Matthew, chapter 4

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

So the dove is leading him into the wilderness for a big test? If Jesus was the Messiah or even God himself then why does he need to be tested? Doesn't God know that he won't fail? Or doesn't God trust Jesus/himself? Or is this just for show again? And if the Spirit leads Jesus to the devil then isn't the devil sort of God's minion who's just doing his job?

2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

I hope he had brought some water or found a source somewhere ... And I like the laconic statement: 'He then became hungry'. No way! After having fasted for 40 days? What a surprise. On the other hand it's quite a surprise if he only got hungry on the 40th day!

3 And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"

A simple 'No' wouldn't have been as dramatic I guess ... And we had to cite the Old Testament again as a proof of authority, right? Jesus also kind of behaved like a politician in igonring and weaseling around the actual issue.

6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU'; and 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" 7 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"

Is this like the first poetry slam in history? And I bet that it's also written: YOU SHALL PICK AND CHOOSE PARTS OF BIBLE VERSES AND REMIX THEM ANEW FOR YOUR OWN NEEDS ...

8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory

How can you see all the kingdoms of the world from a very high mountain? Especially when you're on a GLOBE ... So much for their geographical knowledge. But we shouldn't be too harsh with the authors. They couldn't have the knowledge that we now have.

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Yeah, don't think about your responsibilities towards your families for even one second. Just leave everything behind immediately ...

21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.Same thing here.

Don't think about your father for one second. Just leave him immediately. Oh these hippies ...

23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

Too bad we don't have that anymore today. Bad timing I guess for our sick people.

Matthew, chapter 3

16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him

It's good that he came up immediately again from the water! Because people usually stay there for hours ... The heavens were opened? Like a door or a window? And the Spirit of God, solidified into a dove, came out of this opening in the sky and flew down to Earth?

17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

Aw, God is just like all human parents! So proud of their kids. And always thinking they're the best ...

Matthew, chapter 2

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.

The magi were men specialized in astronomy and astrology or, in other words, people with a great tendency to the superstitious. So much also for the 'three kings'. The number three is only extrapolated from the three gifts. It's never explicitly said that there were only three men.

2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Which star was it? And how did they know it was his star? Did it have a name tag on it?

7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.

Stars don't just appear like that. Comets or meteorites do though. Another proof that they didn't know what stars really were (distant suns).

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him." 9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

This seems to be quite a funny star! Let me get this right: The star appears and the Magi follow it to Jerusalem. But then it disappears (since the Magi have to ask Herod where the king got born) and then after Herod tells them, behold, the star is there again and now 'goes' on before them until they reached the house! So why didn't it immediately lead them to Bethlehem? Oh, wait, I think it maybe just have been a diversion to get the plot going and to create some drama ... And how does a star 'go on'? How can it stay over an exact house in order to single it out? It must have been hovering a meter above its roof? So it definitely wasn't a star. I can't understand how people can literally believe in such bad fiction writing.

14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."

Rejoice! Another element of God's Play has been acted out.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: "He shall be called a Nazarene."

God really likes to play with his puppets: Joseph, turn left! Joseph, turn right! Jump, Joseph! And thus yet another prophecy was fulfilled! Praise the Lord!

Matthew, chapter 1

Next one: The Gospel of Matthew (around 100 A.D.)

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus was conceived by Mary getting impregnated by a spirit. Just like a lot of classical Demi-Gods actually. And how old was Mary at the time? Since she hadn't had any kids yet and considering the time, the society and the customs she lived in, she was probably between 12 and 14 years old. So the biblical God impregnated a young teen. I wonder why they don't tell you this in Sunday School ...

22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD ITH US."

So if all of this HAD to happen again then History is indeed just God's plan unfolding and we're the robot-pawns in it. Free will is an illusion in that case.Do also note that the Hebrew word that got translated into 'virgin' was 'almah' which rather means 'young woman' and not 'virgin' (although the young woman of course can be a virgin too). If Isaiah had wanted to make it clear that it should indeed be a virgin he would have used 'bethulah'.

24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

The word 'until' indicates that he didn't keep her as a virgin afterwards hence the Catholic dogma as Perpetual Virginity is nonsense. On the other hand it explains why the Bible talks about Jesus' brothers in some verses.

Mark (compilation)

If you're new to this blog then here's a PDF document of all my comments regarding the Gospel of Mark. It's easier to read this way than having to read the blog backwards.

Mark, chapter 15

(note: the resurrection accounts differ in all 4 gospels and contradict each other - but I won't go into that now)

16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned."

So much for unconditional love ...

17 "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

So every believing Christian should be able to cast out demons, speak with new tongues, not get hurt by deadly poison, and heal sick people. My question: Why isn't that the case then? And why do those religious fools that let serpents bite them because they think they won't get hurt need a doctor afterwards?

19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

So he flew into space like Superman? And to some physical place where The Father is sitting somewhere on a throne? And he send sat down there too? What for? And is he still sitting there now? Isn't he getting bored?

(another note: the oldest manuscripts do NOT have the verses 9-19 and verse 20, suggesting that they were later additions to change the rather abrupt and kind of scary ending of the Gospel - verse 8: They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.)

