Fish and Loaves

Gospel of Matthew 15

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus, and said: 2 “How is it that your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? For they do not wash their hands when they eat food.”

3 His reply was: “How is it that you on your side break God’s commandments out of respect for your own traditions? 4 For God said: Honor thy father and mother,’ and ‘Let those who revile their father or mother suffer death,’ 5 But you say that whenever anyone says to his father or mother, “Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is ‘Given to God,’ 6 You are in no way bound to honor your father. In this way you have nullified the words of God on account of your traditions.”

7 “Hypocrites! It was well said by Isaiah when he prophesied about you: 8 ‘This is a people that honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far removed from me; 9 But vainly do they worship me, for they teach but the precepts of men.’“ 10 Then Jesus called the people to him, and said: “Listen, and mark my words. 11 It is not what enters your mouth that ‘defiles’ you, but what comes out of your mouth that does defile you!”

12 On this his disciples came up to him, and said: “Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked on hearing what you said?” 13 “Every plant,” Jesus replied, “that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them be; they are but blind guides; and, if one blind person guides another, both of them will fall into a ditch.” 15 Upon this, Peter said to Jesus: “Explain this saying to us.” 16 “What, do even you understand nothing yet?” Jesus exclaimed.

17 “Do not you see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is afterwards expelled? 18 But the things that come out from the mouth proceed from the heart, and it is these that defile a man; 19 For out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts: murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, perjury, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a man; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Understanding the Lord’s Prayer

To continue reading Chapter 15 and read the story of the fish and loaves, please click on page 2 below.

Jesus, Pharisees, & Hypocrites

Gospel of Matthew 23

Then Jesus speaking to the crowds and to his disciples, said: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees now occupy the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore practice and lay to heart everything that they preach but do not copy their works, for they do not follow what they preach. 4 While they make up heavy loads and pile them on other men’s shoulder’s they decline, themselves, to lift a finger to move them. 5 All their actions are done to attract attention. They widen their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and like to have the place of honor at dinner, and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted in the markets with respect, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by everybody.”

8 “But do not allow yourselves to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master, Christ, and all you are brothers and sisters. 9 And do not call anyone on earth your father, for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Nor must you allow yourselves to be called ‘leaders,’ for you have only one leader, the Christ. 11 Those who would be the greatest among you must be your servant. 12 Whoever shall exalt themselves will be humbled, and whoever shall humble themselves will be exalted.”

13 “But woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You turn the key of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you do not go in yourselves, nor yet allow those who try to go in to do so. 14 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You destroy widow’s houses, even while pretending to make long prayers; therefore you shall receive greater condemnation.”

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when he or she is gained, you make them twice as deserving of the pit as you are yourselves. 16 Woe to you, you blind guides! You say, ‘if any swear by the temple, it counts for nothing; but, if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, their oaths are binding’! 17 Fools that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the temple which has given sacredness to the gold?”

18 “You say, too, ‘If any swear by the altar, their oaths count for nothing, but, if anyone swears by the offering placed on it, their oaths are binding’! 19 Blind indeed! Which is the more important? The offering? Or the altar which gives sacredness to the offering? 20 Therefore anyone, swearing by the altar, swears by it and by all that is on it, 21 And anyone, swearing by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it, 22 While anyone, swearing by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it.”

What is the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer?

To continue reading Chapter 23 of the Gospel of Matthew, please click on page 2 below.

Your Sins Are Forgiven

Gospel of Mark 2

Some days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was in a house there; 2 And so many people collected together, that after a while there was no room for them even round the door; and he began to tell them his message. 3 And some people came bringing to him a paralyzed man, who was being carried by four bearers. 4 Being, however, unable to get him near to Jesus, owing to the crowd, they removed the roofing below which Jesus was; and, when they had made an opening, they let down the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man: “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the teachers of the law who were sitting there were debating in their minds: 7 “Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God?”

8 Jesus, at once intuitively aware that they were debating with themselves in this way, said to them: “Why are you debating in your minds about this? 9 Which is easier? To say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven‘? or to say, ‘Get up, and take up your mat, and walk about’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins on earth.” He then said to the paralyzed man: “To you I say, get up, take up your mat, and return to your home.” 12 The man got up, and immediately took up his mat, and went out before them all; at which they were amazed, and, as they praised God, they said: “We have never seen anything like this!”

