New Testament in a Year

²⁴ Jesus saw that the ruler had become sad. He said, ‘It is very difficult for rich people to let God rule in their lives. ²⁵ The hole in a needle is very small. A camel cannot go through it! But it is even more difficult than that for a rich person to let God rule in their life.’

²⁶ The people who were listening to Jesus said, ‘So perhaps God will not save anyone!’ ²⁷ Jesus replied, ‘God can do things that are impossible for people to do.’

²⁸ Peter then said to Jesus, ‘Look! We have left everything that we had. Now we are your disciples.’

²⁹ Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this: Some people have left their homes. Or they may have left their wife or their brothers. Or they may have left their parents or their children. They have done this to work for the kingdom of God. ³⁰ Now, in this world, God will give these people many more things than they have left behind. And in the future world they will live for ever with God.’

³¹ Jesus took the 12 disciples away from the other people. ‘Listen!’ he said to them. ‘We are going to Jerusalem. There, many bad things will happen to me. All the things that God's prophets wrote down long ago about the Son of Man will now happen to me. ³² The Jewish leaders will deliver me to people that are not Jews. They will laugh at me. They will say bad things against me. They will spit at me. ³³ They will hit me with whips and then they will kill me. But after three days, I will become alive again.’

³⁴ The 12 disciples did not understand any of these things. What Jesus said did not mean anything to them. So they did not know what Jesus was talking about.

Jesus makes a blind man well

³⁵ When Jesus was getting near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the side of the road. He was asking people to give him money. ³⁶ Then he heard a large crowd of people as they went along the road. So he asked the people near him what was happening. ³⁷ They told him, ‘Jesus from Nazareth is walking past.’

³⁸ The man began to shout out. ‘Jesus! Son of David! Please be kind to me and help me.’ ³⁹ The people who were walking at the front of the crowd were angry with him. They told him that he should be quiet. But he started to shout even louder, ‘Son of David! Please help me!’

⁴⁰ Then Jesus stopped. He said to the people, ‘Bring that man to me.’ When the man came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹ ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Sir,’ the blind man replied, ‘I want to see again.’

⁴² Jesus said to him, ‘See again! You are well now because you believed in me.’ ⁴³ Immediately, the man could see again. He started to follow Jesus along the road. He was praising God.

Many people saw what had happened. They also praised God.