(Luke) Shining Light Tells the Good Story 5
5
FISHING FOR TWO-LEGGEDS
1As Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was teaching at Lake of Chief Garden (Gennesaret), a great number of people pressed in close to hear him speak the words of the Great Spirit. 2He was standing on the shore and saw two fishing canoes, but the fishermen had left their canoes and were washing their nets. 3He climbed into the canoe belonging to One Who Hears (Simon) and asked him to push out a little from the shore. He then sat in the canoe and taught the large gathering of people.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to One Who Hears (Simon), “Push out farther into the deep water and throw in your nets for a catch.”
5“Wisdomkeeper,” he answered, “we have been fishing all night and caught nothing, but because it is you who ask, I will do it.”
6They threw the net out into the water.
Before they knew what was happening, the net became heavy. They struggled with the weight of it and began to pull it in.
But the net was so full of fish it began to tear. 7They called out to the other canoe for help. The men came and began to pull in the nets. Fish of every size poured into the two canoes until they were so full they began to sink.
8-10When One Who Hears (Simon), along with his fishing partners—He Takes Over (James) and He Shows Goodwill (John), the sons of Gift of Creator (Zebedee)—saw what happened, they were filled with wonder and awe at the great catch of fish.
One Who Hears (Simon) fell to his knees in front of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). “Wisdomkeeper!” he groaned. “Go away from me! For I am a bad-hearted and unholy man.”
“Do not fear!” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) told him. “From now on your nets will catch two-leggeds.”
11When they returned to the shore, they left everything and began to walk the road with him.
SKIN DISEASE CLEANSED
12While he was in one of these villages, a man with a skin disease all over his body came to Creator Sets Free (Jesus). He humbled himself, bowed down, and pleaded with him. “Honored One!” he cried. “If you want to, you can heal and cleanse me.”
13Creator Sets Free (Jesus), stirred with compassion, reached out and touched the man. “I want to!” he said. “Be cleansed!” And right away the disease left him and he was healed.
14Creator Sets Free (Jesus) sent him away at once. “Tell no one!” he said. “Go and show yourself to a holy man and have him perform the cleansing ceremony given to us by the lawgiver Drawn from the Water (Moses), to show the holy man what the Great Spirit has done for you.”#5:14 Leviticus 14:2-32
Tribal law instructed that a person healed of a skin disease must be pronounced ceremonially clean by a holy man.
15The reputation of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) began to grow among the people as word about him spread. The crowds came from everywhere to hear him speak and be healed of their sicknesses. 16But he often left the crowds and went out into the desert wilderness to pray.
SPIRITUAL LEADERS OFFENDED
17On another day he was teaching at a house in Village of Comfort (Capernaum). The Separated Ones (Pharisees) and the scroll keepers had come from the surrounding villages of Circle of Nations (Galilee) and from as far as the Land of Promise (Judea) and Village of Peace (Jerusalem) to hear him speak.
The healing power of the Great Spirit was there, resting on Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
18Several men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat to bring him to Creator Sets Free (Jesus), 19but they could not get past the crowd. In their desperation, they climbed up to the rooftop and broke through the roof tiles. They lowered the paralyzed man down, sleeping mat and all, right in front of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). 20When he saw their trust in him, he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, you are released from your broken ways and wrongdoings.”
21The scroll keepers and the Separated Ones (Pharisees) began to grumble among themselves, “Who is this man to speak lies against the Great Spirit with such disrespect? Who but the Maker of Life can release a man from his wrongdoings?”
22In his spirit, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Why are your hearts full of dark thoughts and questions? 23Is it easier to tell a paralyzed man, ‘Get up and walk,’ or to say to him, ‘You are released from your wrongdoings’?”
The room became quiet as he waited for an answer.
24 When no one answered, he said to them, “This is how you will know the True Human Being has the right to forgive bad hearts and wrongdoings on this earth.” He turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Get up, and when you have rolled up your sleeping bundle, walk to your home.” 25Right away the man stood up in front of them and did what he said, giving thanks to the Great Spirit for his healing.
26Great respect and awe filled the hearts of all who were in the house. They gave honor to Creator, saying, “Today we have seen how mysterious the ways of the Great Spirit can be.”
EATING WITH OUTCASTS
27After this he taught again by the lakeshore. As he walked by, he saw a tribal tax collector sitting at his tax booth.
Tribal tax collectors were often Tribal Members who were given the right to collect taxes for the People of Iron (Romans). They could force their own people, under the threat of violence, to pay them. To make a living, they would take more than the People of Iron (Romans) required. But many of them became greedy and took even more than they were permitted. They were hated and looked down on by the people.
The name of this tribal tax collector was He Brings Together (Levi).#5:27 Later known as Matthew Creator Sets Free (Jesus) went to him and said, “Come, walk the road with me.” 28He got up from his booth, left it all behind, and began to walk the road with him.
29He Brings Together (Levi) hosted a great feast for Creator Sets Free (Jesus). He invited all his friends to come. Tribal tax collectors, along with other outcasts, were all sitting around the table with Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
The Separated Ones (Pharisees) called certain people outcasts. They used their strict interpretation of their tribal law as a way to point them out. These outcasts were not permitted to enter the gathering houses. They were looked down on and despised by the Separated Ones (Pharisees). Outcasts included tribal tax collectors, prostitutes, people who ate and drank too much, ones with diseases that made them ceremonially unclean, and anyone who was not a member of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).
30When the Separated Ones (Pharisees) and the scroll keepers saw Creator Sets Free (Jesus) eating with outcasts, they complained to his followers, saying, “Why does your wisdomkeeper keep company with tribal tax collectors and outcasts?”
31Creator Sets Free (Jesus) overheard them and said, “People who are well do not need medicine. 32I have not come for the ones with good hearts. No! I have come to help the outcasts find the path back home again.”
FRESH SKINS FOR NEW WINE
33Then they asked Creator Sets Free (Jesus) another question. “The followers of Gift of Goodwill (John) often go without eating to pray, and so do the followers of the Separated Ones (Pharisees). So why do your followers feast and eat so much?”
A gentle smile came across the face of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), and with a sigh he responded.
34“Do you expect wedding guests to be sad and go without eating when the groom is hosting a feast?” he asked. 35“The time will come when he is gone. Then they will be sad and go without eating.”
They still did not understand, 36so he told them this wise saying, “No one uses a new piece of cloth to patch an old garment, for it would shrink and make the tear worse. 37No one puts new wine into an old wineskin, for the new wine would burst the skins. 38-39New and fresh wineskins are what is needed, but the ones who have a taste for the old do not want the new.”
He said this to show that the old ways of the spiritual leaders did not reflect the beauty of the new way he was bringing.
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