CHAPTER 18

Because the Jewish religious leaders were making plans to kill him, Jesus would not walk around openly among the people in Jerusalem. So Jesus and his disciples left and traveled to the village of Ephraim, about 15 miles north of Jerusalem. From Ephraim, Jesus began walking back toward Jerusalem along the border between Galilee and Samaria.

As Jesus was going into a village, 10 men with a severe skin disease met him. They stood at a dis- tance and yelled out, “Jesus, have mercy on us!” When Jesus saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the temple priests in Jerusalem.” As the 10 men were going to the temple priests, they were healed. One man saw that he was healed, and so he went back to Jesus, praising God in a loud voice. He was a Samaritan and threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Jesus asked him, “I healed 10 of you. Where are the other nine? No one has come back to praise God except this for- eign Samaritan.” Then Jesus said to the Samaritan man, “Stand up and go; your faith has healed you.”

At this time some religious leaders asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus said to them, “The kingdom of God is not something that you can see with your eyes, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you—it is in your midst.”

When Jesus was alone with his disciples he told them, “The time is coming when you will want to see the Son of Man, but you will not see him. People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ But do not run after them or follow them. For the coming of the Son of Man will be like flashes of lightning that will light up the sky from one end to the other. But first the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the religious leaders of Israel. Just as it was in the time of Noah, so also will it be in the time of the Son of Man. At the time of Noah people were eating, drinking, and marrying up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the time of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, and planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur thundered down from heaven and destroyed them all. And this is how it will be on the day the Son of Man comes.

Then Jesus told his disciples that they should always pray and never give up. He told them this story, “In a certain town there was a judge who did not fear God or care about people. But there was a widow in that town who kept going to the judge pleading, ‘Give me justice against my enemy.’ For a long time the judge refused to listen, but finally he said to himself, ‘I do not fear God or care about people, but because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she won’t one day come back and attack me!’”

And the Lord said to his disciples, “Listen to what this unjust judge said. Will not God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he continue to ignore them? I tell you the truth: God will give justice to them, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Because some people trusted in their own righteousness and looked down with religious pride on everyone else, Jesus told this story: “Two men went up into the temple to pray—one was a religious leader and the other was a tax collector. The religious leader stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like sinners—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even lift his eyes to God, but beat his chest and prayed, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth: This tax collector is the only one who went home in a right relationship with God. Believe me, whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Some religious leaders who opposed Jesus came to test him. They asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” Jesus said to them, “What did Moses teach you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and send his wife away.”

Jesus said, “Moses wrote you this command because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning of creation. From the beginning of creation, God ‘created them male and female,’ as it is written in Genesis 1:27. And it is written in Genesis 2:24, ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one body. I tell you the truth: They are no longer two in marriage, but one body. Therefore, what God joined together as one, let no one separate.” I tell you the truth: A man who divorces his wife—except for marital unfaithfulness—and marries an- other woman commits adultery.”

When they were alone with Jesus in a house, the disciples asked him about his teaching on divorce. Jesus said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries again commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries again, she commits adultery.” The disciples said to Jesus, “If what you taught is true between a husband and wife, then it is better not to marry.”

Jesus said, “Not everyone can accept my teaching, but only to those who have been given understanding. For there are some men who are spiritually gifted not to marry, there are some men who have been made eunuchs by being castrated, and there are some men who choose not to marry for the sake of the kingdom of God. Whoever can accept my teaching should receive it.”

Then some people brought little children to Jesus for they wanted him to put his hands on them and pray for them. But when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them and told the people to stop bringing children to Jesus. When Jesus saw this he became very angry. Then he called the children around him and told his disciples, “Let these little children come to me. Do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to them. I tell you the truth: Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Jesus took the little children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them. Then he left that place.

As Jesus was walking along the road toward Jerusalem, a young ruler ran and fell on his knees before Jesus. He asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to enter eternal life?” Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? Why do you ask me about what is good? God is the only one who is good. If you want to enter eternal life, then keep God’s commandments. You know God’s commandments.”

The man asked Jesus, “Which commandments?” Jesus said, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said, “Teacher, I have kept all of these commandments since I was a boy. What else must I do?” Jesus looked at him and loved him. When Jesus heard his answer, he said to him, “There is one thing that you lack. If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you own, give it to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. After you do this, come and follow me.”

When the young ruler heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich.

Seeing the sadness on the face of the young ruler, Jesus looked around at his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth: It is hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the hole of a sewing needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard Jesus, they were as- tonished. And then they asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved? Jesus stared at his disciples and said, “For humans this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Then Peter was flustered and said to Jesus, “What about us? We have left everything to follow you! What is our reward?” Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever has left houses, father, mother, brothers, sis- ters, wife, children or lands for my sake and the kingdom of God, will receive 100 times more in this present age and eternal life in the age to come. But many people who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. I tell you the truth: At the creation of a new heaven and earth, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.”

