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FEEDING 4,000
Matthew 15:29–32; Mark 8:1–13After feeding the 5,000, a crowd
of 4,000 follow Jesus into the
mountains. Many are lame, blind,
or dumb and hope to be cured.
After three days, in which He cures
many people, Jesus does not want
to send them away hungry. The
disciples bring seven loaves and
a few fishes, and with this amount
of food, Jesus feeds the multitude.
See also: Feeding the 5,000
228–31 ■ The Healing of the
Beggar 284–87WOMAN CAUGHT
IN ADULTERY
John 8:1–12An adulterous woman is brought
before Jesus by the scribes and
Pharisees, who ask Him why the
Law of Moses, which calls for death
for adulterers by stoning, should
not be carried out. Jesus says to
the people, “Let he who is without
sin throw the first stone.” The
crowd disperses and Jesus tells
the woman to go and sin no more.
With this act, Jesus successfully
evades the trap of those wishing
to force Him to choose between
holiness and mercy.
See also: The Golden Rule 210–11 ■
Jesus Anointed at Bethany 246–47THE MAN WITH THE
SHRIVELED HAND
Matthew 12:10–13; Mark 3:1–5;
Luke 6:6–10Angry that Jesus has been defying
their rules about the Sabbath, and
looking for reasons to bring charges
against Him, some Pharisees in asynagogue ask Jesus if it is lawful
to heal on a Sabbath. Seeing a
man with a shriveled hand in
the synagogue, Jesus heals him.
He then asks the Pharisees, “If any
of you has a sheep and it falls into
a pit on the Sabbath, will you not
take hold of it and lift it out? How
much more valuable is a person
than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful
to do good on the Sabbath.” After
this, the Pharisees plot how they
might kill Jesus.
See also: Jesus Embraces a Tax
Collector 242–43 ■ The Healing
of the Beggar 284–87A MAN BORN BLIND
John 9:1–38Meeting a man who is born blind,
the disciples ask Jesus if his
blindness is due to his parents’
sins or his own sins. Jesus says
that he is blind so that the work of
God can be shown in him. “I am
the light of the world,” Jesus says,
and He restores the man to sight
by pressing clay into his eyes and
sending him to wash it off in the
Pool of Siloam. The man, now
healed, reflects God’s ability to
work through people in order
to show His love and power.
See also: Jesus Embraces a Tax
Collector 242–43 ■ The Healing
of the Beggar 284–87LAZARUS AND A RICH MAN
Luke 16:19–31Jesus tells the parable of a rich
man who lives in luxury, and
Lazarus, who is full of sores and
lives in poverty at his gate. When
they die, Lazarus is taken up to
heaven by Abraham; the rich man
is sent to hell. Abraham denies therich man any comfort, and refuses
his request to send Lazarus to his
five living brothers to warn them
of their likely similar fate. Abraham
says they have already been warned
by the prophets. The message is
clear—judgment will be fair, as
we have all heard God’s message.
See also: The Testing of Abraham
50–53 ■ The Ten Commandments
78–83 ■ The Raising of Lazarus
226–27THE EXTENT OF
FORGIVENESS
Matthew 18:21–35Asked by His disciple Peter how
many times he should forgive
somebody who has wronged him,
Jesus says seventy times seven,
and He tells the parable of the
servant who owes a king money.
When the servant pleads with him,
the king relents and cancels the
debt. The servant then finds a
fellow servant who owes him
money and has him thrown into
prison when he cannot pay. When
the king hears this, he berates the
servant for not treating his debtor
as he has been treated himself and
orders for him to be imprisoned and
tortured. The parable affirms the
Golden Rule, and suggests that
forgiveness is not a finite resource.
See also: The Golden Rule 210–11 ■
Parables of Jesus 214–15 ■ The
Prodigal Son 218–21 ■ The Temple
Tax 222TEN CURED, ONLY
ONE GRATEFUL
Luke 17:11–17On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus is
passing through a village when ten
men with leprosy walk toward Him,DIRECTORY
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DIRECTORY 339
father wanted?” They reply the first
son. Jesus confirms this, and tells
them that the prostitutes and tax
collectors who repented to John
the Baptist will enter heaven before
them. Jesus explains that these
sinners, despite their past actions,
believed in God and repented. The
crowd, however, with their hollow
professions of faith, will not enter
G od’s k ingdom.
