As in the beginning of Matthew 13, Jesus taught the crowd on the lakeshore from a boat. He taught the parable of the sower. Later, when Jesus was alone with the disciples, Jesus explained why He used parables and quoted Isaiah 6:9-10. Jesus explained the deeper meaning of the parable to them. Jesus continued by asking them if anyone puts a lamp under a bowl. He explained that everything hidden will be exposed. He advised them to pay attention, because they would be judged by the same rules they judged others - but worse. Jesus talked about how the Kingdom of God is like seeds that grow even though we don't know how. In describing the Kingdom of God to the people, Jesus used the parable of the mustard seed. Jesus only spoke in parables to the people, but to the disciples He would elaborate. Later that day at evening, Jesus wanted to go across the lake in the boat He was sitting in to teach. Jesus was sleeping and a storm arose. The disciples, in a panic, woke Jesus and He calmed the water and wind.
Jesus and His disciples arrived on the other side of Lake Galilee. When Jesus went ashore, a crazy man came out to meet Him. This man was possessed by evil spirits and lived among the tombs. Nobody could keep him restrained so that he wouldn't hurt them, so they were all afraid of him. The evil spirits inside the man knew who Jesus was and begged Him not to punish them. Jesus asked what their name was and the man answered "Mob" - there a lot of them in there. Mob asked Jesus if they could go into the herd of pigs nearby. Jesus agreed. The spirits inhabited the pigs and proceeded to destroy them by running them down the cliff and into the lake to drown. The pig tenders ran to town and told everybody what happened. Naturally people came out to see what was going on and they saw the man sitting calmly and they were afraid. They asked Jesus to leave their territory. The man Jesus healed wanted to come with Him, but Jesus told him to go home to his family. So the man told everyone about Jesus. Jesus went to the other side of the lake and a man begged Him to heal his very ill daughter. As they were on their way, a large crowd surrounded them. A woman knew that if she just touched Jesus' clothes, she would be healed of the bleeding which had troubled her for 12 years. Jesus felt power taken from Him and He looked around to see who it was. When He found her, He commended her for her faith. Then they got a message that the girl had died, and Jesus wasn't bothered by it. He said, "Don't be afraid, only believe." (TEV Mark 5:36) and he took Peter, James and His brother John and had everyone else stay behind. They went to the house, the mourners made fun of Jesus when He told them the girl wasn't dead and He put them out of the house. Then He held her hand and commanded her to get up. So she did. He told them to give her something to eat.
Tomorrow read Mark 6-7
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