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Jesus' Story - Copyright 2011, Richard Collins, All Rights Reserved.

Working with wood is soothing.  The slow, even cuts of the plane scroll off layers of wood and release the bright smells of the wood.  Jesus leaned into the cutting.  He was a nearly finished with this table. He just had to smooth the top one more time.  He would be done before Mark arrived.  Mark was an excellent worker.  There was a long list of jobs to be done, and Mark would finish them one by one in his methodical way.  Jesus was glad that he had chosed Mark to take over his business, the business would prosper under his care.

Jesus' mother was getting older now.  Jesus was glad that he had something to leave to his mother, now that he was going out on his own.  He had taken care of her and his brothers and sisters, now he wanted to do something for himself.  Mark would take care of the business, and Jesus could go out to heal people.

Jesus remembered the time several months ago when he realized he could heal.  A small boy had come into the shop from the street.  His face was stern, trying not to cry, but his lip quivered.  Jesus put down his tools and approached the boy.  The boy pointed to his knee which was all bloody and dirty.  It was a bad scrape.  Jesus looked at the boy.  He wanted the boy to be all better again.  Jesus offered up a small prayer, "Father God, heal this knee." and touched the boy's knee.  Instantly the cut closed over into pink skin.  Jesus blinked and the boy must have felt some relief, because a few tears fell from his eyes.  Jesus had wanted the boy to feel better, but he did not expect the knee to heal.  How had that happened?  Was is something that Jesus had done?  Jesus wiped off the blood and dirt and then sent the boy out.  "It was just a little scratch, it healed itself."  Jesus told the boy.

A few days later, Jesus cut his own hand on a splinter.  It was bleeding freely.  Jesus offered up a small prayer and asked for the gash to heal.  It healed instantly, only the blood remained.  When he prayed to God, there was healing.  Did this work all the time, or was he seeing things?

Another time, Mark was working on a small chest and using a hooked knife to carve the edge.  The knife slipped and gashed Mark's hand.  It bled a lot.  Jesus heard Mark's sharp intake of breath and went to help if he could.  Jesus saw the cut and wanted very badly to heal it.  He offered a small prayer. "Dear God, heal this man."  When he touched Mark's arm, Mark cried out and held up his hand.  It was not bleeding any more.  Mark thought he had just closed off the cut, so he rubbed his hand to remove the blood, thinking that there would be a wound.  But there was none.  All that blood and no wound.  "It must have been a small cut.  It bled like crazy.  But I cannot even find the cut any more."  Mark said.

Jesus was walking home from the shop.  He saw an old woman ahead of him, coughing uncontrollably.  When he overtook her, he gently touched her shoulder and offered up a prayer, "God in heaven heal her".  The coughing stopped immediately and a sense of peace settled over the woman.  "Are you all right, mother?  I heard you coughing."  He asked the old woman, calling her mother as a sign of respect.  "I feel wonderful now.  I do not know why I was coughing."  the woman said.  Jesus nodded and continued on his way to see his own mother.

Another day when he arrived home, his mother was laying in bed.  She was breathing heavily and had a fever.  Jesus offered up a prayer, "God in heaven, please heal this woman."  Immediately, her breathing was soothed and her fever left her.  She felt fine.  "I must have been tired, but I feel fine now.  I will fix you dinner."  she said.

Jesus had worked late, it was dark.  As he walked he heard a disturbance ahead.  A man was sitting in the street holding his arm.  The arm was twisted at an odd angle.  It was obviously broken.  The man had fallen from a wagon and broken his arm.  Jesus walked closer and joined the crowd around the man.  Jesus got close but did not touch the man.  He offered up a prayer, "Father God, heal this man's arm" and the man's arm was healed.   But he still sat on the ground.  Jesus offered another prayer, "Father, heal this man." and the man stopped groaning and stood up.  There must have been something wrong with the man's legs or back or something.  It mattered what kind of prayer he offered!

Jesus had gone to the market.  He was walking along and saw a poor man hobbling on crutches.  As Jesus came near, he offered a prayer, "Father heal this man."  Instantly the man's legs were healed so that the man stumbled and almost fell down.  The poor man sat down on a step and rubbed his legs.  Then he stood up and walked around a bit.  Jesus hung back and watched this.  No one else seemed to be watching.   The poor man left his crutches lying there and ran away, probably going home.  There was a big smile on the man's face.  Jesus continued his journey.