See also: The Raising of Lazarus
226–27 ■ Feeding the 5,000 228–31
■ The Healing of the Beggar 284–87STEPHEN, THE FIRST
CHRISTIAN MARTYR
Acts 6:8–7:60Stephen, a deacon of the early
church, is Christianity’s first
martyr. He is a Greek speaker and
a powerful debater, and the speech
he delivers at his trial before the
Sanhedrin in Jerusalem is recorded
in the Acts of the Apostles. His last
words before he is stoned to death
for blasphemy are a plea to God not
to hold the sin of his executioners
against them. The cloaks of those
who step forward to stone him
are guarded by a Roman citizen
named Saul, who is yet to convert
to Christianity and change his
name to Paul. Saul’s sins in his
early life are thus framed against
the piety of early Christian martyrs.
See also: Road to Damascus
290–91 ■ Paul’s Arrest 294–95 ■
The Power of the Resurrection
304–05THE HEALING OF TABITHA
Acts 9:32–43Tabitha (known as Dorcas in
Greek), a well-loved Christian
woman in Joppa, dies and herbody is placed in an upstairs room.
The Apostle Peter, who has recently
cured a paralyzed man in the town
of Lydda, is sent for. Peter is taken
into the upstairs room where
Tabitha’s body has been washed
and placed. Grieving women show
him clothes that Tabitha had made
for them. After sending the women
out of the room, Peter kneels and
prays. He then commands Tabitha
to get up, and she rises from the
bed, returned to life. Through the
miracle of resurrection, the status
of Peter as one of God’s primary
miracle workers is reaffirmed, and
Tabitha is rewarded for living a
good and virtuous life.
See also: The Raising of Lazarus
226–27 ■ The Empty Tomb 268–71PETER IN THE HOUSE OF
A GENTILE
Acts 10:1–11:18An angel appears to the Roman
centurion Cornelius in Caesarea
and tells him to send men to find
the Apostle Peter and bring him
to him. Meanwhile, Peter has a
vision from God telling him that
he may eat “unclean” food as it
is not unclean when God says
it is not. A servant takes Peter
to Cornelius’s house even though
religious laws prevent Peter from
entering the house of a Gentile.
Peter realizes that God is telling
him that He has no favorites and
will accept all those who believe
in Him and he baptizes everyone
there. God’s treatment of Cornelius
allows for a transnational approach
to salvation, as Peter demonstrates
that the Kingdom of God is open
to all who have faith.
See also: The Word Spreads
288–89 ■ The Council of
Jerusalem 292–93calling out for mercy. Jesus tells
them to go to see the priests, and
as they do so, they are healed. One
of them, a Samaritan, returns to
give thanks, and Jesus expresses
His disappointment that only one
man has done so, showing the
importance of expressing gratitude.
See also: The Good Samaritan
216 –17 ■ The Healing of the
Beggar 284–87A BANQUET FOR THE POOR
Luke 14:1–24On the Sabbath, Jesus heals a
man in the house of a Pharisee.
Afterward He tells a parable about
a large banquet, where all invited
guests make excuses and do not
attend. In anger, the host tells his
servants to go into the streets and
invite the poor, the crippled, and
the blind to come and eat with
him, until the house is so crowded
that there will be no room for
any other guests. This parable
emphasizes that, having been
rejected by the religious people,
God would ensure the salvation
of all kinds of social outcasts.
See also: The Golden Rule
210 –11 ■ Parables of Jesus 214–15 ■
Feeding the 5,000 228–31THE TWO SONS
Matthew 21:28–32In this parable, Jesus describes
a man with two sons. The man
asks both of them to work in his
vineyard for the day. The first son
refuses, but later changes his mind
and begins working. The second
son agrees to work in the field,
but, ultimately, does not fulfill his
promise. Jesus asks the crowd,
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