Podcast: Season 3

Episode NT22 – Lost and Found

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Luke chapter 15

Lost and Found

Lots of different people came to see Jesus, even the most despised people in the land like the treacherous tax collectors – who worked for the Romans against their own people. The lowest of the low came to Jesus, and much to the outrage of the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, Jesus welcomed them, tax collectors and notorious sinners alike, even at times sharing a meal with them! (PAUSE)

The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law thought this behaviour of Jesus was disgraceful! Surely, knowing how evil these people were, He should be condemning them for their wickedness, not eating with them in their houses! And so they complained to Jesus that He was associating with such despicable people! (PAUSE – SIGH)

The simple truth was that the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law had misunderstood what Jesus was doing! He wasn’t saying that their evil behaviour was acceptable! Far from it! But to help the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law understand what was happening, He told them these stories. (PAUSE)

‘Tell me,’ He began. ‘If you had 100 sheep, and for some reason one of those precious sheep got lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the other 99 in a safe place and go and hunt high and low for the lost sheep until you found it? And when you’d found it, wouldn’t you carry it joyfully back home on your shoulders? Then, when you’d arrived back home you’d call your friends and neighbours to come over and celebrate the safe return of the lost sheep with you. Well, in the same way, there will be more happiness in heaven over the return of one lost sinner who comes back to God than over 99 others who’re righteous and have never strayed.’

‘Or how about this,’ He continued. ‘Suppose a woman has ten valuable coins and somehow loses one of them! Won’t she light a lamp and search in every corner of her house and sweep out even the smallest areas as she carefully searches for it? And when she finds it, won’t she call together her friends and neighbours to rejoice with her because – after a long search she’s found her lost coin! Well, in the same way, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who turns from their sin!’

Still not sure that the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law had understood the point He was trying to make, Jesus told them one last story: ‘There was a man who had two sons. One day the younger son said to his father, ‘I don’t want to wait! Give me my portion of your estate that I’d inherit when you die – now.’ The father agreed and divided his wealth between his two sons.’

‘A few days later the younger son packed up all his belongings and headed out for a distant land, and when he got there he spent all his money on wild living! (P) At about the same time as all his money ran out, a severe famine swept over the land and he began to starve. Looking for work, he managed to persuade a local farmer to hire him to feed his – pigs.’ As Jesus said this, a murmur swept around the crowd, a Jewish boy, feeding unclean pigs – could he fall any lower? But Jesus continued, ‘The boy was so hungry that he even thought about filling his own stomach with the pods he was feeding to the pigs. But no one gave him anything.’ Another round of shocked murmurs. Not only was this boy feeding unclean pigs; now he’d fallen so low he even thought about eating their food!

Jesus carried on, ‘When at long last he finally came to his senses, the boy said to himself, ‘Back home even the hired men have more than enough food, and here I am starving to death! I shall go home to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you, and I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Please, take me on as a hired servant.’’

‘So the young lad got up and started on the long walk home. But while he was still a long way from home, his father saw him coming. Filled to overflowing with love and compassion, the father ran to his son and gave him a great big hug and kiss.’ Yet another round of murmurs! It wasn’t the done thing for Jewish fathers to run – especially to a child who’d been so rebellious. But Jesus was still speaking. ‘Then the son, hardly daring to lift his eyes to meet his father’s said, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you, and I’m no longer worthy to be called your son…’

‘But before he could finish, his father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring the best clothes you can find in the house and put them on my son. Get a gold ring for his figure, and sandals for his feet. And go and kill the calf we’ve been fattening up for a special celebration. We must have a feast to celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and now he has returned to life! He was lost, but now he’s found’ So the celebrations began.’

‘While all this was happening,’ Jesus continued, ‘the older son had been out in the fields working. When he returned home he heard music and dancing in the house! ‘What’s going on?’ he asked one of the servants.’

‘Your younger brother’s come back home,’ he replied. ‘And your father’s prepared a great feast! We’re celebrating his safe return.’

‘At hearing this, the older brother became angry and moody and refused to go in. So his father came out to beg him to come and join the party. But instead of joining in, he said to his father, ‘All these years I’ve been slaving for you, never disobeying your orders. And what did I get out of it? Nothing! You didn’t even give me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours comes home – after squandering your money on wicked living, you celebrate by killing the calf we’ve been fattening up for a special celebration!’’

‘”But son,’ his father replied, ‘you and I, we’re very close, everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate this special day. For your brother who was dead – is alive again. The one who was lost – has been found.'”’

Episode NT21 – The Rich Young Ruler

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Mark Chapter 10 verses 12 to 31

The Rich Young Ruler

DISCIPLE (ANDREW)‘Look, He’s a very busy man! Everyone wants to see Him and I’m sorry but He doesn’t have time for your children. You’re just going to have to go.’

‘We’d been trying to protect Jesus from the constant stream of people wanting to come and see Him. And now it wasn’t just adults, but parents wanted to bring their little ones to Jesus so that He could bless them. Well, they had to come to us first, His disciples, and we knew how busy and tired He could get. So we started sending the parents and their children away.’

‘We saw the disappointed looks on their faces as some of the older children had really been looking forward to meeting Jesus. But Jesus was busy with more important matters, so we started to hurry them on their way.’

‘It was as we were pushing them away that we heard Jesus’ voice. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ He asked. ‘Don’t stop them, let the children come to me!’’

‘That was it, the children and their parents didn’t need a second invitation, they surged passed us and ran to Jesus. Here we were, trying to protect Jesus from the unimportant disturbances that came along and He went and ignored our efforts!’

‘As we looked at Him He picked a couple of children up in His arms and with a broad grin on His face He looked from them to us. ‘The Kingdom of God belongs to people like these,’ He called across. ‘Because I tell you unless someone has the same kind of faith these children have, they’ll never enter God’s Kingdom.’’

‘After He’d said this He carried on welcoming the children and putting His hands on their heads and blessing them.’

‘Shortly afterwards, as we started out on another trip, a young man came running to Jesus! Not many people run anywhere in our country, it’s too hot and not really the ‘done thing’. But what caught our attention was that this young man was obviously a man with money and influence! So can you imagine our surprise and joy when he ran right up to Jesus, knelt down before Him in the road for all to see – and said, ‘Good Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?’’