Another time Jesus was near the synagogue and heard a beggar singing out.  Jesus saw the man's terrible sores and felt pity for him.  Jesus offered up a prayer, "Father, heal this man."  And the man's sores disappeared.  For a moment, the beggar did not know what had happened, then he started looking at his arms and legs.  A smile covered his face, and then a deep frown followed.  Jesus asked the man, "Where did your sores go?  Are you happy?"  "My sores disappeared and I feel better, but I am not happy.  How will I beg if no one can see my sores?  I thought that I was being punished for my sins.  Have my sins been erased?  Why was I healed.  What will I do for a living now?"  the beggar said.

Jesus thought about that man for a long time.  He felt like his sins had caused his sores.  Did God heal the man's sins, and then the sores went away?  Jesus had asked for God to heal the man.  Would it have been better to ask God to heal the man's sins.  Supposed the sores were healed, but the sins stayed.  Would the sores come back?  Jesus did not know.  He was sorry for the beggar.

Jesus was in the market.  There was a old woman there selling vegetables.  She was blind.  Jesus could see her white eyes, and he wanted to help her. "Woman, would you rather have your sins forgiven, or would you like to see again?"  Jesus whispered.  "My sins are grave and they are probably why I have been stricken with blindness.  I would like my sins to be forgiven.  Only God can do that.  And I would like to be able to see again."  she said.  "Father God, please heal this woman's sins, and heal her eyes."  Jesus whispered.  The woman's eyes cleared up in an instant and she could see.  She looked around for Jesus, but she could not see anyone looking at her.  She remembered the whisper.  Could it have been a spirit talking to her?

Jesus was walking in the market place.  There were many beggars around.  Most had some disease or injury.  Jesus did not know if these people would be happy to be healed or not.  He remembered the one beggar he had healed, he had been both happy and angry.  Jesus went up to one man with a crippled arm.  "What would you do if your arm was healed?"  Jesus asked him.  "I would immediately go back to my old work.  This arm is all that is preventing me from being a worker in metal.  When I was injured I lost my job." the man said.  "What do you think about sins.  Do you think that your sins caused you to have a crippled arm?"  Jesus asked.  "No.  It was purely an accident.  I was a good man.  It was purely bad luck."  the man said.  "Father, heal this man and any sins he might have."  Jesus said a prayer under his breath, and the man's arm was healed.  He noticed it and stared.  He turned around to look for the man to whom he had been talking, but Jesus had faded into the crowd.

Jesus came to a blind man sitting by the side of the road.  He had a dish in front of him for coins, but his dish was empty.  The man was very thin, as though he had not eaten in a while.  "What would you do if you could see again?"  Jesus asked the man.  "I have been blind from birth, I do not know what it is like to see."  The man said.  "Would you go to work at something?"  Jesus asked.  "I do not know what I would do, I do not have a trade and I am too old to apprentice.  I would probably still have to beg.  Would anyone give me money if I was not blind?"  he explained to Jesus.  "Do you think that you are blind because you sinned or your parents sinned?"  Jesus asked.  "My parents were good people.  They kept me until they died.  It was a hard life for them with a blind son.  I do not think that they sinned."  the man answered truthfully.  "Would you like to be able to see?"  Jesus asked.  "Yes, I think I would like to see once before I die."  the man anwered.  "Father in heaven, please heal this man's eyes and remove any sins he might have."  Jesus whispered.  Now the blind man's ears were very quick and he heard Jesus whisper this.  When a moment later he could see, he knew it was Jesus who had prayed for him. The blind man caught just a glimpse of Jesus as he left.  Sight was a strange thing to the blind man.  He sat there through the afternoon looking at people walking by.  His eyes roved and he saw things.  It was all new.  He thought about sin and he throught about starting a new life.  He could continue begging.  All he had to do was tie a rag across his eyes and people would remember he was blind.  But he was not sure, now that he had the chance, whether he should take it.  So he stood up and started walking.  He came to another beggar.  He heard the man's voice singing for some coins.  The blind man asked the begger, "What should I do now that I have been healed?"  he said.  "What do you mean?  Do you mean you can see now?"  the begger asked.  "Yes, I can see.  A man came by and prayed for me, now I can see.  I do not know what to do though.  Should I try to find work, or should I continue begging?"  the formerly blind man asked.  The begger did not know how to answer, but he asked.  "Where is that man?  I would like to be healed too."