13 Jesus went out again to the sea; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. 14 As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax-office, and said to him: “Follow me.” Levi got up and followed him.

15 And later on he was in his house at table, and a number of tax-gatherers and outcasts took their places at table with Jesus and his disciples; for many of them were following him. 16 When the teachers of the law belonging to the party of the Pharisees saw that he was eating in the company of such people, they said to his disciples: “He is eating in the company of tax- gatherers and sinners!” 17 Hearing this, Jesus said: “It is not those who are in health that need a doctor, but those who are ill. I did not come to call the religious, but the outcast.”

What is the ‘Our Father’ Prayer?

To continue reading Chapter 2 of the Gospel of Mark, please click on page 2 below.

Ears to Hear

Gospel of Mark 7

One day the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus. 2 They had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food with their hands ‘defiled,’ by which they meant unwashed. 3 For the Pharisees, and indeed all strict Jews, will not eat without first scrupulously washing their hands, holding in this to the traditions of their ancestors. 4 When they come from market, they will not eat without first sprinkling themselves; and there are many other customs which they have inherited and hold to, such as the ceremonial washing of cups, and jugs, and copper pans.

5 So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked Jesus this question: “How is it that your disciples do not follow the traditions of our ancestors, but eat their food with defiled hands?” 6 His answer was: “It was well said by Isaiah when he prophesied about you hypocrites in the words: ‘This is a people that honor me with their lips, While their hearts are far removed from me; 7 But vainly do they worship me, For they teach but the precepts of men.’

8 You neglect God’s commandments and hold to the traditions of men. 9 Wisely do you set aside God’s commandments,” he exclaimed, “to keep your own traditions! 10 For while Moses said ‘Honor thy father and thy mother,’ and ‘Let him who reviles his father or mother suffer death,’ 11 You say: ‘If a man says to his father or mother: “Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is Korban”‘ (which means ‘Given to God’), 12 Why, then you do not allow him to do anything further for his father or mother! 13 In this way you nullify the words of God by your traditions, which you hand down; and you do many similar things.”

14 Then Jesus called the people to him again, and said: “Listen to me, all of you, and mark my words. There is nothing external to you, which by going into you that can ‘defile’ you; but the things that come out from you are the things that defile you. 16 Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” 17 When Jesus went indoors, away from the crowd, his disciples began questioning him about this saying.

18 “What, do even you understand so little!” exclaimed Jesus. “Do not you see that there is nothing external to a man, which by going into a man, can ‘defile’ him, 19 Because it does not pass into his heart, but into his stomach, and is afterwards got rid of?—in saying this Jesus pronounced all food ‘clean.’ 20 “It is what comes out from a man,” he added, “that defiles him, 21 For it is from within, out of the hearts of men, that there come evil thoughts: unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, 22 Greed, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, haughtiness, folly; 23 All these wicked things come from within, and do defile a man.”

The meaning of the Jesus Prayer may surprise you.

To continue reading Chapter 7 of the Gospel of Mark, please click on page 2 below.

When Will Christ Come? The Second Coming Is Now

When will the Second Coming occur? This seems to be a question of utmost importance to many Christians today, as we struggle through seemingly endless economic and environmental crises. The question of the Second Coming though has been front and center in the minds of Christians ever since Jesus shuffled off his mortal coil. John didn’t help matters much in penning Revelations, the New Testament book that causes the literal Bible reader to suddenly have a change of heart and see hidden metaphors and signs in every turn of phrase.

What exactly is a sign of Christ’s Second Coming? For the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats it was when “The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity.” Even though Jesus warned us against looking for signs, Yeats seems to be on the right track. What better way to describe our politics, media, and the overall coarsening of American life than by saying the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. The Second Coming must surely be at hand.

And in fact it is. The Second Coming is now. It has always been now. From Jesus’s day through Yeats’s time to today, the best (more often than not) have always lacked conviction, while the worst have continued to behave like the Pharisees and Sadducees: full of passionate intensity. The real question for Christians is whether or not we are ready to answer the call of the Holy Spirit, accept our divinity in Christ, and begin that journey down the road less traveled, yet which makes all the difference.