‘Wow, we thought, imagine what a difference this could make, having someone like him with us! We all turned to Jesus to see what He’d say to this earnest young man. ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus asked. ‘Only God is truly good.’ And then He started to answer the young man’s question. ‘Now, you know what the commandments are; don’t commit murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t tell lies. Don’t cheat. Respect your father and mother?’’

‘The young man looked closely at Jesus, his brow furrowed. And with a slight nod of his head, he said. ‘Teacher, ever since I was a child I’ve obeyed all these commandments.’ Obviously, he felt that obeying wasn’t enough – there had to be more!’

‘Jesus’ smile grew as He looked at the young man and He felt genuine love for him. ‘Well,’ Jesus answered, ‘there is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, because then you will have treasure in heaven. And when you’ve done that, come and follow me.’’

‘I’d been listening to the conversation as the two of them spoke, and as Jesus told the young man to go and sell all he owned and give the money to the poor, I watched his face. It was painful to see his look of earnestness turn first into surprise and then to sorrow.’(P)

‘Suddenly the conversation was over. Without looking at Jesus again, the young man stood up and walked sadly away – because he had many possessions.’

‘Jesus let him leave. He’d set the standard this man had to reach and He wasn’t about to change it – even if it meant the man went away, never to return! Then, Jesus turned round to speak to us. ‘It’s so hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!’ He said. We were amazed at this – that the people with all the advantages in life: money, power, ability and talent should struggle to enter God’s Kingdom. But Jesus was continuing, ‘My Dear Children, it is very hard to get into God’s Kingdom. In fact, it would be easier for a camel to go through the little hole at the end of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s Kingdom.’’

‘To us, this was … mind-blowing … so we asked Jesus, ‘If that’s true, then is there anyone in the whole world who can be saved?’’ (PAUSE)

‘Jesus had a way of looking at us sometimes that told us we needed to listen very carefully. And as we stood there, not knowing what to think, Jesus looked at us intently. ‘From a human perspective, it’s impossible to be saved. But not when God’s involved! With God, everything’s possible!’’

‘As usual, it was my brother, Peter, who was first to open his big mouth. ‘But Jesus, we’ve given up everything to follow you.’’

‘Jesus nodded and continued to fix us with His gaze. ‘And I assure you,’ He replied, ‘everyone who’s given up their house or their brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or property for my sake and for the sake of the Good News I bring, will in this life receive in return a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and property  – along with persecution! And then, in the world to come, they’ll receive eternal life. But, many who seem to be important now will be the least important in the world to come, and those who are considered least important here will be the greatest then.’’

‘As Jesus said this, we couldn’t help thinking about the children who came to see Jesus earlier. We thought they were so unimportant but He welcomed them with open arms. And now, this rich young ruler with so much wealth and who we thought was so important, Jesus had let walk away!’

Episode NT20 – The Man Born Blind

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 9

The Man Born Blind

‘What people tend to forget when you’re blind is that you’re not deaf as well! In fact, my hearing’s a lot better than most peoples and I could hear them quite clearly as they came towards me.’

‘Jesus,’ somebody asked, ‘Whose fault is it that this man’s been born blind?’ And then, to rub it in a little more he said, ‘Was it his own sin or his parent’s sin?’ Come on, I thought, it could hardly be my sin! That would’ve meant I’d done something evil before I’d even been born. And as for my parents … well. Then I heard another voice answering their question, I guess it must have been Jesus.’

‘Neither,’ He said, ‘It wasn’t this man’s fault or his parent’s fault. This man was born blind so that the power of God could be seen in him.’ Whatever that meant! And then He added, ‘All of us have to get on with the tasks God’s given us to do because there’s little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end. But you see, while I’m still here in this world, I am the light of the world.’

‘I’d been born blind, I’d never seen any light, so I really couldn’t understand what He was talking about when He said He was the light of the world!’

‘What happened next was a little – awkward. Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with His spit and some soil. Then I felt a gooey substance being rubbed over my eyes and Jesus spoke to me. ‘Go and wash in the pool of Siloam,’ He said. And that was that! (P) I had no option but to wash to get the mud off my eyes. But something inside me seemed to tell me that I should do exactly what Jesus had just told me to do, not just find some water to wash off the mud, but to go where He’d said.’

‘It didn’t take long to go to Siloam, and when I got there I started to wash off the mud. It was good to get it off because it’d started to dry a little and was becoming uncomfortable! I put my head down to the pool, dipped my hands in and splashed great handfuls of water over my eyes. Then I washed off the mud and started to wipe the water out of my eyes.’ (PAUSE)

‘There aren’t words to describe how I felt next. It’s just not possible for you to understand but when I opened my eyes my head was filled with … with … light, colours, images, things, movement! I could see! Jesus had healed me! I could see! Not even in my wildest imagination had I dreamt that seeing would be like this! When I was young I’d often asked what it was like, and nothing anyone said had made any sense, until now. Now I understood what people meant when they tried to use words to describe a colour or the clouds in the sky.’

‘When I was young I’d pestered my parents to ask them if maybe one day I could see if the doctors could heal me. They’d tried to find out if there was any hope for me, but the doctors had soon put them straight. No one had ever been able to see who’d been born blind. It just didn’t happen. But now, this man Jesus had come along, covered my eyes with mud, told me to wash in the pool of Siloam and the impossible had happened! I could see.’ (PAUSE)

‘You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face! I made my way back home using the skills I’d learnt when I was blind but also taking in my surroundings. When my neighbours saw me, they hardly recognised me because of the stupid great grin on my face! They started looking at each other and asking, ‘Is this the same blind beggar we knew before?’ I kept telling them, ‘Yeah! It’s me, it’s me!’ But they could hardly believe their own eyes! ‘What happened?’ they asked. ‘Who healed you?’’

‘Well I told them, ‘This man called Jesus came along, spat on the ground, made some mud out of His spit and the soil and then rubbed it on my eyes. Then, He sent me to the pool of Siloam and told me to wash the mud off in that pool. I did everything He said, and when I’d done it, I could see!’’

‘’Well,’ they asked, ‘Where is He now?’’