When Jesus went to the crossroads, there were three men sitting there begging.  "What is wrong with you?  If you were healed, what would you do?"  Jesus asked them.  "I was injured as a child and my legs have been paralyzed ever since.  I would work in my father's vineyard if I were healed."  One man answered.  "I was a guard when my leg was crippled.  I could go back to being a guard. The third man said.  "My leg was like this when I was born.  I do not have a trade to go back to, but I would try working at an inn, I think."  the third man said.  "Do you want to be healed?"  he asked them.  "Yes, of course."  the said.  Jesus whispered a prayer, "Father, please heal these men."  and they were healed.  At once they stood up and looked at each other.  There were big smiles on their faces.  They started slapping each other on the back to congratulate each other.  When they realized what had happened, they looked for the man who had healed them, but Jesus was already gone.

Jesus was talking to his mother.  He had not told her yet that he was healing people.  She knew he was taking time off from his work as a carpenter to do something, but she did not know what he was doing.  "Mother, do you know anyone who should be healed?"  he asked.  "The mother of your friend, Amos, is sick.  She is coughing blood and they do not think she will last much longer.  She could be healed, if that were possible.  Her name is Elenore."  his mother said.  "Father in heaven, please heal this woman Elenore, and forgive any sins she might have."  Jesus whispered.  At that instant the woman was healed.  She could feel the power coming over her, and she could feel her lungs getting better.  Her coughing stopped and her body felt strong again.  Jesus' mother did not hear about this until the next day.  She was curious.  That was exactly the time she was talking to Jesus about healing someone.  That is just when she told Jesus about Elenore.  She wondered what Jesus was doing with his time.

Jesus walked to the next town.  He was going to visit the marketplace there to look for people to heal.  On the way, he saw a paralyzed woman laying by the road.  There was a small child next to her watching over a small dish with one coin in it.  "Mother, how long have you been like this?"  he asked her.  "I had a seizure last year and fell.  When I woke up I was paralyzed on my right side.  I can walk with help from someone, but all I can do these days is lay here along the road and beg.  I have a husband and children, but they cannot take care of me.  I beg to help pay for my own expenses."  she said.  "Do you want to be healed?"  Jesus asked.  "Of course, I would go back to my family and take care of them if I were healed."  she explained.  "Father, please heal this woman and her sins."  Jesus said.  At that moment the woman became strong again.  The paralysis left her body and she could sit up and then stand again.  The young child started crying when her mother stood up.  The mother held the child and cried.  When she looked around, Jesus was already far down the road toward the next town.

When Jesus arrived at the next town, he saw many people who needed healing.  He did not talk to them, but healed them through prayer.  It took a while for people to realize they had been healed.  As Jesus watched, one man who had a withered hand finally realized that his hand was well again.  He started to open and close it.  He used his other hand to pinch and poke his now good hand.  One woman who had sores all over her body, stood there running her hands down her arms, and then looking at her legs.  Everyone was babbling at once.  Beggars who did not know they were healed heard the others and then discovered their own fortune.  Jesus walked among them and listened to their talk.  "I thought I was a sinner and could never be cured."  "I can go back to my family now."  "Who did this?  It is a miracle."  "Did God come visit us?  What is special about this place?"  "Look how many people have been healed.  Is it a miracle?"  and more like that.  Jesus was interested in their response.  He knew that God had healed them, simply because he had asked for it.  Would God heal for anyone? Or was there something special about Jesus?

The next day Jesus was on his way to another small village, when he overtook a man leaning on a cane.  As Jesus walked behind the man, he could see there was nothing wrong with the man, except that he was old and frail and slow, and maybe a bit of problems with his joints.  Jesus prayed for the man to be strengthened, and that was done.  The man did not even know that he was healed, but he started walking faster and stronger.  Jesus had to smile.

In the village there was a small marketplace.  There were several people gathered there to beg.  Each one tried to look more miserable than his neighbor.  Some were missing limbs, some had sores, one was blind.  One man seemed to be possessed.  He was shouting and screaming.  Jesus prayed, "Father, heal them all."  and they were all healed.  The man who was shouting stopped all of a sudden.  He looked around as though wondering where he was.  He looked at the people around him, he looked at himself, and then he started walking away from the marketplace.  "Where are you going?"  Jesus asked him.  "I have been wandering.  I just woke up.  I am going to find my family.  I am going to look for work."  he said. The blind man kept saying, "I can see.  I can see.  I can see."  over and over again.  Jesus asked a man standing nearby.  "What do you think of this?"  Jesus asked.  It is like Jeremiah 33, "I will heal my people and let them enjoy abundant peace and security."  the man said.  Or, it is like Isaiah 61, "He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted." he continued.  Or like Deuteronomy 32:39 - There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.