Challenge your perceptions on the Kingdom of Heaven, the Gospel of Christ, and the spiritual life of Jesus by purchasing The Lord’s Prayer book today. All proceeds go to support our progressive ministry.

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Worship Services & How Progressive Christians Worship

When Progressive Christians talk about How We Worship, the discussion usually centers on the goings-on inside the Church walls. While Sunday worship services have an important role to play, what matters even more is the worship that happens during the course of our every-day lives. This daily interactive worship with our immediate neighbors and our inner divinity (Christ) concerned Jesus more than the performance of rituals.

Washing the feet of others (i.e. humbling ourselves in service to our community) is the kind of worship activity that mattered most to Jesus–much more than public hallelujahs¹ and orthodox practices such as recognizing the Sabbath or submitting oneself to formal baptism, a ritual which he told John that they must “suffer” for religion’s sake² not because God demands it–because, after all, rituals only point toward spiritual truths; they are not truths in and of themselves.

When we Christians focus too much on worship rituals in defining “how we worship” we run the risk of elevating the metaphor to God-ordained law, just as the Pharisees did with the Sabbath. Progressive Christian Reverends should begin using the power of the pulpit on Sunday mornings to begin talking more about the daily bread of worship: worship that includes being better stewards of the Garden; caring better for the bodies God has granted us; listening closer for the sound of the Holy Spirit as it struggles to make itself known within us and others; and attending more generously to the needs of family, friends, co-workers, and community as a whole.

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1. “When you pray, you are not to behave as hypocrites do. They like to pray standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. There, I tell you, is their reward! – Matthew 6:5 [↩]
2. “Suffer it be so for the present,” Jesus answered, “since it is fitting for us thus to satisfy every claim of religion.” Matthew 3:15 [↩]

John – Gospel 7 – Your Time Is Always Here

After this, Jesus walked about in Galilee, for he would not walk in Judea, because the Jews were eager to put him to death. 2 When the Jewish festival of tabernacles was near, 3 His brothers said to him: “Leave this part of the country, and go into Judea, so that your disciples, as well as we, may see the work that you are doing. 4 For no one does a thing privately, if he is seeking to be widely known. Since you do these things, you should show yourself publicly to the world.” 5 For even his brothers did not believe in him.

6 “My time,” answered Jesus, “is not come yet, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me, because I testify that its ways are evil. 8 Go yourselves up to the Festival; I am not going to this Festival yet, because my time has not yet come.” 9 After telling them this, he stayed on in Galilee.

10 But, when his brothers had gone up to the festival, Jesus also went up, not publicly, but privately. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and asking ‘Where is he?’ 12 And there were many whispers about him among the people, some saying: ‘He is a good man;’ others: ‘No! he is leading the people astray.’ 13 No one, however, spoke freely about him, for fear of the Jews.

14 About the middle of the festival week, Jesus went up into the temple courts, and began teaching. 15 The Jews were astonished. “How has this man got his learning,” they asked, “when he has never studied?”

16 So, in reply, Jesus said: “My teaching is not my own; it is his who sent me. 17 If anyone has the will to do God’s will, they will find out whether my teaching is from God, or whether I speak on my own authority. 18 Those who speak on their own authority seek honor for themselves; but those who seeks the honor of him that sent them are sincere, and there is nothing false in them. 19 Was not it Moses who gave you the law? Yet not one of you obeys it! Why are you seeking to put me to death?”

20 “You must be possessed by a devil!” the people exclaimed. “Who is seeking to put you to death?”

21 “There was one thing I did,” replied Jesus, “at which you are all still wondering. 22 But that is why Moses has instituted circumcision among you—not, indeed, that it began with him, but with our ancestors—and that is why you circumcise even on a Sabbath. 23 When a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath to prevent the law of Moses from being broken, how can you be angry with me for making someone sound and well on a Sabbath? 24 Do not judge by appearances; judge justly.”

