Kingdom of Heaven — The Gospels in English

Story 4: The Covenant of David and the Anointed One of Isaiah

One of the amazing things about the story of the Bible is the way it is grounded in real human history. The places the Bible mentions can be found on a map. The ruins of towns listed by Scripture thousands of years ago are still there.

Story 48: The Sermon on the Mount: AKA "Marching Orders"

There are few sections of the Bible that are read and celebrated as much as the Sermon on the Mount. It is found in chapters five through seven in the book of Matthew. It contains some of the most beautiful ideals ever written down by a human hand.

Story 49: The Sermon on the Mount: Naming the Blessed

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most beautiful ethical writings in the history of humanity. Just before giving us the Sermon Matthew explained that crowds of people were traveling from all over the nation of Israel and the surrounding Gentile countries to get near Jesus.

Story 51: On Meekness, Mercy, and the Hunger

Crowds upon crowds of people had come from all over the nation of Israel and the surrounding countries to see Jesus, the popular young preacher who performed amazing miracles and taught about God in a radical new way.

Story 65: How to Pray Part 1: The Holy One Who Hears

As Jesus taught His Sermon on the Mount, He explained how God wanted His disciples to pray. The people of Jesus' time were not to follow the models of their culture. The religious leaders who used prayer to show off their own piety. Instead,

Story 70: Who Are You To Judge?

When we read the radical, world-changing sermon that Jesus preached on the mount, we are learning what it means to be subjects of His Kingdom. It is a strange Kingdom. We can’t see it, and yet He is seated on a throne ruling in mighty, sovereign power.

Story 84: The Parable of the Harvest

Jesus had begun to speak to His disciples in parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. The rest of the crowd was still there as Jesus preached from the boat, but for most of them, these stories would be a mystery.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, blessing, bravery, calling, Christianity, corruption, death, demonic, disciples, disobedience, Evil One, evil spirits, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, generosity, Gospels, grace, Holiness, Holy Spirit, humility, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Jews, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord, love, Matthew, mercy, Messiah, Metanarrative, miracle, narrative, New Testament, obedience, Old Testament, parable, persecution, Pharisees, prayer, prophecy, purity, radical, religious leaders, repentance, Satan, Scripture study, seek, servant, serving, shine, Spiritual formation, spirituality, transformation, treasure, truth, wheatJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020angels, beloved, Blessed, Christ, corruption, devil, eternity, faith, fire, Galilee, God, God the Father, Gospels, harvest, Heaven, history, Holy Spirit, hope, Isaiah, Israel, Jesus, Jews, Judgment, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew, Messiah, narrative, New Testament, parable, radical, reformer, religious leaders, righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, theology, transformation, Truth, wheat

Story 86: Parables of the Kingdom: Hidden Treasures and the Heavenly Vision

Jesus continued to teach parables to help his disciples understand how the Kingdom of God would work in the world as true believers waited for Him to return.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, calling, Christianity, corruption, Day of the Lord, death, demonic, Demons, disobedience, Evil One, evil spirits, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, gnashing teeth, Good News, Gospels, grace, Hell, Holiness, Holy Spirit, humility, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Jews, judgment, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, light of the world, Lord, love, Luke, Mark, Matthew, mercy, Messiah, Metanarrative, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, parable, persecution, Pharisees, prophecy, purity, radical, religious leaders, repentance, Satan, Spiritual formation, spirituality, stories, suffering, transformation, treasure, truth, utopia, weepingJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Bible, Christ, corruption, faith, gnashing teeth, God, Gospels, Hell, history, hope, Israel, Jesus, Jews, Judgment, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Messiah, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, overcoming, prophecy, radical, reformer, religious leaders, righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, sin, stories, Story, theology, transformation, treasure, Truth, Wealth, weeping, Word

Story 88: From Devastation to Transformation

The Lord Jesus calmed the mighty storm. Imagine it. All the winds and waves raging, creating a terrifying howl, filling your boat with water…and then up He rises… commands…and everything slows to calm.Jesus and His bewildered disciples sailed their boats to the other side of the Sea to the region of the Garasenes. Many Gentiles lived there.

Abyss, Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, Christianity, corruption, death, demonic, demonized, Demons, disciples, disobedience, Evil One, evil spirits, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, generosity, Gentiles, Good News, Gospels, grace, Hell, Holiness, insane, Israel, Jesus, Jewish History, Jews, judgment, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lamb of God, Lord, Luke, Mark, Matthew, mercy, Messiah, Metanarrative, miracle, miracles, narrative, New Testament, obedience, oppressed, persecution, pigs, prayer, purity, radical, repentance, rest, right mind, Roman Officials, Satan, Savior, shine, sin, Spiritual formation, transformationJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Abyss, begging, Bible, demoniac, demons, evil spirits, freedom, Galilee, healing, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, New Testament, persecuted, pigs, Satan

