CHAPTER 15

After Jesus finished his final teaching in Capernaum, he left Galilee and began walking toward Jerusalem because the time for his ascension back to heaven was getting close.

When Jesus began to walk toward Jerusalem he sent messengers ahead of him. They went into a Samaritan village to prepare for the arrival of Jesus. But the Samaritans would not welcome him, because he was traveling to Jerusalem. When the apostles James and John saw this, they asked Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to call fire of judgment down from heaven to destroy them?” Jesus was upset. He turned and rebuked them.

Then Jesus and his disciples walked east into the region of the Jews in Perea on the other side of the Jordan River. And a large crowd of people followed Jesus, and he taught them and healed those who were sick.

As Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road in Perea, a religious leader came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Jesus said to another disciple, “Follow me!” But the disciple said to Jesus, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father when he dies.” Jesus said to him, “No, follow me and go proclaim the kingdom of God.”

And another man said to Jesus, “Lord, I will follow you, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is ready to serve in the kingdom of God.”

Then Jesus chose 72 from the crowd of disciples and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town he would pass through in the region of Perea on his way to Jerusalem.

Before they left, Jesus said to them, “There is an abundant harvest, but there are only a few workers to gather it in. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. Go now! I send you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a money bag or extra sandals; and do not stop to greet anyone along the road. When you enter a home say, ‘God’s peace be on this home.’ If a person of peace lives there, your blessing of peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay only in that home and do not move around from house to house; eat and drink whatever is given you. When you enter a town and are welcomed, heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has arrived.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, stand in its streets and declare, ‘We wipe the dirt of your town from our feet as a warning to you. You can be sure of this: It will be much better on the day of God’s judgment for Sodom than for that town.”

Then Jesus turned to his disciples and denounced the Jewish towns around Lake Galilee that they had just left. It was in these towns where Jesus did most of his miracles, but they refused to repent and turn to God. Jesus declared: “How terrible it will be for the Jewish towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles that I did in you were done in the non-Jewish cities of Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago. But I tell you the truth: It will be better for Tyre and Sidon on the day of God’s judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? Absolutely not! You will go down to the realm of the dead! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would still exist today. I tell you the truth: It will be better for Sodom on the day of God’s judgment than for you.”

Then Jesus said, “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me into the world.”

After their mission journey, the 72 disciples returned full of joy and said to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons obey what we say in your name.” Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan fall like a lightning bolt from heaven. I gave you God’s authority to walk over snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of Satan our enemy; nothing can hurt you! However, do not rejoice that demons obey your commands, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

At that time Jesus was full of joy through the Holy Spirit and prayed: “I praise you, Father—Lord of heaven and earth—because you have hidden these things from the wise and educated, and have re- vealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will and good pleasure.”

Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “All things have been given to me by the Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Blessed are your eyes because you see what you see. For I tell you the truth: Many prophets and kings wanted to see and hear what you have. But they did not see or hear what you have seen and heard.”

Then suddenly a religious leader spoke up to test Jesus. He asked him, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law of Moses? How do you understand what it says?” The man said, “It is written in Deuteronomy 6:5, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,’ and in Leviticus 19:18, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus said, “Very good, your answer is correct; do this and you will live.”

But then the religious leader became shaken and wanted to prove that he was a righteous person. He asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” So Jesus told him this story of the Good Samaritan: “A man was walking down the road that leads from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was at- tacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there nearly dead. A Jewish temple priest walked down the same road, but when he saw the dying man, he passed by him on the other side of the road.

Another temple priest walked down the same road and saw the dying man, but he passed by him on the other side of the road. But when a Samaritan walked down that road and saw the dying man, he had compassion on him. He poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then, putting him on his donkey, he took the man to a hotel and took care of him. The next day the Samaritan paid the hotel manager two coins, and told him, ‘Take care of him, and when I return from my journey I will pay you for any extra costs you may have.’”

Then Jesus asked the religious leader, “Which of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?” He said, “The one who had compassion for him and showed him mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “You are right, now go and do the same for others.”