As Jesus walked home, he wondered about what he was doing.  Was what he was doing a way to glorify God?  He had been quietly healing people because he felt that he should bring this gift to the poor and the broken hearted.  He did not want thanks for himself, because it was God doing the healing.  Should he tell people that God was the one healing them?  Could anyone ask God for healing?  Was it only him that God answered?

Jesus was visiting Mark in the carpenter's shop.  He said he was not checking up on Mark, just stopping by to say hello.  Jesus missed his work with wood.  He enjoyed the fresh smell of it.  "Do you know anyone who is sick?"  he asked Mark.  "Yes, my father is very sick.  There is something wrong with his heart.  He can barely move."  Mark explained.  "Have you tried asking God to heal him?"  Jesus asked.  "Oh, yes! We are praying constantly.  My mother never stops praying for him.  I never stop praying for him."  Mark said.  There were tears in his eyes.  "What would it mean if God answered your prayers?  Is it because of something you do, or is it because of God?"  Jesus asked.  "I do not know what you are talking about.  Aren't one's person's prayers pretty much the same as any other person's prayers?  Do you think that God will answer one person, and not another?"  Mark asked.  "Yes, I suppose I am asking whether one person's prayers might be more effective than anothers.  For instance, if I pray now, "Father in heaven, please heal Mark's father." and it happens.  Is that because my prayers are more effective, or is it because God is listening and wants to heal your father."  Jesus said.  "I do not know.  That is an odd question."  Mark said.

Jesus was at home the next day, when Mark came to look for him. "You did it, didn't you?  You asked God to heal my father and he was healed.  You did it, didn't you?"  Mark said.  "What do you mean?"  Jesus answered.  "You know what I mean.  You were there saying that prayer yesterday to heal my father, and at exactly that same time, he got better.  I asked my family and they were very certain of the time, as I was certain."  Mark continued.  "Yes, I prayed for him.  I do not know why God would listen to my prayers, but if your father was healed then, it was because God chose to answer my prayer.  It had nothing to do with me."  Jesus said. 

"You have been going out to heal people, haven't you.  When you went to the nearby towns, there wre many healings on the way and in those towns.  You are healing people aren't you?"  Mark asked.  "I am not healing people.  I am praying to God that he will heal them.  I do not now why God is doing this.  He might stop doing it tomorrow.  But for right now, God is answering my prayers, and people are being healed."  Jesus explained to Mark.  "Is this true, son?  Did you ask God to heal Elenore?  Did you ask God to heal me when I was so sick?"  his mother asked.  "Yes, Mother.  I asked God to heal you."  Jesus said.  "Is this why you have not been working in the carpenter's shop.  You wanted to go out and find people to heal?"  Jesus' mother asked.  "Yes, Mother.  God is answering those prayers and people are being healed.  I wanted God to help people, so they could have better lives."  Jesus answered.

After Mark left, Jesus was talking with his mother.  "Why should God answer my prayers, when he does not answer the prayers of other people?  I am sure that I am not praying half as hard as other people.  I know that Mark was desparate for his father to get better.  I just casually ask and God answers.  I do not know why.  "You remember the story of your birth don't you?"  she asked Jesus.  "I know that you told people that no man had lain with you when I was conceived.  That caused me no end of trouble as I was growing up.  People said that you were whoring with some soldiers and that I am a bastard.  What are you telling me now?"  Jesus asked.  "I am saying that I am telling you the truth.  It is possible that God is your father.  Maybe he will listen to the prayers of his son.  Maybe that is why he answers your prayers and not the prayers of others."  Jesus' Mother said.  Jesus looked at this mother.  He did not know whether to believe her or not.  It did make a strange kind of sense.  He could hardly deny all the people who had been healed.  Only God could heal those people.  It was not something he did.  Just something that God did.

Jesus left early the next morning, before sun rise.  He was going to a larger village some distance away.  He was plannng to stay the night at an inn or barn somewhere, and then he would return the next day.  It was a pleasant day.  He walked for some time in the semi darkness.  Towards dawn he noticed a bird lying in the roadway.  It was dead, and there were flys crawling where the skin split wide open.  He was going to walk on by, but stopped.  He looked in both directions to see if anyone was near.  Then he leaned over and touched the bird on the foot.  "Dear Father God, if it is your will, then heal this bird."  Jesus stood back up.  When he was standing straight, the bird started to move, and then stood up itself.  It spread its wings, but did not fly away.  It preened and then shuddered to get the dirt and grass out of its feathers.  Jesus squatted down to look the bird in the eye.  It walked around and then it spread its wings and flew away.  Jesus opened his mouth to say something.  Then he closed it again.  Jesus stood up and looked both ways.  Then he started to walk again.  It was a long way to the next town.