‘’I’ve no idea.’ I replied.’ (PAUSE)

‘When I told my neighbours that Jesus had made the mud out of the spit and soil, I could tell they were uncomfortable. You see it was the Sabbath day when all this happened, and our religious experts, the Pharisees, had made up lots of extra little rules to make sure no one disobeyed the Sabbath law, which says you are to keep the Sabbath day Holy! – One of those extra rules was to do with not working something like dough or mud! So they took me to the Pharisees!’

‘’What happened?’ they asked me. And I told them about the mud making and about the washing in the pool of Siloam and then being able to see. That’s when the arguments started! ‘This man Jesus can’t be from God,’ one of them said, ‘because He’s working on the Sabbath!’ And then another asked, ‘But how could some ordinary person do such a mighty miracle?’ Neither side could agree with the other  – – so they asked me!’

‘’Who do you think this man is who opened your eyes?’ To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it because I was so overjoyed at being able to see again, so after a moments thought I said, ‘Erm, well, I guess He must be a prophet!’’

‘You won’t believe what happened next. Completely ignoring what I’d said, they started to accuse me of never having been blind in the first place! They wouldn’t listen to a word I said. In fact, they were so adamant that I hadn’t ever been blind that they called my parents in to question them! ‘Is this your son?’ they asked. ‘Was he born blind, and if so how can he see now?’’

‘I’d never seen my parent before then, and I didn’t know what the expression on their faces meant, but I could tell from their voices they were worried. ‘Yes, he is our son,’ they said, ‘and he was born blind. But how he came to be able to see again, and who healed him we can’t say. Ask him yourselves,’ they said. ‘He’s old enough to speak for himself.’’

‘And so once again they called me in! ‘Give glory to God by telling the truth,’ they said, ‘because we know Jesus is a sinner!’ Give glory to God! I ask you! How much more glory could you give to God than healing a man born blind! ‘Whether He’s a sinner or not I don’t know;’ I said. ‘But this one thing I do know, I was blind, and now I can see!’’

‘’But what did He do?’ they asked again, ‘How did He heal you?’ I couldn’t believe it; they hadn’t been listening to a word I’d said! ‘Look,’ I insisted, ‘I’ve already told you! Didn’t you listen the first time? Why do you want me to tell you again?’ And then a little bit cheekily I asked, ‘Do you want to become His disciples too?’’

‘That did it! They nearly exploded! They started saying all kinds of rude things to me. ‘You may be His disciple, but we’re disciples of Moses!’ they roared. ‘We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we don’t know anything about Him!’’

‘‘Oh,’ says I, ‘that’s very strange! Here comes a man who heals the eyes of someone born blind and you don’t know anything about Him! Well, we know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but that He hears those who worship Him and do what He wants them to do. Never before in the whole history of the world has anyone been able to heal the eyes of a person born blind. If this man wasn’t from God then He couldn’t have done it!’’

‘They’d lost the argument, and they knew it, so they started shouting at me, treating me like a fool as they spat out their nastiness! ‘You were steeped in sin since your birth!’ they screamed. ‘Are you trying to teach us?’ And then they threw me out of the synagogue! Making it very clear that I wouldn’t be welcomed back. (PAUSE)

‘The news of what’d happened to me must have spread like wildfire, because not too long afterwards – this man came up to me. When He spoke I immediately recognised His voice, it was Jesus. ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He asked. ‘Who is He sir,’ I replied, ‘because I’d like to.’’

‘’You have seen Him,’ He told me, ‘and He is speaking to you now.’’

‘’Yes Lord,’ I answered, ‘I do believe!’ And then I did what was the only right thing to do, I worshipped Him.’

‘Jesus spoke to me again, ’I have come to judge the world, to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they can see that they’re really blind.’ I understood what He meant, I could see now, but it was with more than just my eyes, I also understood who He was. But some Pharisees who’d followed me overheard what Jesus said and got all uptight again, ‘Are you saying we’re blind?’ they asked. Well, even I could tell that they had no idea who Jesus really was. But Jesus answered them, ‘If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty. But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.’’

‘I understood that! The Pharisees thought they knew all about God and had it all worked out, and yet when they were confronted with the incredible miracle that had happened to me, they refused to believe that it said anything about who Jesus is. (PAUSE) I’m so grateful to God that I can see!’

Episode NT19 – A Little Faith

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Mark chapter 9

A Little Faith! –The Demon-Possessed Boy

As Jesus and the three disciples Peter, James and John came down from the mountain where they’d seen Jesus transformed and heard the Words of God, they talked about a common belief Jews held that Elijah must ‘return’ before the Messiah could come.

‘Why do the teachers of the law say this?’ they asked Jesus.

‘Well, Elijah has already come to set everything in order,’ Jesus answered them. ‘But he was badly mistreated, just as the Scriptures predicted.’

It was then that the disciples realised Jesus was talking about John the Baptist who’d been murdered by Herod.

As they came to the foot of the mountain they saw a huge crowd gathered around the other nine disciples who were having a blazing row with the teachers of the law. The teachers of the law were always looking for something they could use against Jesus, for any weakness they could exploit to run Him down and discredit Him. And now, they thought they’d found something! Jesus’ disciples had failed to heal someone and so the teachers of the law were pressing home their advantage over the disciples – and a row had broken out.

As Jesus approached the crowd, the people ran to meet Him. ‘What’s going on?’ He asked. ‘What’s all this arguing about?’

A man in the crowd, with a desperate look on his face, stepped forward and spoke to Jesus.  ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘My son can’t speak because he’s possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. Whenever the spirit takes hold of him, it throws him violently onto the ground and he starts to foam at the mouth, grind his teeth and his body becomes rigid! I brought him to You so that You could heal him. But as you weren’t around, I asked your disciples to make the evil spirit go, (P) but they couldn’t do it!’

When He heard this, Jesus felt so disappointed. After all, He’d taught them, after all, they’d seen! Not just His disciples but also the people, still they refused to really trust Him, to believe that He had the power to deal with whatever situation they could possibly come across. And so, with a slow shake of His head He said, ‘You faithless people! How long is it going to be until you believe? How long must I put up with your unbelief?’ Then looking at the father’s worried face He said, ‘Bring the boy to me.’

At once the boy was brought before Jesus, but as soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus it threw the boy into a violent convulsion and he fell to the ground thrashing around and foaming at the mouth.

