Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 26
14
IMMERSE
•
MESSIAH
4:35–5:7
us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—
the Holy One of God!”
But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched;
then it came out of him without hurting him further.
Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this
man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his
command!” The news about Jesus spread through every village in the
entire region.
After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where
he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal
her,” everyone begged. Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and
it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them.
As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village
brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were,
the touch of his hand healed every one. Many were possessed by demons;
and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of
God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and
refused to let them speak.
Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds
searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they
begged him not to leave them. But he replied, “I must preach the Good
News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why
I was sent.” So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues
throughout Judea.
One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great
crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two
empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were
washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its
owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the
crowds from there.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where
it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch
a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their
nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their
partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and
on the verge of sinking.