Mark, chapter 15

15 Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

So the otherwise cold-hearted and brutal Pilate was a wimp this time, wanting so satisfy the Jews? Sure ... And there are also interesting theories about Barabbas (actually Bar-Abbas, son of the father and in some texts even called Jesus Barabbas) out there.

27 They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 28 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with transgressors."

So those two had to die at that exact moment too because a prophecy needed to be fulfilled? (verse 28 is actually missing from the oldest manuscripts of the Luke gospel, it's therefore probably a later addition)

32"Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!" Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

Please do note for future reference that both robbers were mocking Jesus.

34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" which is translated, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

That doesn't sound very convincing, does it? So Jesus was doubting his own God? Or himself if Jesus equates to God himself, as some Christians claim. But then how can he forsake himself?

37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

Uh? What was so special about his last breath? Jesus first doubted God, then uttered a loud cry and then died. What's so divine about that? Mr Centurion must have seen something special then ... But, aw, it's kept secret again!

Mark, chapter 14

3 While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. 4 But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 "For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they were scolding her. 6 But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. 7 "For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.

So a woman is pampering Jesus with some very costly perfume and some of the apostles point out that this perfume could have been sold and the money given to the needy. And what's Jesus' answer? "Screw the poor! They'll be always there but I won't. Even the Messiah has a right to enjoy part of his mission!" That's exactly the Jesus we know from religious class, right? And do compare this version of this story with the versions in Mt 27, Luke 7 and John 12 and notice the differences.

20 And He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl. 21 "For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."

If it had been written then does this mean that there could have been no other way, that things had to go exactly the way they did? If yes then free will is definitely an illusion and the whole of humanity just a big play unfolding in time, created by God to entertain himself. And why is he so angry about the traitor? Didn't he HAVE to get betrayed and die on the cross? If yes then why is he whining? Especially since he's supposed to be the Son and claimed to know that he would resurrect afterwards. And if the traitor hadn't been born then Jesus couldn't have gotten betrayed, right? And if Judas HAD to betray him then what follows is that he didn't have free will and thus was a puppet. The whole problem and the inconsistencies concerning Judas are well summarized here.

25 "Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine untilthat day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

It's nice to know that there's wine in Heaven!

34 And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death"

Why is he grieved? Isn't he glad that he can redeem Mankind? Isn't he glad that he will be back home soon? Or wasn't he so sure about this after all?

51 A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. 52 But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.

Ok ...I'm not sure why this is mentioned but thanks for the information!

Mark, chapter 13

24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.

Hm, seems like astronomy wasn't Jesus' favorite subject in school. How could stars fall from the sky? Stars are distant suns. They cannot just fall from heaven.

30 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Another prophecy of Jesus that didn't hold up. There have been lots of generations since then that have passed away.

32 "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

Take that, Trinity! If the Son doesn't know what the Father knows then both can't be the same. Or the Father withholds information from the Son but if the Son is identical to the Father then the Father is withholding information from himself. Eh, yeah, that makes lots of sense. Again. The biblical authors really should have taken a course in elementary logic before inventing confusing concepts like this. On the other hand Jesus never claimed to be a part of the Trinity. That whole concept was made up later by the Church to keep their theology from imploding.

Mark, chapter 11

12 On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.

So even the Godman gets hungry and needs to find some earthly food to eat. Although I assume he could just create it out of thin air if the need would arise?

13 Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

Double d'oh! One: Apparently seeing far away things clearly wasn't one of his superpowers. Two: Didn't he know it was not the season of the figs? And if he did, what did he expect ... ??

14 He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!"

So Jesus curses a fig tree for not having fruit out of season. Now that's makes sense again! Not. And now the tree won't be able to ever have fruit again because Jesus made it barren. The olive farmer will be pleased ... Luckily he only cursed one tree and not the whole orchard.

23 "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24 "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

So if a christian mother prays for the cancer of her child to disappear but doesn't succeed in it then it's because she didn't really believe that it would disappear? But then most christians don't seem to really believe ... judging from the inefficiency of praying.

Mark, chapter 10

6 "But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. 7 "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, 8 AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

So what is that supposed to mean? That you have to stay with person that you had first sex with or that you've married (whichever comes first) your whole life? Even if your partner turns out to be a cheater, loser, alcoholic and wife/man-beater? And doesn't this then also mean that God CHOSE ('has joined together') this horrible person for you?

8 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.So Jesus doesn't consider himself either good nor God? That's quite a surprise but noted. And so much for the Trinity. 23 And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"

So a high income diminishes your chances to enter Heaven? Somebody better tell the Vatican and the televangelists this!

47 When he (a blind beggar) heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"51 And answering him, Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And the blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!"

D'oh! Jesus surely is slow at times ... What do most of the blind people want from a well-known healer when they address him? Come on, try to guess this and hit it on the spot the first time!

Mark, chapter 9

1 And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."

Hm, so either we have some 2000-year-old people walking in our midst or Jesus didn't speak so truly after all. But maybe he just had a bad prophecy day ... Or the kingdom of God has come and nobody has noticed it. Which would be weird since Jesus is supposed to come back on clouds or something like that. And that would definitely have shown up on Youtube!