Rather than just heal the boy there and then, Jesus wanted to find out if his father still had the same belief he started with when he’d first brought the boy to see Jesus. Had seeing the disciples fail to heal the boy stopped him believing? So He asked, ‘ How long has this been going on?’

The boy’s father, desperate at seeing his child once again thrown into convulsions looked at his son while he answered Jesus. ‘It’s been happening since he was a small boy. And what makes it worse is that the evil spirit often makes him fall into the fire or into water – it’s trying to kill him! Please, if you can, do something.’

Jesus turned to look at the man. ‘What do you mean, ‘IF I can’?’ He asked. ‘Anything’s possible if a person believes.’

The man quickly shifted his gaze from his son and found Jesus’ eyes. ‘Oh but I do believe,’ he answered. ‘But please, help me not to doubt!’

Jesus had got his answer, the boy’s father did believe, even if it was a wavering and weak faith. Because what mattered wasn’t the strength of his belief, but the power of the One he believed in! And as Jesus saw other people beginning to run over and the group of onlookers start to grow, He rebuked the evil spirit. ‘Spirit of deafness and muteness,’ He said, ‘I command you to leave the boy and never enter him again.’ At this, the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and then left, just as Jesus had commanded. As the spirit left, the boy lay motionless on the ground. He lay so still that the crowd started whispering to each other saying, ‘Look, he’s dead!’ But Jesus walked over to the boy, took him by the hand and helped him to his feet.

A while later, when the crowds had gone home and Jesus was alone with his disciples in the house where they were staying, they asked him. ‘Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit like the ones we cast out before when you sent us out to preach?’

‘This kind of evil spirit can only be cast out by prayer,’ Jesus answered.

Episode NT18 – The Transfiguration

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Mark chapter 8 verse 27 to chapter 9 verse 13

The Transfiguration

As they travelled northeast, out of Israel to the area of Caesarea Philippi, they couldn’t help noticing all the temples and places of worship there were to different ‘gods’. It was said that at the bottom of one of the nearby mountains the so-called ‘god’ Pan was born – a god of fertility, perhaps the most important fertility symbol in the whole region. It was as they walked through this landscape, a landscape of so much worship but so little knowledge of the true and living God that Jesus turned to His disciples and asked, ‘Tell me, who do people say I am?’

The disciples mulled it over for a moment or two. ‘Some say you’re John the Baptist come back to life,’ one said. Another added, ‘Or maybe Elijah or one of the other prophets, you know, Jeremiah or someone like that.’

‘But what about you?’ Jesus asked them, ‘Who do you say I am?’

Simon Peter didn’t hesitate when he heard the question, because somehow he already knew the answer. And so in a land of so many gods and idols, Simon Peter spoke his true confession, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’

‘God has really blessed you Simon son of John,’ Jesus said. ‘Because you didn’t learn this from anyone else, it was my Father in heaven who revealed it to you. And now I tell you that with your true acknowledgement of who I am – you are Peter, which means ‘rock’, and on this rock – I will build my church, and even though the powers of hell will rage against it, they will never conquer it. And, I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven so that whatever you bind up here on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you set free here on earth will be set free in heaven.’

Jesus knew that even though His disciples had begun to understand who He was, as yet they had little real idea of what the Messiah would be like. They thought the Messiah would set them free from the power of the Romans, that their nation would become the most powerful on earth – they only thought of the Messiah as someone who would set them free from the problems of this world. But Jesus knew how little they understood, and how easily others would misunderstand if they found out that He was the Messiah, and so He sternly warned them not to tell anyone else that He was the Messiah.

From that moment on Jesus was determined that the disciples should understand what the Messiah’s life was all about. So He began to tell them plainly that He would have to go to Jerusalem and about all that would happen there.  That He would have to suffer at the hands of the leaders, the high priests and teachers of the law. That He would be killed and on the third day, He would be raised back to life.

But this wasn’t anything like the Messiah the disciples had in mind! Peter couldn’t believe his ears! The Messiah suffer? Die? What was Jesus talking about, surely this couldn’t be right? Jesus must have got it all mixed up. So taking Jesus to one side he started to correct Him, ‘Jesus, Jesus, heaven forbid that these things you’re talking about should come true…’

As Peter spoke, Jesus realised where all the false ideas Peter had about the Messiah had come from, and who had whispered them into Peter’s head. So looking at Peter and making sure they could all hear He said, ‘Get away from me Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me because you don’t see things from God’s perspective but from a human point of view!’

And with Peter still reeling from His rebuke, Jesus started to teach the disciples what it really meant to be one of His followers, to show them how wrong their ideas were and just how much it was going to cost them. ‘If anyone wants to be my follower,’ He began, ‘then they must put aside what they want and pick up their cross and follow me.’

Pick up a cross? Was Jesus saying that following Him was the same as being a prisoner under sentence of death? For only a convicted criminal walking to his place of execution would carry his cross, knowing it would be the last journey of his life! But Jesus was still talking, ‘If you try to keep living your life for yourself, then you will lose your life. But, if you live your life for me, then you will find true life! Tell me, what good is it if you become master of the whole world and have everything you could ever imagine and then lose your soul to the fires of hell? Is there anything worth more than your soul? For one day I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father, with His angels, and I will judge all people according to what they have done! And what’s more, I assure you that some of you standing right here will not die before you have seen me, the Son of Man, coming in my Kingdom!’

The disciples were to remember this later when Jesus had risen from the dead!

About six days or so later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers James and John with Him as He went up a high mountain. When they reached the top something amazing happened before their eyes! As they watched, Jesus’ appearance started to change until His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any process known to man could make them. And as they watched in terror and awe, two other men appeared with Jesus. There was no doubting who these men were. One of them was Moses, the man who had led the people of Israel out of Egypt and who had received the law and passed it on to the people. The other man was Elijah the great prophet who had been taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. And as they met with Jesus, Moses and Elijah started to speak with Him about what was to take place soon!

The disciples didn’t know what to think, what to do. It would perhaps have been wiser if Peter hadn’t said anything, but as he looked at the scene unfolding before him he spluttered out, ‘Lord, this is wonderful! If you want, I could make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah!’ He didn’t really know what he was saying!

