitation they handed Him the scroll of the book of the prophet Isaiah, and He reverently but authoritatively unrolled it. Then He immediately found the place where it was written,
18. "The very Spirit of the Lord is resting upon Me, because He has anointed and qualified Me to proclaim the Good News to the disenfranchised; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives, and total recovery of sight to the blind...to bring relief to those who are oppressed, outcast and broken down by the hardships of life;
19. To reveal the true meaning of the Year of Jubilee, and to become its physical fulfillment...to personify the year of God's favor in the now."
20. Then He calmly rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. But on this day the service didn't progress as usual. On this day, something was very different about the reading of Isaiah's prophecy. Something about the way Jesus read those familiar words made them seem simultaneously eternal and fresh...both ancient and newborn. You could hear a pin drop in the place as everyone fixed their attention on Him, waiting for Him to say something else. No one could take their eyes off Him.
21. So He responded to their expectancy, and stood back up to speak. Looking around the room He boldly said something that had never been said before in the Synagogue: "Today this Scripture has actually been fulfilled in your presence...right here...right now...the word has been made flesh in your hearing."
22. Everyone was taken aback at these words, but they were initially open and receptive to them, in general. But as His statement began to sink in with them, and as they considered the implication of it, they weren't exactly sure how to respond. It wasn't just the boldness of the declaration, but when they considered the source, they said among themselves, "Isn't this Joseph's son? Isn't this man the boy that we saw grow up right here in the neighborhood?
23. He answered them, "I suppose now you're going to quote to Me the proverb, 'Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.'
24. Well, let me tell you something...it's a fact that no prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown.
25. I mean, isn't it true that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land?
26. But isn't it also true that the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Zarephath in the country of Sidon?
27. By the same token, there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, but the only one of them that was cleansed by being healed was Naaman, the Syrian.
28. With these statements, Jesus went from being provocative to being antagonistic...even blasphemous...as far as they were concerned, and all the people in the synagogue were instantly filled with rage for Him.
29. And they jumped up and grabbed Him, carrying Him to the projecting upper part of the hill on which their town was built, with the intention of hurling Him headlong over the cliff to His death.
30. But when they got there, He somehow miraculously passed right through their midst without injury, and went on His way.
31. Without missing a beat He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He taught the people, undaunted by what had just happened in Nazareth.
32. And the people there were absolutely amazed at His teaching, because His words had authority...He had a command and understanding of His own message that was undeniable.
33. In the synagogue there was a man under the influence and control of a rebel spirit, and recognizing who Jesus really was (as the spirits always did) He cried out at the top of his voice,
34. "Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy our authority and domain? I know who you are...You are the Holy One of God!"
35. "All right, that's enough...be quiet!" Jesus said, directly. "Get out of this man's life!" Then the spirit threw the man down before them all, and released him without injury.
36. All the people were even more amazed at this, and said to each other, "What's this all about? How does this man control the environment by simply using His words? He even tells rebel spirits what to do, and they obey Him!"
37. And the news about him spread like wildfire throughout the surrounding area.
38. After this, Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon, where Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. He went because they asked Him to help her.
39. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her...just like that. She got right up and began to wait on Jesus, and those who were with Him.
40. At sunset, the people brought to Jesus a steady stream of people who had all kinds of sicknesses and diseases, and, laying his hands on every one of them, He healed everyone that He touched.
41. And many rebel spirits yielded to his authority, leaving the people that they had been controlling and shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow the revelation of His true identity to come through them.
42. This went on all through the night, but at daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. And the people were looking for him, and when they finally found Him, they tried to prevent Him from leaving them.
43. But he said, "Listen, I need to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the rest of the population...it's my destiny to do so."
44. And He continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.
1. Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was purposely led by the Spirit
2. For forty days into the solitude of the desert wilderness for an intentionally staged and personal confrontation with the devil (or the adversary) into a place where He could be tempted, tested and tried by him, one-on-one, for kingdom purposes. And He ate nothing during those days, but when they were completed, He was hungry.
3. And at that time the adversary came and said to Him, “If You really are who You believe and say that You are – the manifestation of God in the physical realm…His own Son – then command these stones to be made into loaves of bread.”
4. But He replied, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live and be sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth, in the now, from the mouth of God!’”
5. Again, the adversary took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him in panoramic view all the kingdoms of the world and the splendor and magnificence of them all in a moment of time.
6. And he said to Him, "I will give You all this power and authority, as well as their glory, for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will.
7. If You will simply prostrate Yourself before me and sincerely worship me it will all be Yours.
8. But Jesus replied to him, "You get behind Me now! It is written, 'You shall do homage to and worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.'"
