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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 twelve, Week three
.
As Jesus was speaking, one of the
Pharisees invited him home for a meal.
So he went in and took
his place at the table.
His host was amazed to see that
he sat down to eat without first
performing the hand washing
ceremony required by Jewish custom.
Then the Lord said to him, You Pharisees
are so careful to clean the outside of
the cup and the dish, but inside you are
filthy, full of greed and wickedness.
Fools!
Didn't God make the inside
as well as the outside?
So clean the inside by giving gifts to
the poor, and you will be clean all over.
What sorrow awaits you, Pharisees, for
you are careful to tithe even the tiniest
income from your herb gardens, but you
ignore justice and the love of God.
You should tithe, yes, but do not
neglect the more important things.
What sorrow awaits you, Pharisees, for
you love to sit in the seats of honor
in the synagogues and receive respectful
greetings as you walk in the marketplaces.
Yes, what sorrow awaits you, for you
are like hidden graves in a field.
People walk over them, without knowing
the corruption they are stepping on.
Teacher, said an expert in
religious law, you have insulted
us too, in what you just said.
Yes, said Jesus.
What sorrow also awaits you experts in
religious law, for you crush people with
unbearable religious demands, and you
never lift a finger to ease the burden.
What sorrow awaits you, for you
build monuments for the prophets
your own ancestors killed long ago.
But in fact, you stand as witnesses
who agree with what your ancestors did.
They killed the prophets, and you join
in their crime by building the monuments.
This is what God in His
wisdom said about you.
I will send prophets and apostles
to them, but they will kill
some and persecute the others.
As a result, this generation will be held
responsible for the murder of all God's
prophets from the creation of the world.
From the murder of Abel, to the
murder of Zechariah, who was killed
between the altar and the sanctuary.
Yes, it will certainly be
charged against this generation.
What sorrow awaits you experts in
religious law, for you remove the
key to knowledge from the people.
You don't enter the kingdom yourselves,
and you prevent others from entering.
As Jesus was leaving, the teachers
of religious law and the Pharisees
became hostile and tried to
provoke him with many questions.
They wanted to trap him into saying
something they could use against him.
Meanwhile, the crowds grew until
thousands were milling about
and stepping on each other.
Jesus turned first to his disciples
and warned them, Beware of the yeasts
of the Pharisees, their hypocrisy.
The time is coming when everything that
is covered up will be revealed, and all
that is secret will be made known to all.
Whatever you have said in the
dark will be heard in the light.
And what you have whispered behind
closed doors will be shouted from
the housetops for all to hear.
Dear friends, don't be afraid of
those who want to kill your body.
They cannot do any more to you after that.
But I'll tell you whom to fear.
Fear God, who has the power to kill
you and then throw you into hell.
Yes, He's the one to fear.
What is the price of five sparrows?
Two copper coins?
Yet God does not forget a single
one of them, and the very hairs
on your head are all numbered.
So don't be afraid.
You are more valuable to God
than a whole flock of sparrows.
I tell you the truth.
Everyone who acknowledges me
publicly here on earth, the Son
of Man will also acknowledge in
the presence of God's angels.
But anyone who denies me here on earth
will be denied before God's angels.
Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man
can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes
the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
And when you are brought to trial in
the synagogues and before rulers and
authorities, don't worry about how
to defend yourself or what to say,
for the Holy Spirit will teach you
at that time what needs to be said.
Oliver: This concludes today's
Immerse Reading Experience.
Thank you for joining us.