But even as he spoke, a bright cloud came over them all and a voice spoke from within the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him. Listen to Him.’ As the voice spoke the disciples were terrified, and just like Moses and Elijah had fallen down to worship God on Mount Sinai many years earlier, so the three of them fell face down on the ground. (PAUSE)

God had spoken His approval of all Jesus had said and done! In the most spectacular way, God had told these disciples that He was fully pleased with Jesus and that they should listen to Him even though He wasn’t the kind of Messiah they’d been expecting. And even though He taught that following Him would cost so much.

Moments later Jesus came over and touched them. ‘Get up,’ He said, ‘don’t be afraid.’ As they got up and looked around they saw that only Jesus remained with them – as if Moses and Elijah had been pointing to Jesus so that only Jesus remained, because, in Him, all the law and the prophets found their fulfilment. As they descended the mountain, Jesus commanded them yet again not to tell anyone what they had seen until He had been raised from the dead.’

Episode NT17 – The Woman Caught Committing Adultery

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 8

The Woman Caught Committing Adultery

It was the people who thought they were more religious than anyone else, the Pharisees and teachers of the law who started to oppose Jesus. They hated the fact that the people loved Jesus. But what they hated, even more, was that every time they tried to show Jesus up, to catch Him out, He ended up proving they were wrong and embarrassing them in front of the people! But if somehow, they could get Jesus out of the way, the people would come back to them – just like it was before!

So here was the problem. How to get rid of Jesus?

As far as His enemies could see there were only two ways. Either you got Him into serious trouble with the Romans so they’d arrest Him. Or, you proved that He didn’t take the Scriptures seriously, the bit we call the Old Testament in the Bible. If they could show He didn’t respect what the Scriptures taught, then the people wouldn’t trust Him any more!

It took some working out, but after a lot of thinking they came up with a plan! One of the laws in the Bible says that if a person was found committing adultery, sleeping with someone who wasn’t their own husband or wife, then all the people should throw rocks and stones at them until they died.

However, the Romans wouldn’t let that happen any more. They were in control now and they had their own law which said that only they were allowed to pass the death penalty – it was forbidden for the Jewish people to take matters into their own hands and stone people to death without Roman approval. If the Jews stoned someone to death, the Romans would arrest the person who started it and put them in prison!

This was the perfect opportunity to discredit Jesus; all they needed to do was find someone guilty of adultery. Then they would drag that person before Jesus and ask Jesus what should be done! If Jesus said that the person should be stoned to death, then the Romans would arrest Him and put Him in prison. And, if He said that the person shouldn’t be stoned to death, they’d accuse Jesus of not taking the Scriptures seriously showing He couldn’t be trusted. All they needed to do was find someone guilty of adultery. (PAUSE)

As they dragged the woman towards Jesus all they could think about was how much they hated Him!  So what if the woman died? She was guilty of adultery; she’d slept with someone who wasn’t her husband so she deserved to be punished! Anyway, what did she matter, all that mattered was getting rid of Jesus, to silence Him and discredit Him once and for all!

Turning themselves into an angry mob they pretended to be outraged at what the woman had done! Dragging her along, they pushed her in front of Jesus who was teaching in the temple. ‘Teacher,’ they shouted, ‘this woman was caught in adultery! The Law of Moses says that she must be stoned to death for her sin. But what do you say?’

They could barely hide the smiles on their faces. They had Him, it didn’t matter what He said now! If He told them to stone her to death – they’d have Him arrested by the Romans, and if He said to let her go, they’d mock Him and discredit Him as being a person who didn’t obey or respect the Holy Scriptures. (PAUSE)

In those days, when a teacher taught a crowd of people they would sit down, and Jesus had been sitting on the ground. But instead of answering the cries of His enemies, He leant forwards and started to write in the dust with His finger.

His enemies could hardly hold back their joy, they’d got Him! At long last, they’d caught Him out. And so they pressed Him harder and harder for an answer. ‘Come on Jesus; tell us what we should do. The Law of Moses says she should be stoned to death. What do you say? Come on tell us, teacher, You know all the answers. What should we do?’

On and on they pestered Jesus until finally He sat up straight and looked up at them. The crowd watched Him in silence waiting to hear what He would say. ‘All right then,’ He said, ‘stone her to death…’ As the Pharisees and teachers of the law opened their mouths to speak, Jesus continued. ‘BUT, the first person to throw a stone at this woman must be someone who has never sinned!’ After He’d said this He lent forwards again and carried on writing in the dust.

The crowd stood in silence, rocks in their hands ready to stone the woman but now not sure what to do! (PAUSE)

It was the oldest men who left first, letting the rocks slip from their hands as they thought about all the many ways they’d let God down over the years and broken His law time and time again. The younger men followed shortly because everyone’s sinned, everyone’s fallen short of God standards. Finally, it was only the woman left standing before Jesus.

Looking up again He saw her standing before Him, alone. ‘Where have all your accusers gone?’ He asked. ‘Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’

‘No Lord,’ she replied, as she looked across at Jesus, unsure of what He’d say next.

‘Then neither do I you,’ He told her. ‘Go now, but make sure you don’t sin any more.’

Episode NT16 – Walking on Water

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 6 verses 14 to 20 & Matthew chapter 14 verses 28 to 36

Walking on Water

‘It was hard work passing out all that bread and fish to all those people! And by the time we’d each collected a basket full of leftovers, the twelve of us were exhausted!’

‘It was then that the crowds realised Jesus had just fed well over five thousand people from the contents of a child’s packed lunch, they were amazed! It was an incredible miracle and reminded them of how in the time of Moses, God had fed the people of Israel with manna from heaven when they were wandering in the desert.’

‘It was enough to convince some of the crowd that Jesus was the ‘Great Prophet’ Moses had promised would one day come, and so they decided that they were going to make Him king, even if it meant they had to use force to make it happen!’

‘Jesus was indeed the ‘Great Prophet’, but at that time we didn’t understand how the ‘Great Prophet’ Moses had promised would come us, and that His kingdom wasn’t one restricted to the earth. And so Jesus slipped away from us all and made His way higher up into the hills to be alone and pray.’ (PAUSE)

‘As the crowd melted away, going back to their home, the twelve of us, His disciples, were left waiting for Jesus. Jesus hadn’t left any instructions with us about what we were supposed to do. So after a while we wandered back to the boat and waited for Him there.’