9. Then the adversary took Him into the holy city and placed Him on a high gable (or turret) of the temple sanctuary and said to Him, “If You really are the Son of God as You say You are, then throw Yourself down off this tower;
10. For it is written, ‘He will give His angels charge over you, to watch over you closely and carefully;
11. And they will bear you up on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
12. Jesus said to him, “Yes, but it is also written, ‘You shall not tempt, test, or try the Lord your God!’”
13. And when the adversary had ended the complete cycle of temptation (or, once these adversarial issues were settled in the mind of Jesus)...he left Him (or, this thought process was ended)...until the temptations of Jesus took on another form at another time.
1. In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar's reign...when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother, Philip, was the tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene...
2. And when Annas and Caiaphas were the High Priests, the word...the revelation...the message concerning the manifestation of the Christ, and of His Kingdom...and of His complete salvation...came to John, the son of Zachariah, out in the desert wilderness.
3. And when this revelation overtook him, he was compelled to go into the country on both sides of the Jordan, preaching the necessity of a paradigm shift, and illustrating his message of change by baptizing people in the river.
4. And this portion of his life was a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy which declares, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness...shouting in the desert, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make His beaten paths straight.
5. Every valley...every ravine...shall be filled in and filled up...and every mountain...every hill...shall be completely leveled; and the crooked places shall be straightened out, and the rough roads shall be made smooth;
6. And when this process is at last complete, all of mankind...the entirety of humanity... will see, behold, comprehend, and understand the absolute salvation of God!"
7. But when he saw many of the religious leaders in the crowd coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8. Produce fruit in keeping with the real changing of your minds, and do not think that you have the right to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
9. Even now, the ax is already poised at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into God’s purifying fire."
10. And the crowd was greatly affected by the message, and responded by saying to him, "Tell us, then, what we should do!"
11. And he replied to them, "Whoever has two tunics, or undergarments, let him share with him who has none...and whoever who has food to eat, let him share it the same way."
12. Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, tell us also what we should do!"
13. And he said to them, "Just collect no more than the fixed and legal amount appointed you."
14. Those serving in the military also came to him and asked him, "What about us? What should we do?" And he replied to them, "Never act as terrorists, don't abuse your power and authority, and always be satisfied with your rations."
15. And the people were so moved by his directness, and by the simple yet profound way that he spoke about fairness and equality and ethical behavior, that everybody reasoned and questioned in their hearts concerning him, whether he perhaps might be the Christ...the Messiah.
16. But John answered them all by saying, "Look, I baptize you in a river of water for transformation through the changing of your minds. But after me comes One who is much more powerful, whose sandals I am not worthy to even carry. He will purify you, not in a physical river of water, but by baptizing you with the Holy Spirit in a spiritual river of consuming fire!
17. His winnowing fork and fan are in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn, and burning up the chaff in your lives with His unquenchable fire.”
18. So with many other innovative appeals and admonitions he preached the Good News to the people.
19. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been openly rebuked by John for having Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the other dishonorable things that he had done,
20. Added this to the list of corrupt deeds...he had John arrested and shut up in prison.
21. Now as all the other people were being baptized, Jesus also submitted Himself to John's message, and was baptized, as well. And while He was praying, the visible heaven was opened,
22. And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the incarnation of a dove, and a voice came from the heavenly dimension, saying, "You are My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I take pleasure and with Whom I am completely and absolutely delighted!”
23. So this experience, in a sense, officially began the public ministry of Jesus, who was thirty years of age at this time, and was generally known to the community as the son of Joseph, the son of Heli.
24. (And to give the earth-life of Jesus proper historical context) Heli, Jesus' step-grandfather, was the son of Matthat, who was the son of Levi, who was the son of Melchi, who was the son of Jannai...the son of Joseph...
25. The son of Mattathias...the son of Amos...the son of Nahum...the son of Esli... the son of Naggai...
26. The son of Maath...the son of Mattathias...the son of Semein...the son of Josech...the son of Joda...
27. The son of Joanan...the son of Rhesa...the son of Zerubbabel...the son of Shealtiel...the son of Neri...
28. The son of Melchi...the son of Addi...the son of Cosam...the son of Elmadam...the son of Er...
29. The son of Jesus...the son of Eliezer...the son of Jorim...the son of Matthat...the son of Levi...
30. The son of Simeon...the son of Judah...the son of Joseph...the son of Jonam...the son of Eliakim...
31. The son of Melea...the son of Menna...the son of Mattatha...the son of Nathan... the son of David...
32. The son of Jesse...the son of Obed...the son of Boaz...the son of Salmon...the son of Nahshon...
33. The son of Aminadab...the son of Admin...the son of Arni...the son of Hezron...the son of Perez...the son of Judah...
34. The son of Jacob...the son of Isaac...the son of Abraham...the son of Terah...the son of Nahor...
35. The son of Serug...the son of Reu...the son of Peleg...the son of Eber...the son of Shelah...
36...The son of Cainan...the son of Arphaxad...the son of Shem...the son of Noah... the son of Lamech...
