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Read (and listen!) through the amazing story of Luke and Acts!
Immerse: Luke and Acts is part of Immerse: The Reading Bible, which takes you on a new and unique journey through the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament. This fresh arrangement of the books highlights the depth of the New Testament’s fourfold witness to Jesus the Messiah. The Son of God, who fulfills all the longings and promises of the collected Scriptures. The goal of Bible reading is to understand the sacred writings in depth so we can learn to live with them. Using the text of the New Living Translation (NLT) from Tyndale Publishing, now you can experience Luke and Acts the same way the original readers did and be fully immersed in the most amazing story of all time!
Oliver: Welcome to Immerse Luke
and Acts, Day eight, Week two
.
As Jesus continued on toward
Jerusalem, He reached the border
between Galilee and Samaria.
As He entered a village there, ten men
with leprosy stood at a distance, crying
out, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
He looked at them and said, Go
show yourselves to the priests.
And as they went, they were
cleansed of their leprosy.
One of them, when he saw that
he was healed, came back to
Jesus, shouting, Praise God!
He fell to the ground at Jesus feet,
thanking him for what he had done.
This man was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, Didn't I heal ten men?
Where are the other nine?
Has no one returned to give glory
to God except this foreigner?
And Jesus said to the
man, Stand up and go.
Your faith has healed you.
One day the Pharisees asked Jesus,
When will the kingdom of God come?
Jesus replied, The kingdom of God
can't be detected by visible signs.
You won't be able to say, Here it
is, or it's over there, for the
kingdom of God is already among you.
Then he said to his disciples, The time
is coming when you will long to see
the day when the Son of Man returns.
But you won't see it.
People will tell you, Look, there
is the Son of Man, or here he is.
But don't go out and follow them, for as
the lightning flashes and lights up the
sky from one end to the other, so it will
be on the day when the Son of Man comes.
But first, the Son of
Man must suffer terribly.
And be rejected by this generation,
when the Son of Man returns.
It will be like it was in Noah's day.
In those days the people enjoyed
banquets and parties and weddings.
Right up to the time Noah
entered his boat, and the flood
came and destroyed them all.
And the world will be as
it was in the days of Lot.
People went about their daily
business, eating and drinking, buying
and selling, farming and building.
Until the morning Lot left Sodom.
Then fire and burning sulfur rained
down from heaven and destroyed them all.
Yes, it will be business as
usual, right up to the day when
the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, a person out on
the deck of a roof must not go
down into the house to pack.
A person out in the field
must not return home.
Remember what happened to Lot's wife.
If you cling to your
life, you will lose it.
And if you let your life
go, you will save it.
That night, two people
will be asleep in one bed.
One will be taken, the other left.
Two women will be grinding
flour together at the mill.
One will be taken, the other left.
Where will this happen, Lord?
The disciples asked.
Jesus replied, Just as the gathering
of vultures shows there is a
carcass nearby, so these signs
indicate that the end is near.
One day Jesus told his disciples
a story to show that they should
always pray and never give up.
There was a judge in a certain
city, he said, who neither feared
God nor cared about people.
A widow of that city came to him
repeatedly, saying, Give me justice
in this dispute with my enemy.
The judge ignored her for a while,
but finally he said to himself, I
don't fear God or care about people,
but this woman is driving me crazy.
I'm going to see that she gets
justice, because she is wearing
me out with her constant requests.
Then the Lord said, Learn a
lesson from this unjust judge.
Even he rendered a just
decision in the end.
So don't you think God will surely
give justice to His chosen people,
who cry out to Him day and night?
Will He keep putting them off?
I tell you, He will grant
justice to them quickly.
But when the Son of Man returns, how many
will He find on the earth who have faith?
Then Jesus told this story to some
who had great confidence in their own
righteousness, and scorned everyone else.
Two men went to the temple to pray.
One was a Pharisee, and the other
was a despised tax collector.
The Pharisee stood by himself
and prayed this prayer.
I thank you, God, that I am not like other
people, cheaters, sinners, adulterers.
I'm certainly not like that tax collector.
I fast twice a week, and I
give you a tenth of my income.
But the tax collector stood at a
distance and dared not even lift
his eyes to heaven as he prayed.
Instead, he beat his chest in
sorrow, saying, Oh, God, be
merciful to me, for I am a sinner.
I tell you, this sinner, not the
Pharisee, returned home justified
before God, for those who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and those
who humble themselves will be exalted.
One day some parents brought
their little children to Jesus
so he could touch and bless them.
But when the disciples saw this, they
scolded the parents for bothering him.
Then Jesus called for the children
and said to the disciples, Let the
children come to me, don't stop them.
For the kingdom of God belongs to
those who are like these children.
