Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 56
one day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus demanding that
he showed them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
He replied, you know the saying, red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow.
Red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.
You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don't know
how to interpret the signs of the times.
Only an evil adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign,
but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Then Jesus left them and went away.
Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered
they had forgotten to bring any bread.
Watch out.
Jesus warned them.
Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees at this.
They began to argue with each other because they hadn't brought any bread.
Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, you have so little faith.
Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread?
Don't you understand?
Even yet, don't you remember the 5,000 IED with five loaves and the baskets of
leftovers you picked up, or the 4,000 IED with seven loaves and the large
baskets of leftovers you picked up?
Why can't you understand that?
I'm not talking about bread.
So again, I say beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Then at last, they understood that he wasn't speaking about the yeast
and bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who
do people say that the son of man is?
Well, They replied.
Some say John the Baptist.
Some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.
Then he asked them, but who do you say I am?
Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah.
The Son of the living God, Jesus replied.
You are blessed Simon, son of John, because my father in
heaven has revealed this to you.
You did not learn this from any human being.
Now I say to you that you are Peter, which means rock.
And upon this rock I will build my church and all the powers of hell will
not conquer it, and I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven and
whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
From then on, Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary
for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things
at the hands of the elders, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law.
He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.
Heaven forbid, Lord.
He said, this will never happen to you.
Jesus turned to Peter and said, get away from me Satan.
You are a dangerous trap to me.
You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, if any of you wants to be my follower,
you must give up your own way.
Take up your cross and follow me.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.
But if you give up your life, for my sake, you will save it.
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
Is anything worth more than your soul?
For the son of Man will come with his angels and the glory of his father
and will judge all people according to their deeds, and I tell you the truth.
Some standing here right now will not die before they see the son
of man coming in his kingdom.
Six days later, Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and
led them up a high mountain to be alone.
As the men watched Jesus appearance was transformed so that his
face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light.
Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus, Peter Exclaimed.
Lord, it's wonderful for us to be here.
If you want, I'll make three shelters as memorials, one for you,
one for Moses and one for Elijah.
But even as he spoke, a bright cloud, overshadowed them, and a voice from the
cloud said, this is my dearly loved son.
Who brings me great joy.
Listened to him.
The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.
Then Jesus came over and touched them.
Get up.
He said, don't be afraid.
And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus
as they went back down the mountain.
Jesus commanded them.
Don't tell anyone what you have seen until the son of man
has been raised from the dead.
Then his disciples asked him, why do the teachers of religious
law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?
Jesus replied, Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready, but
I tell you, Elijah has already come.
But he wasn't recognized and they chose to abuse him, and in the same way, they
will also make the son of man suffer.
Then the disciples realized he was talking about John the Baptist
at the foot of the mountain.
A large crowd was waiting for them.
A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, Lord, have mercy on my son.
He has seizures and suffers terribly.
He often falls into the fire or into the water.
So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him.
Jesus said, you faithless and corrupt people.
How long must I be with you?
How long must I put up with you?
Bring the boy here to me.
Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him.
From that moment, the boy was well.
Afterward.
The disciples asked Jesus privately, why couldn't we cast out that demon?
You don't have enough faith.
Jesus told them.
I tell you the truth.
If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say
to this mountain, move from here to there, and it would move.
Nothing would be impossible.
After they gathered again in Galilee.
Jesus told them, the son of man is going to be betrayed
into the hands of his enemies.
He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.
And the disciples were filled with grief on their arrival and Capernaum,
the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and asked him, doesn't
your teacher pay the temple tax?
Yes, he does.
Peter replied, Then he went into the house, but before he had
a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, what do you think Peter?
Do Kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?
They tax the people they have conquered?
Peter replied, well, then Jesus said, the citizens are free, however, we
don't want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line.
Open the mouth of the first fish you catch and you will find a large silver coin.
Take it and pay the tax for both of us.
About that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, who is
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.
Then he said, I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and
become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.
But if you cause one of these little ones who trust in me to fall into sin,
It would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck
and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
What sorrow awaits the world because it tempts people to sin.
Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the
person who does the tempting.
So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.
It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot
than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet.
And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.
It's better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes
and be thrown into the fire of hell.
Beware that you don't look down on any of these little ones.
For, I tell you that in heaven, their angels are always in the
presence of my Heavenly Father.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do?
Won't he leave the 99 others on the hills and go out to
search for the one that is lost?
And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice
over it more than over the 99.
That didn't wander away in the same way.
It is not my Heavenly Father's will that even one of these
little ones should perish.
If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense.
If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.
But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back
again so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.
If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church.
Then if he or she won't accept the church's decision, treat that person
as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.
I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden
in heaven and whatever you permit on Earth will be permitted in heaven.
I also tell you this.
If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my
father in heaven will do it for you.
For where?
Two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.
Then Peter came to him and asked, Lord, how often should I forgive
someone who sins against me?
Seven times.
No, not seven times.
Jesus replied, but 70 times seven.
Therefore the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who decided to
bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.
In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who
owed him millions of dollars.
He couldn't pay.
So his master ordered that he be sold along with his wife, his children, and
everything he owned to pay the debt.
But the man fell down before his master and begged him.
Please be patient with me and I will pay it all.
Then his master was filled with pity for him and he released
him and forgave his debt.
But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who
owed him a few thousand dollars.
He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time.
Be patient with me and I will pay it.
He pleaded.
But his creditor wouldn't wait.
He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset.
They went to the king and told him everything that had happened.
Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, you evil servant.
I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.
Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant?
Just as I had mercy on you?
Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until
he had paid his entire debt.
That's what my Heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your
brothers and sisters from your heart.
This concludes today's Immer Reading Experience.
Thank you for joining us.