Miracles and controversies

  • PER226 Jesus the Messiah challenged after a miracle

    In Jerusalem, after healing a mute demoniac, Jesus the Messiah is challenged by opponents who attribute his power to Beelzebul and demand another sign. He answers with logical and spiritual arguments, cites the sign of Jonah, redirects a word of praise toward obedience to the Word, and concludes with a metaphor about the inner light. This discourse, reported only by Luke (11.14-36), illustrates two opposite attitudes toward the Messiah: authentic faith and unbelieving rejection.

    Luke 11.33-36 (King James Version) :
    No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.
    King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER228 The judgment of religious leaders and the rebukes of Jesus the Messiah

    During a meal at a Pharisee's house in Jerusalem (late 32), Jesus utters severe rebukes against the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Luke 11.38-54, the only gospel to recount this episode, describes a hostile atmosphere in which the religious authorities look for evidence to condemn Jesus. His cutting words are in reality a call to repentance, ignored by men blinded by pride.

    Luke 7.45 (King James Version) :
    Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
    King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER229 Reminder of the massacre of the Galileans by Pilate

    Pericope PER229 (Luke 13,1-5) recounts how witnesses of a Pharisee's meal confronted Jesus about the massacre of Galileans by Pilate. Jesus refuses to see in it a divine punishment and calls for personal repentance, also citing the fall of the tower of Siloam. He teaches that death is the common lot of all, and that only repentance opens the way to the Kingdom of God.

    Luke 13.3 (King James Version) :
    I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
    King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate