Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 58.
that same day, Jesus was approached by some Sadducees religious leaders who say
there is no resurrection from the dead.
They posed this question, teacher Moses said, if a man dies without
children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who
would carry on the brother's name.
Well, suppose there were seven brothers.
The oldest one married and then died without children.
So his brother married the widow, but the second brother also died
and the third brother married her.
This continued with all seven of them.
Last of all, the woman also died.
So tell us whose wife will she be in the resurrection for all seven.
Were married to her.
Jesus replied.
Your mistake is that you don't know the scriptures and you don't know the
power of God for when the dead rise.
They will neither marry nor be given in marriage.
In this respect.
They will be like the angels in heaven.
But now as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead, haven't you
ever read about this in the scriptures?
Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, I am the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
So he is the God of the living, not the dead.
When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching, but when the
Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they
met together to question him again.
One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question,
teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses.
Jesus replied, you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,
all your soul, and all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
A second is equally important.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
The entire law in all the demands of the prophets are
based on these two commandments.
Then surrounded by the Pharisees.
Jesus asked them a question, what do you think about the Messiah?
Whose son is he?
They replied, he is the son of David.
Jesus responded.
Then why does David speaking under the inspiration of the spirit?
Call the Messiah my Lord, for David said, the Lord said to my Lord, sit in the
place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.
Since David called the Messiah, my Lord, how can the Messiah be his son?
No one could answer him.
And after that, No one dared to ask him any more questions.
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, the teachers of religious
law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.
So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example.
For, they don't practice what they teach.
They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift
a finger to ease the burden.
Everything they do is for show on their arms.
They wear extra wide prayer boxes with scripture verses inside, and
they wear robes with extra long tassels, and they love to sit at the
head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues.
They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the
marketplaces and to be called Rabbi.
Don't let anyone call you Rabbi, for you have only one teacher, and all of you are
equal as brothers and sisters and don't address anyone here on Earth as father.
For only God in heaven is your father.
And don't let anyone call you teacher for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.
The greatest among you must be a servant, but those who exalt
themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
What sorrow awaits you?
Teachers of religious law and you, pharisees, hypocrites, for
you shut the door of the Kingdom of heaven and people's faces.
You won't go in yourselves and you don't let others enter either.
What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you, pharisees,
hypocrites, for you cross land and seed to make one convert and then you turn
that person into twice the child of hell.
You yourselves are blind guides.
What sorrow awaits you?
For you say that it means nothing to swear by God's temple, but that it is binding
to swear by the gold in the temple.
Blind fools, which is more important, the gold or the temple
that makes the gold sacred.
And you say that to swear by the altar is not binding, but to swear
by the gifts on the altar is binding.
How blind for which is more important, the gift on the altar or the
altar that makes the gift sacred.
When you swear by the altar, you are swearing by it and by everything on it.
And when you swear by the temple, you are swearing by it and by God who lives in it.
And when you swear by heaven, you are swearing by the throne of God
and by God who sits on the throne.
What's sorrow awaits you?
Teachers of religious law and you, Pharisees.
Hypocrites for you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb
gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law, justice, mercy,
and faith, you should tithe yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
Blind guides.
You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a
net, but you swallow a camel.
What sorrow awaits you?
Teachers of religious law and you, pharisees, hypocrites, for you are so
careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy
full of greed and self-indulgence.
You blind Pharisee first wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and
then the outside will become clean too.
What sorrow awaits you.
Teachers of religious law and you, pharisees, hypocrites, for you are
like whitewashed tombs beautiful on the outside, but filled on
the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity.
Outwardly, you look like righteous people, but inwardly, your hearts are
filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you pharisees,
hypocrites, for you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed
and you decorate the monuments of the godly people, your ancestors destroyed.
Then you say, if we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never
have joined them in killing the prophets.
But in saying that you testify against yourselves, that you
are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started.
Snakes Sons of Vipers.
How will you escape the judgment of hell?
Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law.
But you will kill some by crucifixion and you will flog others
with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.
As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of
all godly people of all time.
From the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah, son of Barak
Kaya, whom you killed in the temple between the sanctuary and the altar.
I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this
very generation, oh, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones, God's messengers.
How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a, he
protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.
And now look, your house is abandoned and desolate.
For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say blessings on the
one who comes in the name of the Lord.
As Jesus was leaving the temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him
the various temple buildings, but he responded, do you see all these buildings?
I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished.
Not one stone will be left on top of another.
Later.
Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives.
His disciples came to him privately and said, tell us when will all this happen?
What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?
Jesus told them, don't let anyone mislead you.
For many will come in my name, claiming I am the Messiah.
They will deceive many and you will hear of wars and threats of wars.
But don't panic.
Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately.
Nation will go to war against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world, but all this
is only the first of the birth pains.
With more to come, then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed.
You'll be hated all over the world because you are my followers.
