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Read (and listen!) through the New Testament in 8 weeks with your small group or on your own.
Immerse: Messiah is the first of six volumes in Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience. Messiah takes the reader on a unique journey through every book of the New Testament. Each section of Messiah begins with one of the Gospels, and together they combine to provide a life-changing reading experience centered on Jesus. 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, can be experienced in Messiah through the rich variety of lenses provided by the books of the new covenant.
The Immerse Bible Series is the proud winner of the prestigious Bible of the Year award from the ECPA Christian Book Awards. Immerse: The Reading Bible is specially crafted for a distraction-free listening and reading experience, helping you dive in and get immersed in Scripture. You’ll have a great experience using Immerse by yourself. But for an even richer experience, try reading with friends.
Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience is an invitation to a different kind of community interaction with the Bible. Less like a Bible study, more like a book club.
- 8 or 16-week Bible listening plans take you through a large section of the Bible like the New Testament or the Torah
- Meet once a week for a free-flowing discussion about the text
- Wrestle with questions and celebrate ‘aha!’ moments together
Nothing impacts spiritual growth more than spending time in Scripture. Immerse removes many of the barriers that make Bible reading difficult and invites communities to become transformed together through the power of God’s word.
Welcome to the saddleback church anchored life challenge which can also by found on the saddleback companion app or by purchasing the immerse messiah book from tyndale.
The anchored life challenge includes speakers such as Andy Wood, Rick Warren, and Stacie Wood.
Immerse Messiah 22
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Intro Narrator: [00:00:00] Welcome to Immerse Messiah Reading for Week 5, Day 22. Then Jesus went from village to village,
Rick Warren: teaching the people. And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority
Intro Narrator: to cast out evil spirits.
Rick Warren: He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick, no food, no traveler's bag, no money.
Rick Warren: He allowed them to wear sandals. But not to take a change of clothes. Wherever you go, he said, stay in the same house until you leave town. But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its
Intro Narrator: dust from your feet as you leave, to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate. So, the disciples
Rick Warren: went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.
Rick Warren: And they cast out many demons, and healed many sick people, [00:01:00] anointing them with olive oil. Herod
Intro Narrator: Antipas, the king, soon heard about Jesus. Because everyone was
Rick Warren: talking about Him. Some were saying, This must be John the Baptist, raised from the dead.
Intro Narrator: That is why he can do such miracles. Others said, He's the prophet Elijah.
Intro Narrator: Still others said, He's a prophet like the other great prophets of the past. When Herod heard about Jesus, he said, John, the man I beheaded, has come back from the
Rick Warren: dead. For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest
Intro Narrator: and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip's wife, but Herod had married her.
Rick Warren: John had been telling Herod, it is against God's law for you to marry your brother's
Intro Narrator: wife. So Herodias bore a
Rick Warren: grudge against John and wanted to kill him.
Intro Narrator: But without Herod's approval, she was powerless. For Herod respected John, [00:02:00]
Rick Warren: and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him.
Intro Narrator: Herod was greatly
Rick Warren: disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.
Rick Warren: Herodias chance finally came on Herod's
Intro Narrator: birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials,
Rick Warren: army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee. Then his daughter Also named Herodias, came in and
Intro Narrator: performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. Ask
Rick Warren: me for anything you like, the king said to the girl, and I will give it to you.
Rick Warren: He even vowed,
Intro Narrator: I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my
Rick Warren: kingdom. She went out and asked her mother, what should I ask for? Her mother
Intro Narrator: told her, ask for the head of John the Baptist. So the
Rick Warren: girl hurried back to the king and told him, I want the head of John the Baptist right now on a tray. Then the king deeply regretted what he had said.[00:03:00]
Intro Narrator: But, because of the vows he had made in front of his guests, he couldn't refuse her. So he
Rick Warren: immediately sent an executioner to the prison, to cut off John's head, and bring it to him. The soldier
Intro Narrator: beheaded John in the prison, brought his head on a tray, and gave it to the girl.
Rick Warren: When John's disciples heard what had happened, they came to get his body and buried it in a tomb.
Rick Warren: The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught.
Intro Narrator: Then Jesus said, Let's go off by
Rick Warren: ourselves to a quiet place and rest a while. He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat.
Intro Narrator: So they left by boat for a quiet place.
Intro Narrator: Where they could be alone,
Rick Warren: but many people recognized them and saw them leaving. And people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got [00:04:00] there ahead of them.
Intro Narrator: Jesus saw the
Rick Warren: huge crowd as He stepped from the boat, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things.
Rick Warren: Late in the afternoon, His disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat. But Jesus
Intro Narrator: said, You feed them. With what? they asked.
Rick Warren: We'd have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people.
Intro Narrator: How much bread do you have? he asked. Go
and
Rick Warren: find out. They came back and reported, We have
Intro Narrator: five loaves of bread and two fish.
Rick Warren: Then
Intro Narrator: Jesus told the disciples to have the people
Rick Warren: sit down in groups
Intro Narrator: on the green grass. So they sat down in groups
Rick Warren: of fifty or a hundred. Jesus took the [00:05:00] five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them.
Rick Warren: Then, breaking the loaves into pieces,
Intro Narrator: He kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the
Rick Warren: fish for everyone to share. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the
Intro Narrator: disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. A total of five
Rick Warren: thousand men and their
Intro Narrator: families were fed.
Intro Narrator: Immediately after this, Jesus insisted
Rick Warren: that His disciples get back into the boat. And head across the
Intro Narrator: lake to Bethsaida,
Rick Warren: while he sent the people home. After telling everyone goodbye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Late that night,
Intro Narrator: the disciples were
Rick Warren: in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land.
Rick Warren: He saw that they were in serious
Intro Narrator: trouble, rowing
Rick Warren: hard, and [00:06:00] struggling against the wind and waves. About three o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror,
Intro Narrator: thinking he was a ghost. They were all terrified when they saw him, but Jesus spoke to them at once.
Intro Narrator: Don't be afraid, he said. Take courage. I am here.
Rick Warren: Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed, for they still didn't understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves.
Intro Narrator: Their hearts were too hard to take it in.
Rick Warren: After they had crossed the lake, they
Intro Narrator: landed at Gennesaret.
Intro Narrator: They brought the boat to
Rick Warren: shore and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once, and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to
Intro Narrator: wherever they heard He was. Wherever He [00:07:00] went, in villages, cities, or the countryside,
Rick Warren: they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his
Intro Narrator: robe, and all who
Rick Warren: touched him were healed.
Rick Warren: One day, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see
Intro Narrator: Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. The Jews Especially the Pharisees do not eat until they have poured water over their
Rick Warren: cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions.
Rick Warren: Similarly, they don't eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to, such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles. So, the Pharisees
Intro Narrator: and teachers of religious law asked Him, Why don't your disciples follow our age old
Rick Warren: tradition?[00:08:00]
Intro Narrator: They
Rick Warren: eat, without first performing the hand washing ceremony.
Intro Narrator: Jesus replied, You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied
Rick Warren: about you.
Intro Narrator: For he wrote, These people honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man made ideas.
Rick Warren: As commands from God, for you ignore God's law and substitute your own tradition.
Rick Warren: Then he said, you skillfully sidestep God's law in order to hold on to your own tradition. For instance, Moses gave you this law from God, honor your father and mother, and anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must
Intro Narrator: be put to death. But you say, it is all right for people to say to their parents,
Rick Warren: sorry, I can't help you.
Intro Narrator: For I have vowed to give to God
Rick Warren: what I would have given to you. In this way, [00:09:00] you let them disregard their needy parents, and so you cancel the Word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others. Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. All of you, listen, He said, and try to understand.
Rick Warren: It's not what goes into your body. that defiles you. You are defiled by what comes from your heart. Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and His disciples asked Him what He meant by the parable He had just used. Don't you understand either? He asked. Can't you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?