25 At this some of the people of Jerusalem exclaimed: “Is not this the man that they are seeking to put to death? 26 Yet here he is, speaking out boldly, and they say nothing to him! Is it possible that our leading men have really discovered that he is the Christ? 27 Yet we know where this man is from; but, when the Christ comes, no one will be able to tell where he is from.”

28 Therefore, Jesus, as he was teaching in the temple courts, raised his voice and said: “Yes; you know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own authority, but he who sent me may be trusted; and him you do not know. 29 I do know him, for it is from him that I have come, and he sent me as his messenger.” 30 So they sought to arrest him; but no one touched him, for his time was not come yet.

31 Many of the people, however, believed in him. “When the Christ comes,” they said, “will he give more signs of his mission than this man has given?” 32 The Pharisees heard the people whispering about him in this way, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him;

33 On which Jesus said: “I shall be with you but a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will look for me, and you will not find me; and you will not be able to come where I shall be.”

35 “Where is this man going,” the Jews asked one another, “that we shall not find him? Will he go to our countrymen abroad, and teach foreigners? 36 What does he mean by saying: ‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and you will not be able to come where I shall be’?”

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus, who was standing by, exclaimed: “If anyone thirsts, let them come to me, and drink. 38 You who believe in me, as scripture says, out of your heart shall flow rivers of living water.” 39 By this he meant the spirit, which those who had believed in him were to receive; for the spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been exalted.

40 Some of the people, when they heard these words, said: “This is certainly ‘the prophet’!” 41 Others said: “This is the Christ!” But some asked: “What! Does the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Is not it said in scripture that it is of the race of David, and from Bethlehem, the village to which David belonged, that the Christ is to come?” 43 So there was a sharp division among the people on account of Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, and yet no one touched him.

45 When the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, they were asked: “Why have you not brought him?” 46 “No man ever spoke as he speaks!” they answered. 47 “What! Have you been led astray too?” the Pharisees replied. 48 “Have any of our leading men believed in him, or any of the Pharisees? 49 As for these people who do not know the law—they are cursed!”

50 But one of their number, Nicodemus, who before this had been to see Jesus, said to them: 51 “Does our law pass judgment on people without first giving them a hearing, and finding out what they have been doing?” 52 “Are you also from Galilee?” they retorted. “Search and you will find that no prophet is to arise in Galilee!” 53 Then everyone went back to their own houses.

To read the next chapter of the Book of John, please go to The Gospel of John – 8.

This Online New Testament Gospel of John is excerpted from the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Century Gospels). Including over 200 bookmarked citations from the canonical Gospels, this Progressive Christian book appeals to the Unitarian spirit at the heart of all faiths.

Challenge your perceptions on the Gospel of Christ, Jesus’s parables, and the Kingdom of God by purchasing The Lord’s Prayer book today. Produced by LivingHour.org, a Thailand-based small press dedicated to publishing unique Learning Easy Thai Language Books, as well as works on progressive spirituality.

John – Gospel 9 – I am the Light of the World

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man who had been blind from his birth. 2 “Rabbi,” asked his disciples, “who was it that sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither the man nor the parents,” replied Jesus; “but he was born blind that the work of God should be made plain in him. 4 We must do the work of him who sent me, while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 Saying this, Jesus spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he said, “and wash your eyes in the pool of Siloam” (a word meaning ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see.

8 Upon this his neighbors, and those who had formerly known him by sight as a beggar, exclaimed: “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 “Yes,” some said, “it is”; while others said: “No, but he is like him.” The man himself said: “I am he.”

10 “How did you get your sight, then?” they asked. 11 “The man whom they call Jesus,” he answered, “made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me: ‘Go to Siloam and wash your eyes.’ So I went and washed my eyes, and gained my sight.” 12 “Where is he?” they asked. I do not know,” he answered. 13 They then took the man, who had been blind, to the Pharisees.

14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and gave him his sight. 15 So the Pharisees also questioned the man as to how he had gained his sight. “He put clay on my eyes,” he answered, “and I washed them, and I can see.”

16 “The man cannot be from God,” said some of the Pharisees, “for he does not keep the Sabbath.” “How is it possible,” retorted others, “for a bad man to give signs like this?” 17 So there was a difference of opinion among them, and they again questioned the man; “What do you yourself say about him, for it is to you that he has given sight?”

