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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
.
When Jesus had finished saying all this
to the people, He returned to Capernaum.
At that time, the highly valued slave of
a Roman officer was sick and near death.
When the officer heard about Jesus,
he sent some respected Jewish elders
to ask Him to come and heal his slave.
So they earnestly begged
Jesus to help the man.
If anyone deserves your help, He does,
they said, for He loves the Jewish
people and even built a synagogue for us.
So Jesus went with them, but just before
they arrived at the house, the officer
sent some friends to say, Lord, don't
trouble yourself by coming to my home,
for I am not worthy of such an honor.
I am not even worthy to come and meet you.
Just say the word from where you
are, and my servant will be healed.
I know this, because I am under the
authority of my superior officers,
and I have authority over my soldiers.
I only need to say, go, and
they go, or come, and they come.
And if I say to my slaves,
do this, they do it.
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed.
Turning to the crowd that was following
him, he said, I tell you, I haven't
seen faith like this in all Israel.
And when the officer's friends
returned to his house, They found
the slave completely healed.
Soon afterward, Jesus went with his
disciples to the village of Nain,
and a large crowd followed him.
A funeral procession was coming out
as he approached the village gate.
The young man who had died was a
widow's only son, and a large crowd
from the village was with her.
When the Lord saw her, his heart
overflowed with compassion.
Don't cry, he said.
Then he walked over to the coffin and
touched it, and the bearers stopped.
Young man, he said, I tell you, get up.
Then the dead boy sat up
and began to talk, and Jesus
gave him back to his mother.
Great fear swept the crowd, and
they praised God, saying, A mighty
prophet has risen among us, and
God has visited his people today.
And the news about Jesus spread throughout
Judea and the surrounding countryside.
The disciples of John the Baptist told
John about everything Jesus was doing, so
John called for two of his disciples, and
he sent them to the Lord to ask him, Are
you the Messiah we've been expecting, or
should we keep looking for someone else?
John's two disciples found Jesus
and said to Him, John the Baptist
sent us to ask, Are you the Messiah
we've been expecting, or should
we keep looking for someone else?
At that very time, Jesus cured many
people of their diseases, illnesses,
and evil spirits, and he restored
sight to many who were blind.
Then he told John's disciples,
Go back to John and tell him
what you have seen and heard.
The blind see, the lame walk, those with
leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised to life, and the good
news is being preached to the poor.
And he added, God blesses those
who do not fall away because of me.
After John's disciples left, Jesus
began talking about him to the crowds.
What kind of man did you go
into the wilderness to see?
Was he a weak reed, swayed
by every breath of wind?
Or were you expecting to see a
man dressed in expensive clothes?
No, people who wear beautiful clothes
and live in luxury are found in palaces.
Were you looking for a prophet?
Yes, and he is more than a prophet.
John is the man to whom the scriptures
refer when they say, Look, I am sending
my messenger ahead of you, and he
will prepare your way before you.
I tell you, of all who have ever
lived, none is greater than John,
yet even the least person in the
kingdom of God is greater than he is.
When they heard this, all the
people, even the tax collectors,
agreed that God's way was right,
for they had been baptized by John.
But the Pharisees and experts in religious
law rejected God's plan for them,
for they had refused John's baptism.
To what can I compare the
people of this generation?
Jesus asked.
How can I describe them?
They are like children playing
a game in the public square.
They complain to their friends.
We played wedding songs,
and you didn't dance.
So we played funeral
songs, and you didn't weep.
For John the Baptist didn't spend his
time eating bread or drinking wine.
And you say, he's possessed by a demon.
The Son of Man, on the other
hand, feasts and drinks.
And you say, he's a glutton and
a drunkard, and a friend of tax
collectors and other sinners.
But wisdom is shown to be right by
the lives of those who follow it.
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to
have dinner with him, so Jesus went
to his home and sat down to eat.
When a certain immoral woman from
that city heard he was eating there,
she brought a beautiful alabaster
jar filled with expensive perfume.
Then she knelt behind
him at his feet, weeping.
Her tears fell on his feet, and
she wiped them off with her hair.
Then she kept kissing his feet
and putting perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him
saw this, he said to himself, If this
man were a prophet, he would know
what kind of woman is touching him.
She's a sinner.
Then Jesus answered his thoughts.
Simon, he said to the Pharisee,
I have something to say to you.
Go ahead, teacher, Simon replied.
Then Jesus told him this story.
A man loaned money to two people,
500 pieces of silver to one
and 50 pieces to the other, but
neither of them could repay him.
So he kindly forgave them
both, cancelling their debts.
Who do you suppose loved
him more after that?
Simon answered, I suppose the one for
whom he cancelled the larger debt.
That's right, Jesus said.
Then he turned to the woman and said to
Simon, Look at this woman kneeling here.
When I entered your home, you didn't offer
me water to wash the dust from my feet.
But she has washed them with her
tears, and wiped them with her hair.
You didn't greet me with a kiss,
but from the time I first came in,
she has not stopped kissing my feet.
You neglected the courtesy of olive
oil to anoint my head, but she has
anointed my feet with rare perfume.
I tell you, her sins, And they
are many, have been forgiven.
So she has shown me much love.
But a person who is forgiven
little, shows only little love.
Then Jesus said to the woman,
Your sins are forgiven.
The men at the table said among
themselves, Who is this man, that
he goes around forgiving sins?
And Jesus said to the woman,
Your faith has saved you.
Go in peace.
Oliver: This concludes today's
Immerse Reading Experience.
Thank you for joining us.