Intro Narrator: Food
Rick Warren: doesn't go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. By saying this, He declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God's eyes. And then he [00:10:00] added, It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality,
Intro Narrator: theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires,
Rick Warren: envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
Rick Warren: All these vile things come from within. They are what defile you. Then Jesus left Galilee and went north. to the region of Tyre. He didn't want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn't keep it a secret. Right away, a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet.
Intro Narrator: Her little girl was
Rick Warren: possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.
Rick Warren: Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Venetia,
Intro Narrator: Jesus told her,
Rick Warren: First I should feed the children, [00:11:00] my own family,
Intro Narrator: the Jews.
Rick Warren: It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.
Intro Narrator: She replied, That's true, Lord, but
Rick Warren: even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children's plates.
Rick Warren: Good answer, he said. Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter. And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone. Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon. Before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns, a deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people
Intro Narrator: begged Jesus
Rick Warren: to lay his hands on the man to heal him.
Rick Warren: Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man's ears, then spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man's tongue. [00:12:00] Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, which means be opened. Instantly,
Intro Narrator: the man could hear perfectly,
Rick Warren: and his tongue was freed, so he could speak plainly.
Rick Warren: Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. They were completely amazed and said again and again, everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak. About this time, another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again.
Rick Warren: Jesus called his
Intro Narrator: disciples
Rick Warren: and told them, I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way, for some of them have come a long distance.
Intro Narrator: His disciples replied, How are we supposed to
Rick Warren: find enough food to feed them, [00:13:00] out here in the wilderness?
Rick Warren: Jesus
Intro Narrator: asked, How much bread do you have? Seven
Rick Warren: loaves,
Intro Narrator: they replied. So Jesus told all the people to sit down
Rick Warren: on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into
Intro Narrator: pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. A few
Rick Warren: small fish were found
Intro Narrator: too.
Intro Narrator: So Jesus also blessed these. And
Rick Warren: told the disciples to distribute them. They ate as much as they wanted.
Intro Narrator: Afterward,
Rick Warren: the disciples picked up
Intro Narrator: seven large baskets of leftover food. There were about
Rick Warren: 4, 000 men in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. Immediately after this, he got into a
Intro Narrator: boat with his disciples and crossed
Rick Warren: over to the region of Dalmanutha.
Rick Warren: When the
Intro Narrator: Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived,
Rick Warren: They came and started to argue with him, testing him. [00:14:00] They demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. When he heard this,
Intro Narrator: he sighed
Rick Warren: deeply in his spirit and said, Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous
Intro Narrator: sign? I tell you the
Rick Warren: truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.
Rick Warren: So he got back into the boat. And left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.
Intro Narrator: But the disciples
Rick Warren: had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, Watch out!
Intro Narrator: Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, and of Herod.
Intro Narrator: At this
Rick Warren: they began to argue with each other, because they hadn't brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so
Intro Narrator: he
Rick Warren: said, Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don't you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too
Intro Narrator: hard to take it [00:15:00] in? You have eyes, can't you see? You have ears, can't you hear?
Rick Warren: Don't you remember anything at all? When I fed the five thousand with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of
Intro Narrator: leftovers did you pick up afterward? Twelve, they said.
Rick Warren: And when I fed the four thousand with seven loaves, how many large baskets
Intro Narrator: of leftovers did you pick up? Seven, they said. Don't you understand
Rick Warren: yet?
Rick Warren: He asked them. When Bethsaida, Some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man's eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, Can you see anything now? The man looked around.
Intro Narrator: Yes, he said, I see people, but I can't see them
Rick Warren: very clearly. They look like trees walking around. [00:16:00] Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. Jesus sent him away, saying, Don't go back into the village on your way home.
Rick Warren: Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, Who do people say I am? Well, they replied, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets. Then he asked them, But who do you
Intro Narrator: say I am?
Intro Narrator: Peter replied, You are the Messiah.
Rick Warren: But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders. The leading [00:17:00] priests and the teachers of
Intro Narrator: religious law, he would be killed, but three days later, he would
Rick Warren: rise from the dead.
