Chronological
Be Thankful
11 [L Now it happened that] While Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was going through the ·area between [middle of; borderlands of] Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he came into a ·small town [village], ten men ·who had a skin disease [T with leprosy; C the term does not refer to modern leprosy (Hansen’s disease), but to various skin disorders; see Lev. 14] met him there. They ·did not come close to Jesus [L stood at a distance] 13 but ·called [shouted; raised their voices] to him, “Jesus! Master! Have ·mercy [pity] on us!”
14 When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests [C only a priest could declare a person cleansed of such skin disorders; Lev. 14].”
As the ten men were going, they were ·healed [L cleansed; C skin disorders like this rendered the person afflicted ceremonially unclean]. 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus, praising God in a loud voice. 16 Then he ·bowed down [L fell on his face] at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (And this man was a Samaritan [C a shocking revelation, since Samaritans were despised by Jews].) 17 Jesus said, “Weren’t ten men ·healed [L cleansed; v. 14]? Where are the other nine? 18 Is this ·Samaritan [L foreigner] the only one who came back to ·thank [L give glory to] God?” 19 Then Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go on your way. ·You were healed because you believed [L Your faith has saved/healed you].”
God’s Kingdom Is Within You
20 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”
Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom ·is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes [L is not coming with observable/visible signs; C perhaps the heavenly signs described in Jewish apocalyptic literature]. 21 People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is ·within you [or among you; in your midst].”
When Jesus, the Son of Man, Comes Again(A)
22 Then Jesus said to ·his followers [the disciples], “The time will come when you will ·want very much [long] to see one of the days of the Son of Man [C the full revelation of the kingdom at Jesus’ return]. But you will not see it. 23 People will say to you, ‘Look, ·there he is [or over there]!’ or, ‘Look, ·here he is [or over here]!’ ·Stay where you are [L Don’t leave/go out]; don’t go away and ·search [pursue; chase after].
24 “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so ·it will be when the Son of Man comes again [L will be the Son of Man in his day].[a] 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by ·the people of this time [L this generation]. 26 Just as it was ·when Noah lived [L in the days of Noah; Gen. 6—9], so it will be ·when the Son of Man comes again [L in the days of the Son of Man]. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying, and ·giving their children to be married [or being given in marriage] until the day Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and ·killed [destroyed] them all. 28 It will be the same as ·during the time [L in the days] of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and ·sulfur [T brimstone] rained down from ·the sky [heaven] and ·killed [destroyed] them all [Gen. 19]. 30 This is how it will be ·when [L the day] the Son of Man ·comes again [L is revealed].
31 “On that day, a person who is on the roof [C roofs were typically flat and used as extra rooms] and whose belongings are in the house should not ·go inside [L come down] to get them. A person who is in the field should not ·go back home [L turn back]. 32 Remember Lot’s wife [C who was judged for longingly looking back at Sodom; Gen. 19:15–17, 26]. 33 Those who try to ·keep [preserve; keep secure] their lives will lose them. But those who ·give up [lose; let go of] their lives will save them. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be sleeping in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken, and the other will be left. |36 Two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left.|”[b]
37 ·The followers [L They] asked Jesus, “·Where will this be [L Where], Lord?”
Jesus answered, “Where there is a ·dead body [corpse], there the vultures will gather [C the carnage will make the place of judgment obvious to all].”
God Will Answer His People
18 Then Jesus used this ·story [parable] to ·teach his followers [show the necessity] that they should always pray and never ·lose hope [become discouraged]. 2 “In a certain town there was a judge who did not ·respect [fear] God or ·care about people [or care what people thought]. 3 In that same town there was a widow [C among the most vulnerable members of society] who kept coming to this judge, saying, ‘Give me ·my rights [justice] against my ·enemy [opponent; adversary].’ 4 For a while the judge refused to help her. But afterwards, he thought to himself, ‘Even though I don’t ·respect [fear] God or ·care about people [or care what people think], 5 yet because she ·keeps bothering me [is causing me such trouble], I will see that she gets ·her rights [justice]. Otherwise she will ·keep coming until she wears me out [or eventually come and punch me/blacken my eye].’”
6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the ·unfair [unjust; unrighteous] judge said. 7 God will always [L Will not God…?] ·give what is right [provide justice] to his ·people [L chosen people; elect] who cry to him day and night, and ·he will not [L will he…?] ·be slow to answer them [or keep putting them off]. 8 I tell you, God will ·help [provide justice to] his people ·quickly [or suddenly]. ·But [However; Yet] when the Son of Man comes again, will he find ·those on earth who believe in him [L faith on the earth; C God’s faithfulness is certain; the only question is whether people will remain faithful to him]?”
Being Right with God
9 Jesus told this ·story [parable] to some people who ·thought they were very good [were confident of their own righteousness] and ·looked down on [scorned; despised] everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple [courts] to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector [C despised by their fellow Jews because they worked for the hated Romans and were notorious for extortion]. 11 The Pharisee ·stood alone and prayed [or stood and prayed about himself], ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—thieves, ·cheaters [evildoers; unrighteous people], adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week [C Pharisees commonly fasted on Monday and Thursday], and I ·give one-tenth of [pay tithes on] everything I get!’
13 “[L But] The tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even ·look up [L raise his eyes] to heaven. But he beat on his chest [C a sign of sorrow and remorse] and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, when this man went home, he was ·right with God [justified], ·but the Pharisee was not [L rather than that (other) man]. [L Because] All who ·make themselves great [exalt themselves] will be made humble, but all who make themselves humble will be ·made great [exalted].”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.