Then Jesus spoke to them about the kingdom of God.

He said, “The kingdom of God is like a landowner who went out before 6 a.m. to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a day’s wage and sent them into his vineyard. Then the landowner went out again about 9 a.m. and saw men standing in the public market doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also can go and work in my vine- yard, and I will pay you a day’s wage.’ So they went out to work.

“Then the landowner went out around noon and again at 3 p.m. and hired more workers. Again, the landowner went out about 5 p.m. and found more men standing around doing nothing. So he asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us to work for them.’ The landowner replied, ‘You also can go and work in my vineyard.’”

”At 6 p.m. the landowner told his foreman, ‘Call all the workers in from the vineyard and pay them their day’s wage—beginning with the last ones hired to the first ones hired.’ The workers who were hired last came and each received a day’s wage. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more money than the others, but they also received only a day’s wage.

“When they received their pay, they began to complain to the landowner. They said, ‘The men you hired last worked for only one hour. And you gave them the same wage as us, even though we did most of the work. We labored through the heat of the day!’ But the landowner said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a day’s wage? Take your money and leave. I want to give the same wage to the one who was hired last. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’“

Then Jesus said, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

As Jesus was leading his disciples along the road toward Jerusalem, the disciples were amazed; but the crowd following behind them were afraid. Then once again Jesus took his apostles away from the crowd and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man in the Bible will be fulfilled. For the Son of Man will be delivered over to the Jewish religious leaders. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Romans to be mocked, spit upon, flogged, and crucified. But God will raise him to life on the third day!”

The disciples did not understand anything he was saying.

Thinking the kingdom of God was going to appear soon in Jerusalem, the apostles James and John came to Jesus. They said, “Teacher, we want you to do something for us, whatever we ask.” Jesus said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” They answered, “Let us sit in the place of honor in your kingdom. Let one of us sit at your right side in your glory, and the other one sit at your left side in your glory.” Jesus said, “You don’t know what you are asking me.”

Then Salome, the mother of James and John, kneeled before Jesus and asked him for a favor. Jesus asked, “What is it that you want?” She said, “Let one of my sons sit at your right and the other sit at your left in your kingdom.” Jesus said, “You don’t know what you are asking me.”

Then Jesus said to James and John, “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism I am bap- tized with?” They answered, “Yes, we can.” Jesus said to them, “You will drink from my cup of suffering, and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. But I can’t grant who will sit at my right or my left. For these places of honor belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

When the other apostles heard about the request of James and John, they became very angry with them. So Jesus called the apostles together and said to them, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jews lord it over their people. And their high officials exercise authority over them. But this is not true with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must become a servant of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom payment for many people.”

With a large crowd of people, Jesus and the disciples walked through Jericho toward Jerusalem. Jericho was located near the Jordan River in the Wilderness of Judea.

In Jericho, a man named Bartimaeus and another blind man were sitting by the road begging. When Bartimaeus heard the crowd, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is walking by.” When Bartimaeus heard this, he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The crowd walking in front of Jesus rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Then Jesus stopped walking and told his disciples to bring the blind man to him. So the disciples called to the man, “Take heart! Stand on your feet! Jesus is calling for you.” Throwing his garment aside, he jumped to his feet and went to Jesus. When Bartimaeus came to Jesus, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus said, “Teacher, I want you to heal my eyes so that I can see.” Jesus had compassion on him and touched his eyes. He said, “Receive your sight; go, your faith has healed you.

Immediately Bartimeaus could see, praised God, and followed Jesus as he walked along the road toward Jerusalem. When all the people saw this, they also praised God.

There was a man living in Jericho named Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector and was very rich. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd of people. So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus as he walked by. When Jesus walked by, he looked up into the tree and said to Zacchaeus, “Come down immediately from the tree, for I will stay at your house tonight.”

Zacchaeus came down and welcomed Jesus with joy. All the people saw this and began to complain, “He is going to be a house guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to Jesus, “Lord! I will give half of what I own to the poor, and I will pay back the people that I have cheated. I will give them four times the amount of money I took from them.” Jesus said to him, “Zacchaeus, today salvation has come to your house. You are also a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost!”

It was Friday morning and Jesus was walking ahead of the people up the steep winding road from Jericho to Jerusalem, which was about 18 miles long and ascended through the dry desert of Judea. They were coming closer to Jerusalem and the people were listening carefully to Jesus.

Because the time of the Feast of Passover was near, many people went up from the countryside to Jerusalem for their ceremonial purification before the Passover began. The people were looking for Jesus, and when they were in the temple courts they asked each other, “What do you think? Is Jesus coming to celebrate the Passover?”

The religious leaders gave orders that whoever found out where Jesus was must report it so that they could arrest him.