Rick Warren: As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter, get away from me, Satan. He said, you are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's. Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
Rick Warren: If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose
Intro Narrator: it. But if you give up your life for my
Rick Warren: sake, and for the sake of the good news, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul? [00:18:00] Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when He returns in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.
Rick Warren: Jesus went on to say, I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die. Before they see the kingdom of God arrive in great power.
Intro Narrator: Six days later,
Rick Warren: Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched,
Intro Narrator: Jesus
Rick Warren: appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them.
Rick Warren: Then, Elijah and Moses appeared, and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, Rabbi, it's wonderful for us to be here. [00:19:00] Let's make three shelters as memorials, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He said this because he didn't really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my dearly loved son.
Rick Warren: Listen to him. Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them. As they went back down the mountain, He told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept it to themselves. But they often asked each other what He meant by rising from the dead.
Rick Warren: Then they asked Him, Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes? Jesus responded, Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. [00:20:00] Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt? But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted.
Rick Warren: When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet Him. What is all this arguing about, Jesus asked. One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him.
Rick Warren: He is possessed by an evil spirit that won't let him talk, and whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.
Intro Narrator: So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't do it, Jesus [00:21:00] said to them.
Rick Warren: You faithless people.
Rick Warren: How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me. So they brought the boy.
Intro Narrator: But when the evil spirit saw Jesus,
Rick Warren: it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. How long has this been happening? Jesus asked the
Intro Narrator: boy's father.
Rick Warren: He replied, Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us if you can. What do you mean, if I can?
Intro Narrator: Jesus asked. Anything
Rick Warren: is possible if a person believes.
Intro Narrator: The father instantly cried out, I do believe,
Rick Warren: but help me overcome my unbelief.
Rick Warren: When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing,
Intro Narrator: he rebuked the
Rick Warren: evil spirit. Listen. [00:22:00] You spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak, he said. I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again. Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him.
Rick Warren: The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, He's dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to
Intro Narrator: his feet. Afterward,
Rick Warren: when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?
Intro Narrator: Jesus replied, This
Rick Warren: kind can be cast out only by prayer.
Rick Warren: Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to know He was there, for He wanted to spend more time with His disciples and teach them. He said to them, The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the [00:23:00] hands of His enemies.
Intro Narrator: He will be killed, but three days later He will
Rick Warren: rise from the dead.
Rick Warren: They didn't understand what He was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask Him what He meant. After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house,
Intro Narrator: Jesus asked His disciples, What were you discussing
Rick Warren: out on the road? But they didn't answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
Rick Warren: He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to Him, and said, Whoever wants to be first, This is the um, uh, this is the um, uh, this is the um, uh, transcript. welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me, but also my Father who sent me. John said
Intro Narrator: to [00:24:00] Jesus, Teacher.
Rick Warren: We saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop, because he wasn't in our group.
Rick Warren: Don't stop him, Jesus said. No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the
Intro Narrator: Messiah, I tell you the truth. That person
Rick Warren: will surely be rewarded.
Intro Narrator: But
Rick Warren: if you cause one of these little ones, who trusts in me, to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck.
Rick Warren: If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two
Intro Narrator: hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
Rick Warren: It's [00:25:00] better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet.
Intro Narrator: And if your
Rick Warren: eye causes you to sin, gouge it out.
Rick Warren: It's better to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two
Intro Narrator: eyes
Rick Warren: and be thrown into hell, where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out. For everyone
Intro Narrator: will be tested with fire. Salt is good for seasoning, but if it
Rick Warren: loses its flavor, How do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.
Rick Warren: Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again, crowds gathered around him, and as usual, he was teaching them. Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question. Should a
Intro Narrator: man be [00:26:00] allowed to divorce his wife?
Rick Warren: Jesus answered them with a question.
Rick Warren: What did Moses say in the law about
Intro Narrator: divorce? Well, he permitted it, they replied.
Rick Warren: He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away. But Jesus responded. He wrote this commandment. Only as a concession to your hard hearts, but God made them male and female from the beginning of creation.
Rick Warren: This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Since they are no longer two, but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together. Later, when he was alone with his
Intro Narrator: disciples in the house,
Rick Warren: they brought up the subject again. He told them, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery against her.
