Matthew 8:14-34; Mark 4; Mark 5

Matthew 8:14-34

14 By this time they were in front of Peter's house. On entering, Jesus found Peter's mother-in-law sick in bed, burning up with fever.

15 He touched her hand and the fever was gone. No sooner was she up on her feet than she was fixing dinner for him.

16 That evening a lot of demon-afflicted people were brought to him. He relieved the inwardly tormented. He cured the bodily ill.

17 He fulfilled Isaiah's well-known sermon: He took our illnesses, He carried our diseases.

18 When Jesus saw that a curious crowd was growing by the minute, he told his disciples to get him out of there to the other side of the lake.

19 As they left, a religion scholar asked if he could go along. "I'll go with you, wherever," he said.

20 Jesus was curt: "Are you ready to rough it? We're not staying in the best inns, you know."

21 Another follower said, "Master, excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have my father's funeral to take care of."

22 Jesus refused. "First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life."

23 Then he got in the boat, his disciples with him.

24 The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat - and he was sound asleep!

25 They roused him, pleading, "Master, save us! We're going down!"

26 Jesus reprimanded them. "Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?" Then he stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: "Silence!" The sea became smooth as glass.

27 The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. "What's going on here? Wind and sea come to heel at his command!"

28 They landed in the country of the Gadarenes and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore.

29 Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, "What business do you have giving us a hard time? You're the Son of God! You weren't supposed to show up here yet!"

30 Off in the distance a herd of pigs was browsing and rooting.

31 The evil spirits begged Jesus, "If you kick us out of these men, let us live in the pigs."

32 Jesus said, "Go ahead, but get out of here!" Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned.

33 Scared to death, the swineherds bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs.

34 Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.

Mark 4

1 He went back to teaching by the sea. A crowd built up to such a great size that he had to get into an offshore boat, using the boat as a pulpit as the people pushed to the water's edge.

2 He taught by using stories, many stories.

3 "Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed.

4 As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it.

5 Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots,

6 so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly.

7 Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it.

8 Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams.

9 "Are you listening to this? Really listening?"

10 When they were off by themselves, those who were close to him, along with the Twelve, asked about the stories.

11 He told them, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom - you know how it works. But to those who can't see it yet, everything comes in stories, creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight.

12 These are people - Whose eyes are open but don't see a thing, Whose ears are open but don't understand a word, Who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven."

13 He continued, "Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way.

14 "The farmer plants the Word.

15 Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.

16 "And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm.

17 But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

18 "The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news

19 but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.

20 "But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams."

21 Jesus went on: "Does anyone bring a lamp home and put it under a washtub or beneath the bed? Don't you put it up on a table or on the mantel?

22 We're not keeping secrets, we're telling them; we're not hiding things, we're bringing them out into the open.

23 "Are you listening to this? Really listening?

24 "Listen carefully to what I am saying - and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way.

25 Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes."

26 Then Jesus said, "God's kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man

27 who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows - he has no idea how it happens.

28 The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain.

29 When the grain is fully formed, he reaps - harvest time!

30 "How can we picture God's kingdom? What kind of story can we use?

31 It's like a pine nut. When it lands on the ground it is quite small as seeds go,

32 yet once it is planted it grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches. Eagles nest in it."

33 With many stories like these, he presented his message to them, fitting the stories to their experience and maturity.

34 He was never without a story when he spoke. When he was alone with his disciples, he went over everything, sorting out the tangles, untying the knots.

35 Late that day he said to them, "Let's go across to the other side."

36 They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along.

37 A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it.

38 And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?"

39 Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, "Quiet! Settle down!" The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass.

40 Jesus reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?"

41 They were in absolute awe, staggered. "Who is this, anyway?" they asked. "Wind and sea at his beck and call!"

Mark 5

1 They arrived on the other side of the sea in the country of the Gerasenes.

2 As Jesus got out of the boat, a madman from the cemetery came up to him.

3 He lived there among the tombs and graves. No one could restrain him - he couldn't be chained, couldn't be tied down.

4 He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes, but he broke the chains, snapped the ropes. No one was strong enough to tame him.

5 Night and day he roamed through the graves and the hills, screaming out and slashing himself with sharp stones.

6 When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran and bowed in worship before him -

7 then bellowed in protest, "What business do you have, Jesus, Son of the High God, messing with me? I swear to God, don't give me a hard time!"

8 (Jesus had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit, "Out! Get out of the man!")

9 Jesus asked him, "Tell me your name."

10 Then he desperately begged Jesus not to banish them from the country.

11 A large herd of pigs was browsing and rooting on a nearby hill.

12 The demons begged him, "Send us to the pigs so we can live in them."

13 Jesus gave the order. But it was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned.

14 Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their story in town and country. Everyone wanted to see what had happened.

15 They came up to Jesus and saw the madman sitting there wearing decent clothes and making sense, no longer a walking madhouse of a man.

16 Those who had seen it told the others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs.

17 At first they were in awe - and then they were upset, upset over the drowned pigs. They demanded that Jesus leave and not come back.

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the demon-delivered man begged to go along,

19 but he wouldn't let him. Jesus said, "Go home to your own people. Tell them your story - what the Master did, how he had mercy on you."

20 The man went back and began to preach in the Ten Towns area about what Jesus had done for him. He was the talk of the town.

21 After Jesus crossed over by boat, a large crowd met him at the seaside.

22 One of the meeting-place leaders named Jairus came. When he saw Jesus, he fell to his knees,

23 beside himself as he begged, "My dear daughter is at death's door. Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live."

24 Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagging along, pushing and jostling him.

25 A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years -

26 a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before -

27 had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe.

28 She was thinking to herself, "If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well."

29 The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with.

30 At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, "Who touched my robe?"

31 His disciples said, "What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you're asking, 'Who touched me?' Dozens have touched you!"

32 But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it.

33 The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story.

34 Jesus said to her, "Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you're healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague."

35 While he was still talking, some people came from the leader's house and told him, "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?"

36 Jesus overheard what they were talking about and said to the leader, "Don't listen to them; just trust me."

37 He permitted no one to go in with him except Peter, James, and John.

38 They entered the leader's house and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and neighbors bringing in casseroles.

39 Jesus was abrupt: "Why all this busybody grief and gossip? This child isn't dead; she's sleeping."

40 Provoked to sarcasm, they told him he didn't know what he was talking about.

41 He clasped the girl's hand and said, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, get up."

42 At that, she was up and walking around! This girl was twelve years of age. They, of course, were all beside themselves with joy.

43 He gave them strict orders that no one was to know what had taken place in that room. Then he said, "Give her something to eat."