18 The Jews, however, refused to believe that he had been blind and had gained his sight until they had called his parents and questioned them. 19 “Is this your son,” they asked, “who you say was born blind? If so, how is it that he can see now?”

20 “We know that this is our son,” answered the parents, “and that he was born blind; 21 But how it is that he can see now we do not know; nor do we know who it was that gave him his sight. Ask him—he is old enough—he will tell you about himself.”

22 His parents spoke in this way because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that, if anyone should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, they should be expelled from their synagogues. 23 This was why his parents said: ‘He is old enough; ask him.’

24 So the Jews again called the man who had been blind, and said to him: “Give God the praise; we know that this is a bad man.” 25 “I know nothing about his being a bad man,” he replied; “one thing I do know, that although I was blind, now I can see.”

26 “What did he do to you?” they asked. “How did he give you your sight?” 27 “I told you just now,” he answered, “and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Surely you also do not want to become his disciples?”

28 “You are his disciple,” they retorted scornfully; “but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; but, as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

30 “Well,” the man replied, “this is very strange; you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has given me my sight! We know that God never listens to bad people, but, when we are god-fearing and do God’s will, God listens to us. 32 Since the world began, such a thing was never heard of as anyone giving sight to a person born blind. 33 If this man had not been from God, he could not have done anything at all.”

34 “You,” they retorted, “were born totally depraved; and are you trying to teach us?” So they expelled him.

35 Jesus heard of their having put him out; and, when he had found the man, he asked: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Tell me who he is, sir,” he replied, “so that I may believe in him.” 37 “Not only have you seen him,” said Jesus; “but it is he who is now speaking to you.”

38 “Then, sir, I do believe,” said the man, bowing to the ground before him; 39 And Jesus added: “It was to put men to the test that I came into this world, in order that those that cannot see should see, and that those that can see should become blind.”

40 Hearing this, some of the Pharisees who were with him said: “Then are we blind too?” 41 “If you had been blind,” replied Jesus, “you would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, you say, ‘We can see,’ so your sin remains.

To read the next chapter of the Book of John, please go to The Gospel of John – 10.

This Online New Testament Gospel of John is excerpted from the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Century Gospels). Including over 200 bookmarked citations from the canonical Gospels, this Progressive Christian book appeals to the Unitarian spirit at the heart of all faiths.

Challenge your perceptions on the Gospel of Christ, Jesus’s parables, and the Kingdom of God by purchasing The Lord’s Prayer book today. Produced by LivingHour.org, a Thailand-based small press dedicated to publishing unique Learning Easy Thai Language Books, as well as works on progressive spirituality.

John – Gospel 11 – Jesus Wakes Lazarus

Now a man named Lazarus, of Bethany, was lying ill; he belonged to the same village as Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus was ill, was the Mary who anointed the Master with perfume, and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 The sisters, therefore, sent this message to Jesus: ‘Master, your friend is ill;’

4 And, when Jesus heard it, he said: “This illness is not to end in death, but is to rebound to the honor of God, in order that the Son of God may be honored through it.”

5 Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 Yet, when he heard of the illness of Lazarus, he still stayed two days in the place where he was. 7 Then, after that, he said to his disciples: “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 “Rabbi,” they replied, “the Jews were but just now seeking to stone you; and are you going there again?”

9 “Are not there twelve hours in the day?” answered Jesus. “If you walk about in the day-time, you do not stumble, because you can see the light of the sun; 10 But, if you walk about at night, you stumble, because you have not the light.” 11 And, when he had said this, he added: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going that I may wake him.”

12 “If he has fallen asleep, Master, he will get well,” said the disciples. 13 But Jesus meant that he was dead; they, however, supposed that he was speaking of natural sleep. 14 Then he said to them plainly: “Lazarus is dead; 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may learn to believe in me. But let us go to him.” 16 At this, Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to his fellow-disciples: “Let us go too, so that we may die with him.”

17 When Jesus reached the place, he found that Lazarus had been four days in the tomb already. 18 Bethany being only about two miles from Jerusalem, 19 A number of the Jews had come there to condole with Martha and Mary on their brother’s death. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat quietly at home.