When Jesus arrived at the next town, he saw a man coming toward him.  The man was shouting and screaming.  He was thrusting out with his hands and turning around in circles.  Every once in a while he would throw himself on the ground.  He was raving.  When Jesus got closer, he asked the man "What is wrong with you?"  The man stopped and blinked, then he answered, "I have a demon in me.  I act this way because of demons.  If the demon would go away, then I would be fine."  So Jesus prayed, "Father in heaven, please heal this man."  and the man was healed.  The man shook himself.  He took a step to the side and then he took a step closer to Jesus.  "I feel fine now.  Did you heal me?  Did you cast out the demon?"  he asked.  "I asked God to heal you.  If anyone did something it is God.  God can cast out demons, or he can heal you.  I think you had a sickness of the mind.  Now that is healed.  What are your plans?"  Jesus asked.  "I come from a good family.  My father owns an olive grove.  We produce the finest olive oil.  I will go back to my father and tell him that I have been cured, and ask him if he will let me work for him.  I will take the lowest job to be back with my family." the man related.

There was a man further into that town, just near the marketplace.  Jesus could see that he was covered with sores, but Jesus could also see that the sores were fake.  "I see that your sores are fake, why are you doing that?"  Jesus asked.  The man felt compelled to tell him the truth.  "I was covered with sores before.  I lost my work and my family and turned to begging for a living.  When the sores healed themselves it was hard to make a living from the begging.  So I made these fake sores.  Now I do all right."  the man said.  "Do you ever wish to go back to your family, or at least go back to work?"  Jesus asked.  "I could go back if there were something to show why I was cured.  I am ashamed to tell people I am using fake sores."  the man said.  "In that case, Father God, please heal this man."  Jesus said.  And the fake sores fell away and the man was whole.  "I am cured!"  the man shouted.  "I am cured.  This man has cured me!"  he continued shouting.  The man ran into the marketplace and told everyone that he had been cured.  Many people knew this man, and his horrible sores.  They were amazed to see his skin clean and shining.  "That man healed me."  he said, pointing at Jesus.  A whole crowd of people came out of the marketplace and surrounded Jesus.  "Can you heal?  My brother is here, he needs healing.  Can you heal?  My father needs healing.  Can you heal?  I need healing."  the crowd yelled at him.  "I can ask God to heal and we can see if they are healed."  Jesus answered.  The woman who said she needed healing stepped forward.  "What is your need, sister?"  Jesus asked.  "I have a terrible rash that will not heal.  Can you make it go away?"  she asked.  "Father God, please heal this woman."  Jesus said.  Right then the woman felt different.  Right there she opened her tunic and looked at herself.  "The rash is gone.  It is completely gone."  she said.  The crowd was amazed.

"Here is my father.  He cannot hear any more.  It means he cannot work.  Can you heal him?"  a woman asked. Jesus touched the man's ear and prayed.  The man was healed.  "Can you hear me, good father?"  Jesus asked the man.  "I can hear you whisper.  I can hear you!"  he cried.  "What are you going to do now?"  Jesus asked.  "I am going to go back to work."  the man said.  The crowd was amazed.  People started running off in many different directions to bring the sick to Jesus.  A man had a crushed hand that would not work anymore.  Jesus healed it.  A woman who was paralyzed, Jesus healed.  A young boy with a bad cut that had inflamed, Jesus healed that.  A blind man, Jesus healed him.  Another man with a demon, Jesus healed him.  A child with a missing eye, Jesus restored the eye and he could see.  An old woman with terrible pain in her joints, Jesus healed her.  A man coughing blood, Jesus healed him.  Finally, there were no more people to heal.  "Rabbi, could you teach us about God?  Why does he heal for you and not for others?  Why are you healing all these people?  Why are you doing this?"  they asked.

"I do not know the mind of God.  He must love these people to want to heal them.  God must care about the sick and the poor.  Maybe that is why he does this.  Do you not have pity on the sick?  If you care for the sick and the downhearted, don't you think that the great God would feel even more?  Isn't God greater than man?"  Jesus started to explain.  "I am doing this because I found that God seemed to answer my prayer for people who are sick.  I have not tried to pray for other things, just for the sick.  I assume that God wants them healed, maybe God is just waiting for me to go around and tell him which people need healing.  I do not know.  It is somewhat confusing."  Jesus said.  The people listened politely to Jesus.  When he described the mind of God and how God felt for his people, they were comforted.  When he said that he did not know exactly why he was doing this, they were uncomfortable and somewhat angry.  Jesus could see the anger in their hearts.  He assumed they were anxious to have certainty in their lives and he was only offering more confusion.  The people were happy with certainty and unhappy with questions.  Or so it seemed to him.