I tell you the truth, anyone who
doesn't receive the kingdom of God
like a child, We'll never enter it.
Once, a religious leader
asked Jesus this question.
Good teacher, what should I
do to inherit eternal life?
Why do you call me good?
Jesus asked him.
Only God is truly good.
But to answer your question,
you know the commandments.
You must not commit adultery,
you must not murder, you must not
steal, you must not testify falsely,
honor your father and mother.
The man replied, I have obeyed all
these commandments since I was young.
When Jesus heard his answer, he said,
There is still one thing you haven't
done, sell all your possessions,
and give the money to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.
But when the man heard this, he
became very sad, for he was very rich.
When Jesus saw this, He said,
How hard it is for the rich
to enter the kingdom of God.
In fact, it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a
rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
Those who heard this said, Then
who in the world can be saved?
He replied, What is impossible
for people is possible with God.
Peter said, We've left
our homes to follow you.
Yes, Jesus replied, And I assure you
that everyone who has given up house
or wife or brothers or parents or
children For the sake of the kingdom
of God, we'll be repaid many times
over in this life, and we'll have
eternal life in the world to come.
Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus
said, Listen, we're going up to Jerusalem,
where all the predictions of the prophets
concerning the Son of Man will come true.
He will be handed over to the
Romans, and he will be mocked,
treated shamefully, and spit upon.
They will flog him with a
whip and kill him, but on the
third day he will rise again.
But they didn't understand any of this.
The significance of his words was
hidden from them, and they failed
to grasp what he was talking about.
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind
beggar was sitting beside the road.
When he heard the noise of a crowd
going past, he asked what was happening.
They told him that Jesus the Nazarene
was going by, so he began shouting,
Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
Be quiet, the people
in front yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder,
Son of David, have mercy on me.
When Jesus heard him, he stopped and
ordered that the man be brought to him.
As the man came near, Jesus asked him,
What do you want me to do for you?
Lord, he said, I want to see.
And Jesus said, All
right, receive your sight.
Your faith has healed you.
Instantly the man could see, and
he followed Jesus, praising God.
And all who saw it praised God too.
Jesus entered Jericho and
made his way through the town.
There was a man there named Zacchaeus.
He was the chief tax collector in the
region, and he had become very rich.
He tried to get a look at Jesus, but
he was too short to see over the crowd.
So he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore fig tree beside the road,
for Jesus was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came by, he looked up at
Zacchaeus and called him by name.
'Zacchaeus, he said, 'quick, come down.
I must be a guest in your home today.
Zacchaeus quickly climbed down
and took Jesus to his house
in great excitement and joy.
But the people were displeased.
'He has gone to be the guest of a
notorious sinner, they grumbled.
Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the
lord and said, I will give half my
wealth to the poor lord, and if I have
cheated people on their taxes, I will
give them back four times as much.
Jesus responded, Salvation has come
to this home today, for this man has
shown himself to be a true son of
Abraham, for the Son of Man came to
seek and save those who were lost.
The crowd was listening to everything
Jesus said, and because he was nearing
Jerusalem, He told them a story
to correct the impression that the
kingdom of God would begin right away.
He said, A nobleman was called
away to a distant empire to be
crowned king and then return.
Before he left, he called together
ten of his servants and divided among
them ten pounds of silver saying,
Invest this for me while I am gone.
But his people hated him and sent
a delegation after him to say, We
do not want him to be our king.
After he was crowned king, he
returned and called in the servants
to whom he had given the money.
He wanted to find out
what their profits were.
The first servant reported, Master,
I invested your money and made
ten times the original amount.
Well done, the king exclaimed.
You are a good servant.
You have been faithful with the little
I entrusted to you, so you will be
governor of ten cities as your reward.
The next servant reported, Master,
I invested your money and made
five times the original amount.
Well done, the king said.
You will be governor over five cities.
But the third servant brought back only
the original amount of money and said,
Master, I hid your money and kept it safe.
I was afraid because you are a hard man
to deal with, taking what isn't yours
and harvesting crops you didn't plant.
You wicked servant, the king roared.
Your own words condemn you.
If you knew that I'm a hard man who
takes what isn't mine and harvests
crops I didn't plant, why didn't
you deposit my money in the bank?
At least I could have
gotten some interest on it.
Then turn into the other standing
nearby, the king ordered.
Take the money from this servant and
give it to the one who has ten pounds.
But master, they said, he
already has ten pounds.
Yes, the king replied, and to those
who use well what they are given.
Even more will be given.
But from those who do nothing, even what
little they have will be taken away.
And as for these enemies of mine
who didn't want me to be their
king, bring them in and execute
them right here in front of me.
Oliver: This concludes today's
Immerse Reading Experience.
Thank you for joining us.