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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 70
it was now winter and Jesus was in
Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah,
the Festival of Dedication.
He was in the temple walking through
the section known as Solomon's Colonate.
The people surrounded him and asked, how
long are you going to keep us in suspense?
If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.
Jesus replied, I have already told you.
And you don't Believe me, the proof
is the work I do in my father's
name, but you don't believe me
because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice.
I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life
and they will never perish.
No one can snatch them away from me,
for my father has given them to me, and
he is more powerful than anyone else.
No one can snatch them
from the father's hand.
The father and I are one.
Once again, the people
picked up stones to kill him.
Jesus said, at my father's direction,
I have done many good works for
which one are you going to stone me?
They replied, we're stoning you.
Not for any good work, but for blasphemy.
You, a mere man claimed to be God.
Jesus replied.
It is written in your own scriptures
that God said to certain leaders of the
people, I say, you are Gods, and you know
that the scriptures cannot be altered.
So if those people who received
God's message were called Gods,
why do you call it blasphemy?
When I say I am the son of God,
after all, the Father set me
apart and sent me into the world.
Don't believe me unless I
carry out my father's work.
But if I do his work, believe
in the evidence of the
miraculous works I have done.
Even if you don't believe me, then
you will know and understand that
the father is in me, and I am in the
Father Once again, they tried to arrest
him, but he got away and left them.
He went beyond the Jordan River,
near the place where John was
first baptizing and stayed there
a while, and many followed him.
John didn't perform miraculous signs.
They were marked to one
another, but everything he said
about this man has come true.
And many who were there believed in Jesus.
A man named Lazarus was sick.
He lived in Bethany with his
sisters, Mary and Martha.
This is the Mary who later poured
the expensive perfume on the Lord's
feet and wiped them with her hair.
Her brother Lazarus was sick.
So the two sisters sent a message
to Jesus telling him, Lord,
your dear friend is very sick.
But when Jesus heard about it, he said,
Lazarus sickness will not end in death.
No, it happened for the glory
of God so that the Son of God
will receive glory from this.
So although Jesus loved Martha,
Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where
he was for the next two days.
Finally, he said to his
disciples, let's go back to Judea.
But his disciples objected.
Rabbi, they said only a few days ago that
people in Judea were trying to stone you.
Are you going there again?
Jesus replied, there are 12 hours of
daylight every day during the day.
People can walk safely.
They can see because they
have the light of this world.
But at night there is danger of
stumbling because they have no light.
Then he said, our friend
Lazarus has fallen asleep, but
now I will go and wake him up.
The disciples said, Lord, if he is
sleeping, he will soon get better.
They thought Jesus meant
Lazarus was simply sleeping, but
Jesus meant Lazarus had died.
So he told them plainly, Lazarus
is dead, and for your sakes,
I'm glad I wasn't there for now.
You will really believe.
Come let's go see him.
Thomas nicknamed the twin,
said to his fellow disciples,
let's go to and die with Jesus.
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he
was told that Lazarus had already
been in his grave for four days.
Bethany was only a few miles down
the road from Jerusalem and many
of the people had come to console
Martha and Mary in their loss.
When Martha got word that Jesus
was coming, she went to meet him.
But Mary stayed in the house.
Martha said to Jesus, Lord,
if only you had been here, my
brother would not have died.
But even now, I know that God
will give you whatever you ask.
Jesus told her, your
brother will rise again.
Yes.
Martha said, he will rise
when everyone else rises.
At the last day, Jesus told her, I
am the resurrection and the life.
Anyone who believes in me
will live even after dying.
Dying.
Everyone who lives in me and
believes in me will never, ever die.
Do you believe this Martha?
Yes, Lord.
She told him, I have always believed you
are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one
who has come into the world from God.
Then she returned to Mary.
She called Mary aside from the
mourners and told her, the teacher
is here and wants to see you.
So Mary immediately went to him.
Jesus had stayed outside the village
at the place where Martha met him.
When the people who were at the house
consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily,
they assumed she was going to Lazarus
grave to weep, so they followed her there.
When Mary arrived and saw Jesus,
she fell at his feet and said,
Lord, if only you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
When Jesus saw her weeping and
saw the other people wailing with
her, A deep anger welled up within
him, and he was deeply troubled.
Where have you put him?
He asked them.
They told him, Lord, come and see.
Then Jesus wept.
The people who were standing nearby
said, see how much he loved him?
But some said, this
man healed a blind man.
Couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying?
Jesus was still angry as
he arrived at the tomb.
A cave with a stone rolled
across its entrance.
Roll the stone aside.
Jesus told them, but Martha, the
dead man's sister protested Lord,
he has been dead for four days.
The smell will be terrible.
Jesus responded.
Didn't I tell you that you would
see God's glory if you believe?
So they rolled the stone aside.
Then Jesus looked up to heaven and
said, father, thank you for hearing me.
You always hear me, but I said
it out loud for the sake of all
these people standing here, so
that they will believe you sent me.
Then Jesus shouted, Lazarus come
out and the dead man came out.
His hands and feet bound in grave clothes.
His face wrapped in a head cloth.
Jesus told them, unwrap
him and let him go.
Many of the people who were with Mary
believed in Jesus when they saw this
happen, but some went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
Then the leading priests and Pharisees
called the high counsel together.
What are we going to do?
They asked each other.
This man certainly performs
many miraculous signs.
If we allow him to go on like this
soon, everyone will believe in him.
Then the Roman army will come and
destroy both our temple and our nation.
Caiaphas who was high priest
at that time said, you don't
know what you're talking about.