Rick Warren: And if a woman divorces her husband and [00:27:00] marries someone else, she commits adultery. One day, some parents brought their children to Jesus so He could touch and bless them.
Intro Narrator: But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering Him. When Jesus saw what was happening, He was
Rick Warren: angry with His disciples. He said to them, Let the children come to Me.
Rick Warren: 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 will never enter it. Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Rick Warren: Why do you call me good, Jesus asked.
Intro Narrator: Only God is truly good.
Rick Warren: But to answer your question, you know the [00:28:00] commandments. You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother. Teacher,
Intro Narrator: the man replied, I've
Rick Warren: obeyed all these commandments since I was young.
Rick Warren: Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. There is still one thing you haven't done, he told him. Go and sell all your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. At this the man's face fell, and he went away
Intro Narrator: sad, for
Rick Warren: he had many possessions.
Rick Warren: Jesus looked around and said to
Intro Narrator: his disciples, How hard it is
Rick Warren: for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. This amazed them. But Jesus said again, Dear children, it is very hard to enter the kingdom of God. [00:29:00] 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.
Rick Warren: The disciples were astounded. Then who in the world can be saved, they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, Humanly speaking, it is impossible, but not with God. Everything is possible with God. Then Peter began to speak up. We've given up everything to follow you, he said.
Intro Narrator: Yes, Jesus replied, And I assure you
Rick Warren: that everyone who has given up
Intro Narrator: house, or brothers, or sisters,
Rick Warren: or mother, or father, or children, or property, for my sake and for the good news, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses,
Intro Narrator: brothers, sisters,
Rick Warren: mothers, children, and property, along with persecution.[00:30:00]
Rick Warren: And in the world to come, that person will have eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then. And those who seem least important now will be the greatest then. They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear.
Rick Warren: Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to Him. Listen, He said, we're going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence Him to die and hand Him over to the Romans.
Rick Warren: They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him. But after three days
Intro Narrator: he will rise
Rick Warren: again. [00:31:00] Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him.
Intro Narrator: Teacher, they said, we want you to do us a favor. What is your request? he asked.
Rick Warren: They replied, when you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.
Rick Warren: But Jesus said to them, You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?
Intro Narrator: Are you able to be baptized with the
Rick Warren: baptism of suffering I
Intro Narrator: must be baptized with? Oh, yes, they replied,
Rick Warren: we are able. Then Jesus told them, You will indeed drink from my bitter cup, and be baptized with my baptism of suffering.
Rick Warren: But I have no right to say who will sit on
Intro Narrator: my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones
Rick Warren: he has chosen. When the ten other disciples heard what [00:32:00] James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers in
Intro Narrator: this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their
Rick Warren: authority over those under them.
Rick Warren: But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served,
Intro Narrator: but to serve others, and to give His life. As a ransom for many,
Rick Warren: then they reached
Intro Narrator: Jericho,
Rick Warren: and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him.
Rick Warren: A blind beggar named Bartimaeus,
Intro Narrator: son of Timaeus,
Rick Warren: was sitting
Intro Narrator: beside the road.
Rick Warren: When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout,
Intro Narrator: Jesus, son of David,
Rick Warren: have mercy on me. [00:33:00] Be quiet, many of the people yelled at him, but he only shouted louder, son of David, have mercy on me. When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, Tell him to come here.
Rick Warren: So they called the
Intro Narrator: blind man.
Rick Warren: Cheer up, they said. Come on, he's calling you. Bartimaeus threw aside
Intro Narrator: his coat, jumped up, and came to
Rick Warren: Jesus. What do you want me to do for you?
Intro Narrator: Jesus asked. My rabbi. The blind man said,
Rick Warren: I want to see, and Jesus said to him, Go,
Intro Narrator: for your faith has
Rick Warren: healed you. Instantly, the man could see, and he followed Jesus
Intro Narrator: down the road.
Intro Narrator: This concludes today's Immerse Reading Experience. Thank you for joining us.