10 They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant.

Zombie movies obviously weren't in at the time. Otherwise they would have known what it meant. Or they could just have asked the Egyptians about what happened to Osiris.

20 They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.

So epileptics are possessed by evil spirits?

23 And Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes."

Seems like Christians don't really believe then. Otherwise they would be able to cure each other from cancer or bring peace to troubled regions. But probably 'all things' didn't really mean 'all things' ...

28 When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could we not drive it out?" 29 And He said to them, "This kind cannot come
out by anything but prayer."

This raises two questions:
- Didn't the apostles believe enough to be able to do this? (see above)
- What do they usually do or use to drive out demons if not prayers? Weapons like those from the Ghostbusters?

43 "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.

So now you know what to do if your hand is doing something sinful ... Although one could argue that it's not the hand that does the +- evil thing but the mind. So why not cut your head off? But the ancients probably thought that the hand had a mind of its own?

Mark, chapter 7

24 Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice.

That's the cross that superstars have to bear (pun intended)! You can rarely go somewhere incognito. But at least the paparazzi didn't have cams at the time.

25 But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.

So even kids could be possessed by unclean spirits/demons. This would explain a lot and it seems like things haven't really improved from that time ... Although we don't have someone to cast the demons out anymore. But couldn't Jesus do that remotely from Heaven?

32 They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. 33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by
himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!"

Mel Gibson should have made this scene into a movie as well! Just imagine it: Jesus puts his fingers into the man's ears, then takes them out again, spits into his hand and touches the mute's tongue with his saliva. That's some nice voodoo! And one could even imagine a wilder scene if he had to have his fingers in the man's ears and touch the man tongue with his saliva at the same time before he was able to sigh (is he annoyed?) and utter the magical word ...

36 And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

Even if the Son wasn't omniscient, shouldn't he have known after some time that it was counterproductive to tell them not to tell any one? Or was that actually secretly his aim? That people should talk even more about it?

Mark, chapter 6

4 Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

I wonder why they didn't believe in him. Because they knew that he was only a human and thus he couldn't trick them? And healing somebody doesn't count as miracle?

55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

There must have been a lot of sick people lying around there. And this sounds like a lot of work even for a miracle-man. But at least his magical cloak helped him doing the job.

Mark, chapter 5

12 The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13 He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

So the demons didn't want Jesus to send them simply forth (why not? do they need hosts to survive?) but asked to be 'transferred' into the swines. Who then get crazy, jump into the sea and drown. That makes sense. But can demons be drowned in the first place? And, oh, the pig farmer will probably thank Jesus many times for killing his herd of 2000 pigs!

But I guess Jesus didn't like the pig farmer in the first place since he wasn't a Jew and therefore didn't care about destroying his livestock ...

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

So Jesus doesn't just want anyone to go with him. Especially not ex-crazy guys ... Maybe because one never knows when the demons will be back? And it's surprising that he said to him that he should tell his family about what happened since at other places in the texts he always tells the people not to say anything.

25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

So even though Jesus wasn't aware of her, she was healed simply because she had touched the magic cloak! Awesome. Too bad that cloak doesn't exist anymore. And although Jesus seems to have healing power sensors that indicated that somebody 'stole' some healing power from him, he obviously didn't have omnivision nor omniscience and therefore had to asked who touched his cloak. Hm ...

And it's also a not very veiled attack on doctors and medicine. But, thank God!, we've still got doctors today because magical cloaks have become somewhat rare though.

Mark, chapter 4

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!"

Jesus speaks in codes so that the uninitiated cannot understand and thus not be forgiven? Why would he do that? That's not really a behavior you expect from a loving person, is it? But probably it was simply the author trying to get a quote from Isaiah (6:9,10) in again.

25 "Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

This too doesn't really sound like the nice Jesus we always get told about. Why take away even the little that somebody has? Why not help him to get more?

Mark, chapter 3

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

Seems like his own family doubted him ... But didn't they see him perform miracles? Or were miracles common place at the time and nothing that would prove divine powers?

31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." 33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

That really sounds like a dysfunctional family.

Mark, chapter 1

Let's start with Mark, the oldest gospel (around 64 A.D.)

1:2 It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"

But this verse can't be found in Isaiah. You have to turn to Malachi 3:1 to find it. Seems somebody messed up the references.

1:16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 18 At once they left their nets and followed him. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

So Jesus wanders around in Galilee and calls, apparently arbitrarily, people to leave their work and to follow him. And they do so immediately, leaving their nets resp. their father behind. Just like that. Don't they worry about who will support their families in their absence? Or were they fishing and working just for fun?

32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Too bad that Jesus didn't decide to incarnate during our times. Wouldn't we also like to bring our sick people to him so he could healed them? No need for hospitals anymore! But bad timing I guess ...

43 Jesus sent him (a healed leper) away at once with a strong warning: 44 "See that you don't tell this to anyone."

Didn't he just before this incident heal a lot of people and cast out demons? So why the secrecy now? Doesn't make much sense.