37. The son of Methuselah...the son of Enoch...the son of Jared...the son of Mahalaleel...the son of Cainan...
38. The son of Enos...the son of Seth...the son of Adam...the son of God.
21. When the eighth day of His earth-life arrived...the traditional day when Jewish boys were circumcised...the baby was officially named Jesus, the name given by the angel before His conception.
22. And when the number of days stipulated by Moses for the mother's purification and the baby's dedication were complete, His parents brought Him up to Jerusalem to ceremonially offer His life to God.
23. This was in accordance with the Law of the Lord, which states, "Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be set apart, dedicated, and called holy to the Lord."
24. And they also came to offer a sacrifice of "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" as prescribed in the same Law.
25. Now there was a man in Jerusalem at this time whose name was Simeon, a good and devout man who lived in prayerful expectancy for the help and consolation of Israel...and the anointing of the Holy Spirit was on him.
26. And the Holy Spirit had personally assured him that he would not die before he had the opportunity to see with his own eyes the physical manifestation of God's Christ in the earth.
27. So, led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple just as the parents of the baby Jesus brought Him in to carry out the rituals of the Law.
28. And when Simeon saw them, He immediately recognized the Christ and approached them, took the baby into his arms, and began to bless God, saying,
29. "Now, God, You may release your servant from this present earthly dimension...and I will be released in peace, just as You promised.
30. With my own two eyes I have seen the manifestation of Your Salvation...
31. I first saw it prophetically...by the Spirit...but now that Your Salvation has come in the physical form of this man-child, all of humanity will be able to see it for themselves...
32. They will see the Light...a Light for the revelation of God to the non-Jewish nations...a Light to disclose what was before unknown to the people of Israel, so that they may see Your glory."
33. Even though Mary and Joseph had heard and seen so many amazing things since the day Gabriel first appeared to her, they were still speechless with surprise at these prophetic words.
34. But Simeon went on to bless them and said to Mary, His mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but He will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose Him, as He will be a figure often misunderstood and contradicted...
35. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be exposed...but God will reveal who they really are, as they are forced into honesty by their very rejection of Him. And this rejection will affect you as His mother, causing the pain of a sword-thrust through your very soul."
36. And there was also a prophetess there, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having lived with her husband for only seven years before being widowed.
37. And she had been a widow for eighty-four years. Her entire life was in the Temple...she didn't go out from the Temple enclosure, and worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer.
38. And she also came up at the same time, and gave thanks to God, and talked of the promise and potential of Jesus to all who were looking for the redemption and deliverance of Jerusalem.
39. And when His parents had done everything according to the Law of the Lord given through Moses, they went back into Galilee to their own town, Nazareth.
40. And there Jesus experienced a relatively normal childhood, growing into boyhood and on into early adolescence. He became strong in spirit, and was filled with wisdom, as He gradually walked into His destiny as the earthly embodiment of the Christ. Through it all the grace and favor of God was upon Him.
41. Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Passover Feast.
42. And when Jesus was twelve years old, they went there, as usual...as was their custom.
43. But when the Feast was over, and they were returning to Nazareth, young Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem. His parents were completely unaware that He had initiated this significant act of independence, as He had given them no indication of it, whatsoever.
44. In fact, they just assumed that He was somewhere in the caravan in which they were travelling, and went on a full day's journey before they actually realized that He was not with them. Then they looked everywhere for Him among their relatives and acquaintances, but none of them had any idea of Jesus' whereabouts.
45. So when He didn't turn up anywhere in the caravan, they went back to Jerusalem, frantically looking for Him all the way.
46. After three whole days of non-stop searching, they finally found Him in the court of the Temple, calmly sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them thought-provoking questions.
47. And all of these learned, seasoned, full-grown men were absolutely astonished and overwhelmed at His intelligence, understanding and insightful, articulate replies to them.
48. When Joseph and Mary saw Him, they exploded emotionally with a mixture of feelings...anger...relief...joy...bewilderment. And His mother blurted out to Him, "Jesus! Why have You treated us like this? Do you know what you've put us through? Your father and I have been in sheer torment, looking for You everywhere for three whole days!"
49. The twelve-year-old very matter-of-factly turned to look at her and said, "What do you mean you've been looking for Me? And why were you in torment? You should have known that I would be in My Father's house, doing My Father's business. How could you have assumed otherwise?
50. But they did not grasp or comprehend at all what He was saying to them.
51. So He returned with them to Nazareth, and was obedient to them as His natural parents, but the dynamics of their relationship were never the same after this. He had clearly defined Himself by stating that God, not Joseph, was His Father...and had made it clear that He would ultimately be actualized in the business of His Father, and not in that of His step-father. His mother never brought it up again or really ever dealt with it at all...she just guarded all these things in her heart.
52. And Jesus increased in wisdom and self-awareness as He grew in physical stature and in years. At the same time He also grew in favor with God and man.