Story 89: The Tender Love of the Lord

Imagine what it was like to be a disciple of Jesus. They saw Him heal with a power nobody had ever seen before. They stood by Him as He confronted the most influential men of His day. They watched Him silence the storm with a word.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, bleeding woman, blessings, bravery, calling, Christianity, corruption, death, disciples, Faith, fear, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, generosity, Good News, Gospels, grace, healing, Israel, Jairus' daughter, Jesus, Jewish History, Jews, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, life, light of the world, Lord, love, Luke, Mark, Matthew, mercy, Messiah, Metanarrative, miracle, miracles, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, power, prayer, purity, radical, religious leaders, repentance, Savior, seek, shine, Spiritual formation, spirituality, stories, transformationJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Bible, bleeding woman, Christ, corruption, courage, death, faith, Galilee, God, Gospels, history, hope, Israel, Jairus' daughter, Jesus, Jews, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, life, love, Luke, Mark, Matthew, miracle, miracles, narrative, New Testament, reformer, religious leaders, Salvation, Scripture, Story, theology, transformation, Truth, Word

Story 90: The Healing in His Hands

In this story, Jesus was continuing to give His faithful witness of the Gospel in the region Galilee in spite of the hard-heartedness of the people. Where was the repentance that should have marked the children of God when their Savior came?

Adam and Eve, Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, blessing, calling, Christianity, corruption, Day of the Lord, Demons, disciples, Eden, eternity, Evil spirit, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, Good News, Gospels, grace, Holiness, Holy Spirit, humility, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Jews, King David, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord, love, Matthew, mercy, Messiah, Metanarrative, miracle, miracles, narrative, New Testament, obedience, Old Testament, Parables, persecution, Peter, prayer, prophecy, prophets, Ptere, purity, radical, religious leaders, repentance, rest, Sabbath, Satan, Savior, Scripture study, shine, sin, Son of God, Spiritual formation, spirituality, stories, temptation, transformation, treasureJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Bible, blind, Christ, corruption, Day of the Lord, deaf, demon, demonized, evil spirits, faith, Galilee, God, Gospels, healing, history, Holy Spirit, Israel, Jesus, King David, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord, Matthew, Messiah, miracles, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, overcoming, prophecy, radical, reformer, religious leaders, righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Story, theology, transformation, Truth, Word

Story 92: The Commissioning of the Disciples: On Becoming Harvesters

You may have noticed on these blogs about the life of Jesus that the stories from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John get a little mixed up. For example, when in the book of Matthew we read from chapter eight before we read chapters 5 through 7, which are the Sermon on the Mount.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, calling, Christianity, Day of the Lord, Demons, disciples, disobedience, doubt, Evil One, Faith, family, fear, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, Good News, Gospels, grace, harvest, Hell, Israel, Jesus, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord, love, Luke, Mark, Matthew, mercy, Messiah, Metanarrative, ministry, miracle, narrative, New Testament, obedience, Old Testament, oppressed, Parables, persecution, power, praye, prayer, pride, prophecy, radical, religious leaders, repentance, Savior, Scripture study, shine, sin, Spiritual formation, spirituality, stories, transformation, treasure, truth, wheatJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Bible, Blessed, Christ, corruption, disciples, faith, Galilee, God, Gospels, harvest, healing, hope, Israel, Jesus, Jews, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Messiah, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, Persecution, prayer, radical, religious leaders, righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, sin, stories, transformation, Truth, Word

Story 103: Accepting and Rejecting: Epic Choices in Galilee

Jesus and His disciples were by the Sea of Galilee, but they were in the Decapolis. That was an area of 10 cities where Gentiles lived. This was outside of Jewish territory, and the people that lived there were the kind that most Jews would not even sit down with to eat a meal.

Story 106: What a Difference a Day Makes: From the Keys to the Kingdom to the Mouthpiece of Satan

Peter declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It was a bold, unqualified statement, and he meant it. Only a fool would say something so outrageous if he didn't really believe it was true. It was not only a declaration of facts, it was a declaration of allegiance.

Story 107: The Transfiguration

By this time in our story, the disciples had spent several years with Jesus. They had journeyed across the countryside with Him through the towns and villages of Israel, watching His breathtaking miracles and taking part in the proclamation of the Good News of God's salvation plan for the world.

Story 110: Reorienting the Disciples to Love: Witness the persevering love of our Lord for His very human men

The disciples knew that something epic was coming. Jesus had performed incredible miracles right in front of their eyes. The lame walked, the blind could see, and the dead rose at His command. When He told the sea to be still, it obeyed.

Bible study, Jesus Christ, Narratives, New TestamentJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020disciples, Galilee, God the Father, grace, humility, injustice, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, lost sheep, love, mercy, New Testament, poison, pride, sheep, sin, teaching, the greatest, the least of these

Story 111: The Toxic Power of Sin Vs. the Transforming Power of Love

As Jesus and disciples journeyed across the Galilean countryside towards Jerusalem, there was much time for thinking and discussion. In the last story (110), we learned that the disciples had started a discussion about which one of them would be greatest in God’s Kingdom.

Story 119: Sending Out the Seventy

Jesus was in Judea, the southern region of the nation of Israel, with His disciples. The Feast of Tabernacles had past, but after all that Jesus said and did during the Feast, the opposition against Him had greatly intensified.

Story 120: Watching Our Enemy Fall

The seventy disciples journeyed out to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the towns and villages of Judea. Can you picture them? What would happen? Would they be accepted and welcomed? Would they be silenced?

Story 127: The Great Warnings: Part 2

We find ourselves at an interesting place in the life of Jesus when He walked the earth. He had just explained to His disciples the hope of eternal life…and what that means for those who are still bound up in the things of this life...the distractions of this fallen world.