‘The hours ticked by slowly, and when it started to get dark and we realised Jesus wasn’t going to be coming back with us, we set sail for Capernaum.’

‘The wind was against us from the start and we made slow progress through heavy waves. When we were about three or four miles out into the lake, our minds were completely absorbed in the battle against the waves and in trying to make headway through the dark seas. So when, at about three o’clock in the morning, we saw a figure walking on the water towards us out of the night we screamed in terror!’

‘But no sooner had we seen the figure and started to scream than the voice of Jesus came to us strong and loud from the figure in the darkness. ‘It’s all right,’ He said. ‘It’s me! I’m here! Don’t be afraid.’’

‘As we looked at each other, not sure what to think or do, Peter started shouting back. ‘Lord, if it really is you, then tell me to come to you by walking on the water.’’

‘The rest of us couldn’t believe what we were hearing! Peter wanted to walk to Jesus on the water – in this storm?’

‘‘Come to me Peter,’ Jesus said.’ (P)

‘It was so typical of my brother Peter! Without a second thought he leapt out over the side of the boat and, gazing at Jesus, he started to walk on the water towards Him!’ (PAUSE)

‘Maybe it was the howling winds that first caught Peter’s attention and took his eyes off Jesus. Whatever it was that broke his concentration, Peter started to notice the massive waves rolling by, and as he saw them and stopped looking at Jesus, terror grasped at his heart, and as the fear took hold so he started to slip down into the water. ‘Save me Lord,’ he screamed as he sank lower and lower.’

‘Instantly, without a moment’s hesitation, Jesus reached out His hand and grabbed hold of Peter. ‘You don’t trust me very much do you Peter?’ He said. ‘Why did you doubt me?’’

‘The two of them climbed into the boat and as they did, the wind stopped.’ (PAUSE)

‘It was then that all of us fell to our knees and worshipped Jesus. We had seen the impossible, Jesus coming to us walking on water in the midst of a storm, and then calling Peter to come to Him on the water. We had seen Jesus save Peter’s life when he called out to Him for help. And so on bended knee we all said to Jesus, ‘You really are the Son of God.’’ (PAUSE)

‘We landed at Gennesaret and it seemed that within moments the news of our arrival spread throughout the whole region. Soon crowds of people arrived, begging Jesus to heal the sick. Even the sick themselves begged just to be able to touch the fringe of His robe, and everyone who touched it was healed.’

Episode NT15 – Feeding the Hungry

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 6 verses 1 to 15

Feeding the Hungry

‘My name’s Andrew, I’m Simon Peter’s brother and I’ve been following Jesus since He started His work here. It’s been an amazing time. I’ve seen things you couldn’t even imagine. The sick being healed, the demon-possessed being freed and even the dead brought back to life.’

‘But even though Jesus did such amazing things, He was always concerned that the people heard His message. There was an urgency within Him that everyone should know that the Kingdom of God was coming and that they should be ready by turning away from all their sinful and selfish ways and turning back to God.’

‘One day, Jesus called the twelve of us together and spoke to us. As He spoke, He gave us authority to make evil spirits come out of people and to heal every disease! Then He told us, ‘Go into the surrounding towns and villages, heal their sick and tell all the people that the Kingdom of God is about to come. Don’t take anything with you, no bag, no food and no money. And when you enter a village don’t stay in different houses, stay in just one house. And if the people in that village refuse to accept the message you bring them, then as you leave shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.’’

‘So we did what Jesus asked us to do. With the power He’d given us we healed the sick and we cast out demons, and most important of all, we told the people the message Jesus had given us to pass on. ‘The Kingdom of God is coming.’’ (PAUSE)

‘When we came back we told Him of all the incredible things that’d happened, and Jesus decided it’d be wise for us to get away from the huge crowds that seemed to dog His tracks, and spend some time together alone. There were so many people constantly coming and going that we couldn’t even find time to eat! So we got into a boat and started to travel across the great lake once again.’

‘What we didn’t know, as we set sail and headed for a more peaceful area, was that some of the crowd had seen us go. And can you believe it, they ran round the lake to catch up with us, and as they went through each village, they’d point us out on the lake to the people of the village saying, ‘Look, you see that boat out there? That’s Jesus in there!’ But we didn’t know anything about this as we headed for a nice quiet spot a safe distance from the crowds, or so we thought!’

‘We saw them even before we landed. A huge crowd all wanting to see Jesus. The rest of us couldn’t believe it and to be honest we were – how should I put this – less than impressed. But not Jesus, He saw them for what they were, like sheep without a shepherd – needing to be taught and to hear from Him. So in His compassion He taught the great crowd many things and we all stayed there a long time.’

‘My tummy started to rumble about mid-afternoon. And by late afternoon we began to realise that if we didn’t get this massive crowd shifted soon there could be some real trouble. We’d come to such an isolated place, how were the people going to find food? We needed to send them on their way so that they could reach the villages and towns and farms in time to buy some food for themselves. So we went to Jesus, ‘Jesus,’ we said, ‘this is a pretty remote place and time’s going by. We think you should send the people away now so that they can get to the nearby farms and villages to buy themselves some food.’’

‘It seemed a reasonable enough suggestion to us, but can you imagine our astonishment when Jesus turned to us and said, ‘No, don’t send them away, you feed them!’’

‘‘What?’ we replied, ‘that’s impossible. It would cost a small fortune to feed this massive crowd! Not only that, but where are we going to find that much food in a place like this?’’

‘‘Well, how much food do you have?’ Jesus asked. ‘Go away and find out.’’

‘We didn’t have any food ourselves and to be honest we didn’t really know how to go about finding out how much food there was. As we stood there wondering what to do, a young lad came up to me. ‘Mister,’ he said. ‘I heard you talking to Jesus about needing some food. When my mum heard that Jesus was nearby and that I wanted to come and see Him for myself, she made me a packed lunch. It’s not much, but Jesus can have it if it’ll help.’ I smiled at him and chuckled to myself – his ‘packed lunch’ consisted of five barley bread rolls and a couple of fish!’

‘But even so I took it to Jesus. ‘Jesus,’ I said, ‘there’s this young lad here with five barley bread rolls and a couple of fish. What good that’ll do amongst such a huge crowd as this I don’t know.’’