21 “Master,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now, I know that God will grant you whatever you ask him.” 23 “Your brother shall rise to life,” said Jesus.

24 “I know that he will,” replied Martha, “in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 “I am the resurrection and the life,” said Jesus. “He that believes in me shall live, though he die; 26 And he who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes Master,” she answered; “I have learned to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

28 After saying this, Martha went and called her sister Mary, and whispered: “The Teacher is here, and is asking for you.” 29 As soon as Mary heard that, she got up quickly, and went to meet him. 30 Jesus had not then come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 So the Jews, who were in the house with Mary, consoling her, when they saw her get up quickly and go out, followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she threw herself at his feet. “Master,” she exclaimed, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping also, he groaned deeply, and was greatly distressed.

34 “Where have you buried him?” he asked. “Come and see, Master,” they answered. 35 Jesus burst into tears. 36 “How he must have loved him!” the Jews exclaimed; 37 But some of them said: “Could not this man, who gave sight to the blind man, have also prevented Lazarus from dying?”

38 Again groaning inwardly, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against the mouth of it. 39 “Move the stone away,” said Jesus. “Master,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time the smell must be offensive, for this is the fourth day since his death.” 40 “Did not I tell you,” replied Jesus, “that, if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?”

41 So they moved the stone away; and Jesus, with uplifted eyes, said: “Father, I thank thee that thou has heard my prayer; 42 I know that thou always heard me; but I say this for the sake of the people standing near, so that they may believe that thou has sent me as thy messenger.”

43 Then, after saying this, Jesus called in a loud voice: “Lazarus! come out!” 44 The dead man came out, wrapped hand and foot in a winding- sheet; his face, too, had been wrapped in a cloth. “Set him free,” said Jesus, “and let him go.”

45 Because of this, many of the Jews, who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, learned to believe in him. 46 Some of them, however, went to the Pharisees, and told them what he had done. 47 Upon this the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the high council, and said: “What are we to do, now that this man is giving so many signs? 48 If we let him alone as we are doing, everyone will believe in him; and the Romans will come and will take from us both our city and our nationality.”

49 One of them, however, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them: 50 “You are utterly mistaken. You do not consider that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, rather than the whole nation should be destroyed.” 51 Now he did not say this of his own accord; but, as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation, 52 And not for the nation only, but also that he might unite in one body the children of God now scattered far and wide. 53 So from that day they plotted to put Jesus to death.

54 Because of this, Jesus did not go about publicly among the Jews any more, but left that neighborhood, and went into the country bordering on the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. 55 But the Jewish festival of the Passover was near; and many people had gone up from the country to Jerusalem for their purification before the festival began.

56 So they looked for Jesus there, and said to one another as they stood in the temple courts: “What do you think? Do you think he will come to the festival?” 57 The chief priests and the Pharisees had already issued orders that, if anyone learned where Jesus was, that person should give information so that they might arrest him.

To read the next chapter of the Book of John, please go to The Gospel of John – 12.

Challenge your perceptions on the Gospel of Christ, Jesus’s parables, and the Kingdom of God by purchasing The Lord’s Prayer book today. Produced by LivingHour.org, a Thailand-based small press dedicated to publishing unique Learning Easy Thai Language Books, as well as works on progressive spirituality.

John – Gospel 12 – The World Is On Trial

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, was living. 2 There a supper was given in honor at which Martha waited, while Lazarus was one of those present at the table. 3 So Mary took a pound of choice spikenard ointment of great value, and anointed the feet of Jesus with it, and then wiped them with her hair. The whole house was filled with the scent of the ointment.

4 One of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was about to betray Jesus, asked: 5 “Why was not this perfume sold for thirty pounds, and the money given to poor people?” 6 He said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and, being in charge of the purse, used to take what was put in it.

7 “Let her alone,” said Jesus, “that she may keep it till the day when my body is being prepared for burial. 8 The poor you always have with you, but you will not always have me.”

9 Now great numbers of the Jews found out that Jesus was at Bethany; and they came there, not solely on his account, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 The chief priests, however, plotted to put Lazarus, as well as Jesus, to death, 11 Because it was owing to him that many of the Jews had left them, and were becoming believers in Jesus.