Many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other, and many false prophets
will appear and will deceive many people.
Sin will be rampant everywhere and the love of many will grow cold, but the one
who endures to the end will be saved.
And the good news about the kingdom will be preached throughout the
whole world so that all nations will hear it, and then the end will come.
The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke
about, the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the
holy place reader, pay attention.
Then those in Judea must flee to the hills.
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 even to get a coat.
How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days.
And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath, for
there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began,
and it will never be so great again.
And in fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person
will survive, but it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones.
Then if anyone tells you, look, here is the Messiah, or
there he is, don't believe it.
For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs
and wonders, so as to deceive if possible, even God's chosen ones.
See, I have warned you about this ahead of time, so if someone tells you,
look, the Messiah is out in the desert.
Don't bother to go and look or look.
He is hiding here.
Don't believe it for as the lightning flashes in the east and
shines to the west, so it will be when the son of man comes.
Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these
signs indicate that the end is near.
Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened.
The moon will give no light.
The stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
And then at last, the sign that the son of man is coming will appear in the
heavens and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth.
And they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory, and he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet.
And they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world, from the
farthest ends of the earth in heaven.
Now, learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branches, bud and its leaves begin to sprout.
You know that summer is near in the same way.
When you see all these things, you can know his return is
very near right at the door.
I tell you the truth.
This generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.
Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen.
Not even the angels in heaven or the son himself.
Only the father knows.
When the son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day.
In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets
and parties and weddings.
Right up to the time Noah entered his boat.
People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood
came and swept them all away.
That is the way it will be when the son of man comes.
Two men will be working together in the field.
One will be taken the other left.
Two women will be grinding flour at the mill.
One will be taken the other left, so you too must keep watch for you don't
know what day your Lord is coming.
Understand this, if a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was
coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into.
You also must be ready all the time for the son of man
will come when least expected.
A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the
responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.
If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good
job, there will be a reward.
I tell you the truth.
The master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.
But what if the servant is evil and thinks my master won't be back for a while?
And he begins beating the other servants, partying and getting drunk.
The master will return unannounced and unexpected and he will cut the servant
to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites and that place there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 bridesmaids who took their
lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The five who were foolish didn't take enough olive oil for their
lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.
When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep At
midnight, they were aroused by the shout Look, the bridegroom is coming.
Come out and meet him.
All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps.
Then the five foolish ones asked the others, please give us some of your
oil because our lamps are going out.
But the others replied, we don't have enough for all of us.
Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.
But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came.
Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage
feast, and the door was locked.
Later when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside calling
Lord, Lord, open the door for us.
But he called back, believe me, I don't know you, so you
too must keep watch for you.
Do not know the day or hour of my return.
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story
of a man going on a long trip.
He called together his servants and entrusted his money
to them while he was gone.
He gave five bags of silver to one two bags of silver to another, and one
bag of silver to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities.
He then left on his trip.
The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest
the money and earned five more.
The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two
more, but the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in
the ground and hid the master's money.
After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to give an
account of how they had used his money.
The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver.
Came forward with five more and said, master, you gave me five bags of silver
to invest and I have earned five more.
The master was full of praise.
Well done.
My good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will
give you many more responsibilities.
Let's celebrate together.
The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said,
master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest and I have earned two more.
The master said, well done.
My good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will
give you many more responsibilities.
Let's celebrate together.
Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, master, I knew
you were a harsh man harvesting crops.
You didn't plant and gathering crops you didn't cultivate.
I was afraid I would lose your money.
So I hid it in the earth.
Look, here is your money back, but the master replied.
You wicked and lazy servant.
If you knew I harvested crops, I didn't plant and gathered
crops I didn't cultivate.
Why didn't you deposit my money in the bank?
At least I could have gotten some interest on it.
Then he ordered, take the money from this servant and give it to the one with
the 10 bags of silver to those who use.
Well, what they are given even more will be given and they will have an abundance.
But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.
Now, throw this useless servant into outer darkness where there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
But when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then
he will sit upon his glorious throne.
All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will
separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my
father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
For, I was hungry and you fed me.
I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.
I was a stranger and you invited me into your home.
I was naked and you gave me clothing.
I was sick, and you cared for me.
I was in prison and you visited me.
Then these righteous ones will reply.
Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and
give you something to drink or a stranger and show you hospitality
or naked and give you clothing?
When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?
And the king will say, I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of
the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me.
Then the king will turn to those on the left and say, away with you, you
cursed ones into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons
for I was hungry and you didn't feed me.
I was thirsty, and you didn't give me a drink.
I was a stranger and you didn't invite me into your home.
I was naked and you didn't give me clothing.
I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.
Then they will reply.
Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger or naked,
or sick or in prison and not help you?
And he will answer.
I tell you the truth.
When you refused to help the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were
refusing to help me and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the
righteous will go into eternal life.
This concludes today's Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.