You don't realize that
it's better for you.
That one man should die for the people
than for the whole nation to be destroyed.
He did not say this on his own
as high priest at that time.
He was led to prophesy that Jesus
would die for the entire nation, and
not only for that nation, but to bring
together and unite all the children
of God scattered around the world.
So from that time on, the Jewish
leaders began to plot Jesus' death.
As a result, Jesus stopped
his public ministry among the
people and left Jerusalem.
He went to a place near the wilderness
to the village of Ephraim and
stayed there with his disciples.
It was now almost time for the Jewish
Passover celebration, and many people
from all over the country arrived in
Jerusalem several days early so they
could go through the purification
ceremony before Passover began, they
kept looking for Jesus, but as they
stood around in the temple, they said
to each other, what do you think?
He won't come for Passover, will he?
Meanwhile, the leading priests and
Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone
seeing Jesus must report it immediately
so they could arrest him Six days before
the Passover celebration began, Jesus
arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus,
the man he had raised from the dead.
A dinner was prepared in Jesus' honor.
Martha served, and Lazarus was
among those who ate with him.
Then Mary took a 12 ounce jar of
expensive perfume made from essence
of Nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet
with it, wiping his feet with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance,
but Judas Ascat, the disciple who
would soon betray him, said that
perfume was worth a year's wages.
It should have been sold, and
the money given to the poor.
Not that he cared for the poor.
He was a thief, and since he was
in charge of the disciple's money,
he often stole some for himself.
Jesus replied, leave her alone.
She did this in preparation for my burial.
You will always have the poor among
you, but you will not always have me.
When all of the people heard of
Jesus' arrival, they flocked to see
him and also to see Lazarus, the
man Jesus had raised from the dead.
Then the leading priests decided to kill
Lazarus too, for it was because of him
that many of the people had deserted
them and believed in Jesus the next day.
The news that Jesus was on the way
to Jerusalem, swept through the city.
A large crowd of Passover
visitors took palm branches and
went down the road to meet him.
They shouted, praise God, blessings on
the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hail to the king of Israel.
Jesus found a young donkey and wrote on
it, fulfilling the prophecy that said,
don't be afraid people of Jerusalem.
Look, your king is coming
riding on a donkey's, colt.
His disciples didn't understand at
the time that this was a fulfillment
of prophecy, but after Jesus entered
into his glory, they remembered what
had happened and realized that these
things had been written about him.
Many in the crowd had seen Jesus
call Lazarus from the tomb,
raising him from the dead, and
they were telling others about it.
That was the reason so many went
out to meet him because they had
heard about this miraculous sign.
Then the Pharisees said to each
other, there's nothing we can do.
Look, everyone has gone after him.
Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem
for the Passover celebration
paid a visit to Philip, who
was from Beth Sayda in Galilee.
They said, sir, we want to meet Jesus.
Philip told Andrew about it, and
they went together to ask Jesus.
Jesus replied.
Now the time has come for the son
of man to enter into his glory.
I tell you the truth.
Unless a kernel of wheat is planted in
the soil and dies, it remains alone,
but its death will produce many new
kernels, a plentiful harvest of new lives.
Those who love their life
in this world will lose it.
Those who care nothing for their life
in this world will keep it for eternity.
Anyone who wants to serve me must
follow me because my servants
must be where I am and the Father
will honor anyone who serves me.
Now, my soul is deeply troubled.
Should I pray, father, save me from this
hour, but this is the very reason I came.
Father, bring glory to your name.
Then a voice spoke from heaven saying.
I have already brought glory to
my name and I will do so again.
When the crowd heard the voice,
some thought it was thunder while
others declared an angel had spoken
to him, then Jesus told them the
voice was for your benefit, not mine.
The time for judging this world has come.
When Satan, the ruler of this world, will
be cast out and when I am lifted up from
the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.
He said this to indicate
how he was going to die.
The crowd responded.
We understood from scripture that
the Messiah would live forever.
How can you say the son of man will die?
Just who is this son of man?
Anyway.
Jesus replied, my light will shine
for you just a little longer.
Walk in the light while you can, so
the darkness will not overtake you.
Those who walk in the darkness
cannot see where they're going.
Put your trust in the light.
While there is still time, then
you'll become children of the light.
After saying these things, Jesus
went away and was hidden from them.
But despite all the miraculous
signs Jesus had done, most of the
people still did not believe in him.
This is exactly what Isaiah
the prophet had predicted.
Lord, who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord
revealed his powerful arm?
But the people couldn't believe for.
As Isaiah also said, the Lord has blinded
their eyes and hardened their hearts so
that their eyes cannot see, and their
hearts cannot understand, and they
cannot turn to me and have me heal them.
Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he
said this because he saw the future
and spoke of the Messiah's glory.
Many people did believe in him, however,
including some of the Jewish leaders,
but they wouldn't admit it for fear
that the Pharisees would expel them
from the synagogue for they loved human
praise more than the praise of God.
Jesus shouted to the crowds, if you trust
me, you are trusting not only me, but
also God who sent me for when you see
me, you are seeing the one who sent me.
I have come as a light to shine in this
dark world so that all who put their trust
in me will no longer remain in the dark.
I will not judge those who
hear me, but don't obey me.
For I have come to save the world and
not to judge it, but all who reject me
and my message will be judged on the day
of judgment by the truth, I have spoken.
I don't speak on my own authority.
The father who sent me has commanded
me what to say and how to say it, and I
know his commands lead to eternal life.
So I say whatever the
father tells me to say, I.
This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.