12 On the following day great numbers of people who had come to the festival, hearing that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, took palm-branches, 13 And went out to meet him, shouting as they went: “‘God save Him! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: the King of Israel!”
14 Having found a young ass, Jesus seated himself on it, in accordance with the passage of scripture: 15 ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, thy king is coming to thee, sitting on the foal of an ass.’ 16 His disciples did not understand all this at first; but, when Jesus had been exalted, then they remembered that these things had been said of him in scripture, and that they had done these things unto him.

17 Meanwhile the people who were with him, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, were telling what they had seen. 18 This, indeed, was why the crowd met him, because people had heard that he had given this sign of his mission. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another: “You see that you are gaining nothing! Why, all the world has run after him!”

20 Among those who were going up to worship at the festival were some Greeks, 21 Who went to Philip of Bethsaida in Galilee, and said: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew, and then together they went and told Jesus.

23 This was his reply: “The time has come for the Son of Man to be exalted. 24 In truth I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains solitary; but, if it dies, it becomes fruitful. 25 Those who love their life lose it; while those who hate their life in the present world shall preserve it in eternal life.”

26 “If you are ready to serve me, then follow me; and where I am, there my servant shall be also. If you are ready to serve me, my Father will honor you. 27 Now I am distressed at heart and what can I say? Father, bring me safe through this hour—yet it was for this very reason that I came to this hour—28 Father, honor thine own name.” At this there came a voice from heaven, which said: “I have already honored it, and I will honor it again.”

29 The crowd of bystanders, who heard the sound, said that it was thundering. Others said: “An angel has been speaking to him.” 30 “It was not for my sake that the voice came,” said Jesus, “but for yours. 31 Now this world is on its trial. Now the spirit that is ruling this world shall be driven out; 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, shall draw all people to myself.” 33 By these words he indicated what death he was destined to die.

34 “We,” replied the people, “have learned from the law that the Christ is to remain for ever; how is it, then, that you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 35 “Only a little while longer,” answered Jesus, “will you have the light among you. Travel on while you have the light, so that darkness may not overtake you; you who travel in the darkness do not know where you are going. 36 While you still have the light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light.” After he had said this, Jesus went away, and hid himself from them.

37 But, though Jesus had given so many signs of his mission before their eyes, they still did not believe in him, 38 In fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah, where he says: ‘Lord, who has believed our teaching? And to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?’

39 The reason why they were unable to believe is given by Isaiah elsewhere, in these words: 40 ‘He has blinded their eyes, and blunted their mind, so that they should not see with their eyes, and perceive with their mind, and turn—and I should heal them.’ 41 Isaiah said this, because he saw Christ’s glory; and it was of him that he spoke.

42 Yet for all this, even among the leading men there were many who came to believe in Jesus; but, on account of the Pharisees, they did not acknowledge it, for fear that they should be expelled from their synagogues; 43 For they valued honor from men more than honor from God.

44 But Jesus had proclaimed: “You who believe in me believe not in me, but in him who sent me; 45 And you who see me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that no one who believes in me should remain in the darkness. 47 When anyone hears my teaching and pays no heed to it, I am not their judge; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”

48 “You who reject me, and disregard my teaching, has a judge already—the very message which I have delivered will itself be your judge at the last day. 49 For I have not delivered it on my own authority; but the Father, who sent me, has himself given me his command as to what I should say, and what message I should deliver. 50 And I know that immortal life lies in keeping his command. Therefore, whatever I say, I say only what the Father has taught me.”

To read the next chapter of the Book of John, please go to The Gospel of John – 13.

This Online New Testament Gospel of John is excerpted from the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Century Gospels). Including over 200 bookmarked citations from the canonical Gospels, this Progressive Christian book appeals to the Unitarian spirit at the heart of all faiths.

Challenge your perceptions on the Gospel of Christ, Jesus’s parables, and the Kingdom of God by purchasing The Lord’s Prayer book today. Produced by LivingHour.org, a Thailand-based small press dedicated to publishing unique Learning Easy Thai Language Books, as well as works on progressive spirituality.