‘One of those things we’d come to learn about Jesus was that you couldn’t always predict what He’d do. If it had been me, I don’t think I’d have thought twice about the young lad’s packed lunch. But Jesus smiled at the lad and accepted the packed lunch from him. Then he told us to make the people sit down on the grass in groups of fifty or a hundred.’

‘Taking the small packed lunch in His hands, Jesus looked up towards heaven and asked God’s blessing on the food. Then He started to break up the barley bread rolls and hand the pieces to us to pass on to the crowd. He just carried on breaking the bread into pieces. On and on He went, and then He started to break the fish up and pass them on to us to pass out to the crowds. Again and again we handed out all He’d given us and went back to Him to collect more. And still He carried on passing out the bread and fish, in fact, He didn’t stop passing out the bread and fish  until every single person had eaten all they wanted! And when I say every single person, we worked out just how many men there were in that crowd, excluding all the women and children. There were five thousand! Goodness knows how many people there must have been including all the women and children.’

‘When the people had finished eating all they wanted, Jesus sent the twelve of us around to pick up the leftover food. Each of us picked up a complete basket full of left-overs – twelve baskets full of bits and pieces that had come from five small barley loaves and two fish!’

Episode NT14 – The Death of John the Baptist

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 3 verses 22 to 36 & Mark chapter 6 verses 14 to 29

The Death of John the Baptist

His life had been outstanding. It had even begun with a miracle when his father, Zechariah, had met the angel Gabriel in the temple and been told that at long last God had heard their prayers, and would give them a son as the forerunner to the long awaited Messiah.

And John’s ministry, his work, had been that of a mighty prophet as he fearlessly confronted the people with their sin, telling them that they couldn’t trust in the fact that they were born Jews, they needed to get right with God! They needed to live lives that proved they’d turned away from their evil ways and turned back to God. He even urged them to get baptised as a sign of the reality of their change of heart – the change from putting themselves first to serving God.

John didn’t just preach the message for others to hear, he lived it himself! Once when his disciples saw that Jesus and His followers were baptising more people than John, they went to him to complain. But John knew that it was the Lord’s will that Jesus should become greater and greater, and that he should become less and less. He didn’t complain when he saw it happen or try to hold onto his position and reputation, rather he rejoiced knowing it was God’s will!

But such a message and such a radical obedience to God brought enemies, those who didn’t want to be reminded of their evil ways and had no intention of submitting to God. All that mattered to them was the flattery of others, and what they could get for themselves – no matter who they hurt trying to get it. John’s message reminded them that there’s another place and there will be another time when the things of this world won’t mean anything and only the rule of God will matter. A message these evil people feared and would do anything in their power to silence!

If John had kept quiet about the evil he saw, his life would have been so much easier. But if he’d kept quiet, although he’d have received the praise of men, he would also have received the condemnation of God – the Lord of eternity to whom we must all give an account of our lives, and who has the power to throw us into Hell! So John couldn’t keep quiet, because he saw how real eternity is and how important it is to please God and not men.

For John, it all came to a head when he spoke out against the ruler Herod Antipas. Herod had broken God’s law by marrying Herodias the woman his own brother Philip had divorced. She was an evil and self-seeking woman. Herod himself might have ignored John if it wasn’t for the hatred of this wicked woman. She wanted her revenge on John for showing her up and pointing out that they’d broken the law. She should have pleaded with God to have mercy on her, to forgive her! But she cared nothing for God or what He thought, only caring about what she wanted. And what she wanted more than anything else was to put John to death for the embarrassment he’d caused her.

So as a favour to Herodias, Herod had John arrested and kept in prison, but he wouldn’t have John killed because he knew John was a good man, a holy man and so he protected John from the rage of Herodias who was powerless to do anything to him. But her anger would not be calmed, and day-by-day she bided her time waiting ‘till the right opportunity came along to get rid of John once and for all.

Herod often talked to John because he liked to listen to what John said, although he never really understood what John was saying and always went away from their discussions feeling disturbed. (PAUSE)

Some time later it was Herod’s birthday, and he wanted to put on a fine display for his guests, including his palace aides, army officers and the leading citizens of Galilee. He wanted to show how wonderful he was, and as part of the celebrations, Herodias’ daughter, who was also called Herodias came and danced for them. Herod watched her every move totally captivated by her performance. Having had a little wine and wanting to show his guests what a generous man he was Herod stood up to congratulate Herodias on such a wonderful dance, and in so doing he made a rash pledge. ‘That was fantastic,’ he said, ‘what joy you’ve brought to my guests and to me. Now in return ask me for anything your heart desires. I will give you anything you ask for, up to half my kingdom!’

Herodias didn’t know what to ask for and ran to find her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ she said.

 ‘Ask for the head of John the Baptist to be brought to you on a tray,’ her mother replied.

And so, just as her mother had told her, young Herodias ran back into the hall to find the king.

‘Have you decided already what you want?’ the king asked.

‘Yes my lord,’ she replied. And then, in the silence that followed as the guests waited to hear her request she announced, ‘I want the head of John the Baptist brought to me on a tray, right now!’

Herod was horrified, and he should have said no, for it’s a far worse thing to murder a man than break a promise. But Herod’s pride and embarrassment in front of his guests wouldn’t let him back down. So, as Herodias had asked, Herod sent a soldier to the prison who cut off John’s head and brought it on a tray and gave it to the girl. She then hurried to give her gruesome prize to her mother.

John had suffered and died for being good and righteous! It didn’t seem right or fair, but then again, John had always lived knowing that this world would pass away and that the only real place he would ever be at home would be in the presence of the Lord – somewhere he now lived and that could never be taken away from him. Even in his death, John continued to point to Jesus and another death still to come, the death of a truly righteous man for the ones He loved!

When John’s followers heard about all that had happened, they came to the prison, took John’s body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened.

 

Episode NT13 – The Paralysed Man

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Mark chapter 2 verses 1 to 12

The Paralysed Man

 ‘So we’re going to do this then?’ one of the friends asked. ‘We’re going to take him to Jesus?’

