Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 355
17:24–18:13
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on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” And the disciples were
filled with grief.
On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to
Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?”
“Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house.
But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you
think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have
conquered?”
“They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied.
“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! However, we don’t want to
offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth
of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and
pay the tax for both of us.”
About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in
the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he
said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like
little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone
who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom
of Heaven.
“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to
fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around
your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the
tempting. So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it
away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to
be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. And if your
eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter
eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into
the fire of hell.
“Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell
you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly
Father.
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will
he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to
search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will
