Jesus

For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”

Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea, and such a large crowd gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people crowded along the shore.

And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,

Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.

He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,

Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

Jesus also said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? Doesn’t he set it on a stand?

He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.

Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.

Then He asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it?

With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.

He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.”

After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him.

But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?”

Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.

“Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?”

Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs.

When the man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before Him.

And he shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!”

For Jesus had already declared, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!”

“What is your name?” Jesus asked. “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”

And he begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of that region.