The other three friends nodded their heads determinedly. ‘Jesus heals people,’ one of them said. ‘No one’s ever gone to Jesus and not been healed, so we will take him – today. I know he’d go himself if he could, but as he can’t it’s up to us and we need to leave now.’

At that, the four friends bent down and picked up the man’s stretcher-like mat and accustomed themselves to the weight. For a long time now the man had been paralysed, unable to move, and his four friends knew that this might be the only chance they’d have to take him to Jesus. So after carefully manoeuvring him out of the house, the four of them set off.

Of course, this didn’t just happen; they’d been talking about it for a while. Over the last weeks and months, they’d discussed all the stories they’d heard about what Jesus had said and what Jesus had done. And their paralysed friend, we’ll call him Simeon for now although we don’t know his real name, had listened to every word. (PAUSE)

It had dawned on them very slowly at first that perhaps, just maybe, Jesus could do something for Simeon. But as the idea started to sink in, and they heard more and more stories of all the incredible and wonderful things that Jesus said and did, they became convinced. Jesus was the answer, Jesus could heal Simeon – all they had to do was find out where Jesus was and take Simeon to Him. The rest would be up to Jesus.

But as his friends shared all the news about Jesus, Simeon started to feel uncomfortable. Jesus had come with a message, ‘Turn away from your evil ways and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!’ How could he face Jesus when he was such a sinful man? He might be paralysed and unable to move, but did that stop him from having evil thoughts, from being rude and selfish, for wanting his own way and not caring for other people as he should? He knew he was guilty, and even though he longed for his body to be free, the real pain was in his heart, knowing that he was guilty of sin and that his real need, before anything else, was for forgiveness.

It was quite a long walk to get to Jesus, and the four friends had to take frequent breaks – putting Simeon down, changing arms and sides of his stretcher-like bed and then lifting him up again and carrying on.

Simeon hadn’t wanted to share what was going on inside him. Even though he felt more and more uncomfortable about meeting Jesus, especially when he knew how guilty he was of failing to be the person God wanted him to be. But he also knew he still had to go – he had to see Jesus. And after what seemed an eternity, they came to the place where Jesus was. (P)

That’s when they got their first taste of reality! The place was packed to overflowing with people – because everyone wanted to see Jesus. Some, like the religious types, had come to pick holes in what Jesus said; to find something to knock Him down with to show that He wasn’t anything special after all. They filled much of the room listening to what He said, and yet because they were so intent on finding fault, they never really heard what He was saying. The rest of the space was taken up with ordinary people just like them. People who wanted to see Jesus and hear Him for themselves, and, if possible, see Him do one of the remarkable miracles that everyone was talking about.

At first, the friends assumed that people would make way for them to bring Simeon to Jesus. But the other people weren’t about to give up their chance of meeting Jesus and refused to move! Simeon’s friends couldn’t believe it! Why were the people being so selfish? Why wouldn’t they make way for Simeon to be brought to Jesus?

‘What’re we going to do now?’ one of them asked. ‘There’s no way we’re going to get in there and see Jesus.’

‘I guess we’ll just have to wait,’ another one of them said.

‘But that could take hours!’ The first one replied, ‘And Simeon needs to be taken care of. Anyway, who’s to say that we’ll be able to find Jesus in this crowd when everyone starts to leave? It could be dark and we might miss Him. We can’t wait, we have to do something now!’

‘So what do you suggest?’ the others asked. ‘We can’t barge our way in, and no one’s going to make room for us. Do we have any other option but to wait?’

Pausing to look around, a flash of inspiration came across the first man’s face. ‘The roof,’ he said, pointing to the flat roof of the house. ‘I say we take Simeon onto the roof, dig a hole through it large enough to fit Simeon through on his mat and lower him down right in front of Jesus. (P) What d’you think? It’s our only option!’

Simeon had no say in the matter, his four friends had decided. Simeon needed to see Jesus if only to get peace of mind and deal with his feelings of guilt – Jesus was the answer and they weren’t going to let a little thing like the clay roof of this house stop them from laying their friend right at Jesus’ feet.

With total commitment, the four friends took Simeon onto the large flat roof and started to dig.

It wasn’t long before the people below couldn’t ignore what was happening above their heads. As they saw the four friends digging a bigger and bigger hole in the roof they knew that come what may Simeon was going to be lowered right down in front of Jesus, and they started to make room. And so the moment came when Simeon finally found himself looking into the eyes of the One he’d heard so much about, the One who could heal anyone, the same One whose message, ‘Turn away from your evil ways and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!’ had made him realise just how guilty of sin he was. (PAUSE)

Jesus looked up at the four grubby faces smiling down at Him, so sure of His power, so sure of His love. And then He looked into the eyes of Simeon. (P) Later, Simeon couldn’t explain how Jesus knew, but just by looking at him, Jesus had seen his real need, the ache in his heart and the pain of being separated from God by all the sin that burdened him down. It was then that Jesus spoke the most comforting words imaginable; words that were true, words that changed his world. ‘My son,’ Jesus said, ‘your sins are forgiven.’

A burden the like of which you could hardly imagine seemed to roll off Simeon’s shoulders. He didn’t even hear the hushed murmurs going around the room and the quietly uttered words of the religious leaders – ‘blasphemy’ they were saying. ‘This man’s claiming to do something that only God can do – forgive sins!’

But Jesus had heard the whispers and He knew what was racing through people’s minds. ‘Do you think that what I’ve said’s blasphemy?’ He asked. ‘That I’m claiming something that can only rightly belong to God? If so, tell me this, is it easier to say to this paralyzed man lying before you, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’ or to say to him ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’?’ And then without waiting for a reply, Jesus continued, ‘And so now I will prove to you that I, the Son of Man, do have the authority on earth to forgive sins.’

Turning once again to Simeon, lying paralyzed on his mat Jesus said, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home. You have been healed!’ 

It was indescribable for everyone. Simeon, rejoicing that he had been cleansed from his sin, felt the healing power of God avalanche through his paralysed body healing every part. At once, without a moment’s hesitation, he jumped up off his mat and obeyed Jesus’ command. Pushing his way through the group of stunned onlookers he marched out of the house where his four friends came rushing down from the roof to join with him in rejoicing at the wonderful things God had done.

Those who’d seen all this were amazed and started to praise God. “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” they said. And the news of all that Jesus had done spread even further.