Jesus stayed the night with a man and woman from the marketplace.  He had a small bundle of straw and a clean blanket.  It was rough, but he was comfortable and slept well.  When he awoke, they fed him breakfast and then he healed people who had been brought overnight to where he was staying.  He healed all the people who had been brought and then he left for home.  It was a long walk back to his own town.  He had much to think about.  He wanted to be able to answer the questions of the people.  He did not know why God was healing these people, just that He was.  Jesus did not think he should say anything about what his mother had said, that he might be the son of God.  That would surely get him stoned!

Jesus stopped in to talk with Mark about the business.  Jesus was sorely troubled since he did not know what to say to the people.  "Why don't you go and listen to John the Baptist.  He is baptising many and he has a powerful message. Perhaps that is what you are looking for."  Mark said to Jesus, after Jesus had explained to Mark what the people had been asking.

Jesus left Galilee and went to the Jordan.  There he found John the Baptist preaching, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. I baptize you with water for repentance."  Jesus listened to John and tried to understand his words.  John was preaching that momentarily the world would be a completely different place.  He taught that God was coming to separate people according to their hearts.  Jesus knew that God was real.  He knew that he himself had just begun to heal people.  That was a great thing that God was doing for these people - people who had nothing, and God gave them a new life. Was this baptism with water a way of removing sins.  John said it was for repentance. 

John sat down to eat and Jesus sat nearby.  "John, I have been praying for people to be healed, and they are healed.  I have also been asking that God forgive their sins, and I think that is also happening.  When people are healed their whole lives change.  What do you think?"  Jesus asked.  "The most important thing is to have sins forgiven, and for the person to have a contrite heart.  In this way they are changed and have a new life.  God does not love the Pharisees and Sadducees who only mouth their prayers and put on airs.  God loves the contrite heart.  God loves the sick and the poor and the poor in spirit.  Can you show me this healing?"  John asked.  There were several cripples among the people who had come to be baptised by John.  John invited them to sit with him.  The first cripple had no legs.  "If you are healed, what will you do?"  Jesus asked him.  "I will follow John and help him to preach." the man said.  So Jesus prayed, "Father God, please heal this man and remove his sins."  and the man was healed.  He now had two healthy legs and feet.  The second man had a crippled arm.  Jesus asked him what he would do if he was healed.  He said he would also follow John.  So Jesus prayed and that man's arm was restored.  The third man, whose name was James, had a withered foot.  When Jesus prayed and healed him, he said that he would follow Jesus.

John began preaching again.  "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."   Then John baptised Jesus, even though John was sure Jesus would be better to baptise him.  When Jesus came out of the water, there was voice from heaven saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."  Only John and Jesus heard this voice.

When Jesus healed the man with the missing legs, Jesus, himself, was impressed with the power of God.  It was one thing to heal a withered hand or leg, because it was changed from sick to healthy.  But the legs had been made whole out of nothing.  This made Jesus think that he could pray for God to fill his hands with gold, or create food out of nothing.  Jesus began to think about all the things he could do and how people would praise him for what God had done.  But he remembered John's words of repentance and struggled to change his own heart.  "Get thee behind me Satan."  He said to his own thoughts.  He would not be tempted to go the way of the world.  He would follow John's words and try the way of the heart.

Jesus left Nazareth and moved to Capernaum.  He met two fishermen, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew.  They were tending their nets.  "I have been baptised by John the Baptist.  I can heal people through prayer.  I believe that God is coming to change the world.  He will separate the good from the bad."  Jesus said.  "What do you want with us?  We are fishermen."  they said.  "I need help with people.  Maybe you can become fishers of people, instead of fishers of fish." Jesus said.  "We can proclaim the coming of God, and the way of repentance.  We can bring many people to God's way."

Peter and Andew followed him to where a crowd was gathered.  There were several people there who needed healing, so Jesus prayed for them and they were healed.  From that time, Peter and Andrew did not leave his side.  As they walked further along they came to a boat where there were three men.  Peter knew them and called out to James and John.  "Come with us."  and they left immediately.