Chapter 7
Messengers from John the Baptist
Verse 1: Now when John heard in Herod's prison what Jesus was doing, he sent word by two of his disciples | Matthew 11:2
2 and they asked, “Are you the one we’ve been expecting, or are we to wait for another?” | Matthew 11:3
3 Jesus told them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: | Matthew 11:4
4 the blind receive their sight, the crippled walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. | Matthew 11:5
5 But tell him also: The axe is not laid to the root, and the winnowing fork is not in my hand. I have come to heal the sick, not to burn the chaff. | Matthew 3:10, Matthew 3:12
6 Blessed is the one who seeks the Light that gives life, and not the Fire that destroys it.”
7 So they departed to bring word to John in his chains, knowing the answer would bring him no comfort in the darkness of Herod's prison. The Jewish Messiah had not come.
The Healing of Mary
8 Now as they came down from the edge of the city, Jesus stopped; but the disciples walked on a few paces before Peter noticed. And turning, Peter said to him, “Rabbi?”
9 Jesus answered, “Go ahead. I will find you on the road.”
10 Thomas began to speak, but Andrew took hold of his arm; for they had learned to recognize that look upon his face. So they gathered their things and departed.
11 Jesus stood alone in the street. The houses there were close together, the plaster cracked and grey. He looked at one house in particular, where the shutters were drawn, and the odor of sour wine came from beneath the door.
12 He knocked, but there was no answer. He knocked again, and a voice came from within, rough and heavy with sleep saying, “Go away.” Jesus said, “I would like some bread.”
13 There was a long silence. Then the voice said, “I have none.” Jesus answered, “I know, for you have not gone out for many days.”
14 After a time, the door opened a little, and one eye looked out at him, shadowed with darkness. It was the face of one who had wandered far into the depths and had not yet returned.
15 “There was a woman once,” Jesus said quietly, “who told a man of God that she had no bread. She had but a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug. ‘Enough for one last meal,’ she thought, ‘and then we shall die.’” He paused and said, “But it was not the end.”
16 She answered, “I am not she.” Jesus said to her, “No. But I am hungry, and so are you.” The woman looked at him for a long moment, and then she opened the door.
17 The room was dark, and the floor was strewn with bottles, some empty and some not. A blanket lay twisted upon a low bed, the remains of a life that had once been whole. There was a fine bowl upon a shelf, and a woman’s comb, and an oil lamp that had run dry.
18 She stood with her back against the wall, watching him. She had wrapped herself in the blanket, and her hair was matted. She was not old, and the traces of beauty remained upon her.
19 Suddenly, the air in the room changed, as the air stills before a storm. And a voice came from her that was not her own; a discordant sound, as of many mouths speaking through one throat.
20 It cried out, “What do you want with us, Son of Man? You are not welcome here. This house is ours, for we have made it our dwelling. You have no authority in a place that has invited us in.”
21 Jesus said, “She did not invite you. Despair opened the door, and you have taken what is not yours.”
22 Then came a sound like the breaking of glass, saying, “Call it what you will. We found it clean and well-kept, and we are many. Go and find another to save, teacher, for there is no faith here. And without faith, what are you but a man knocking at a door?”
23 Jesus remained silent for a moment. Then he spoke directly to the woman, as though the voices were nothing but the wind. “Mary.”
24 She blinked, and her eyes focused upon him with great effort, like a swimmer reaching for the shore.
25 He said, “I have come to help you.” Her voice was dry as dust as she asked, “Are you that man? The one of whom they speak?”
26 “I am he,” Jesus answered. She looked at him, the whole ruin of her life laid bare, and something moved across her face like light upon the water.
27 “I believe you,” she whispered. It was a small thing, yet the room itself seemed to tremble.
28 The voices rose in a great cry, “No! She is ours, and we will not...”. But Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Be silent and come out of her!” And they departed, like a fire that is quenched when the air is taken from it.
29 Mary sank down against the wall and sat among the bottles. Jesus knelt beside her. After a long time, she looked at him and said, “I truly have no bread.”
30 Then Jesus said to her, “I asked you for bread, and you had none to give. In truth I say to you, there is a bread that I will give to you; whoever eats of it will never hunger again.”
31 And Mary looked upon him and arose; and they went out together into the light.
The Beatitudes
32 When Jesus saw the crowds, Mary beside him, they went up the mountain, and having sat down, his disciples approached him. | Matthew 5:1
33 And he began teach them, saying: | Matthew 5:2
34 “Blessed are the poor in righteousness to the law, for theirs is the kingdom of my Father in heaven. | Matthew 5:3
35 But woe to you who wait on God to fill your emptiness, for you will wait while the beggar starves at your feet.
36 Blessed are the poor in material wealth, for the kingdom of heaven is their inheritance.
37 But woe to you who are wealthy in riches, for you have already received your consolation. | Luke 6:24
38 Blessed are those who are in mourning, for they will be comforted. | Matthew 5:4
39 But woe to you who are laugh and be merry now, for later you will mourn and weep. | Luke 6:25
40 Blessed are the meek and the patient, for they shall inherit the earth. | Matthew 5:5
41 But woe to you who are proud in your faith, who stand tall in your congregation, for you will be brought low and the kingdom of heaven will belong to those who knelt beside the forgotten.
42 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be satisfied. | Matthew 5:6
43 But woe to you who are satisfied and full now, who had plenty to eat, for you will be hungry. | Luke 6:25
44 Blessed are the kind and merciful, for they will find mercy. | Matthew 5:7
45 But woe to you who judge the sinner and the unbeliever, for the mercy you withheld will be withheld from you
46 Blessed are those pure of heart, for they will see Father. | Matthew 5:8
47 But woe to you whose heart is clean only on the Sabbath, for your purity is performance and the Father will not be found in it.
48 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of the Father. | Matthew 5:9
49 But woe to you who make war in the Father's name, wrapping conquest in scripture, for you serve your Father and not me.
50 Blessed are those who are persecuted on the account of justice and righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. | Matthew 5:10
51 But woe to you who persecute in the name of righteousness, for you have become the very darkness you claim to oppose.
52 Blessed are you when people insult you, revile you, persecute you and gossip all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. | Matthew 5:11
53 But woe to you who are celebrated and comfortable in your religion, for the world loves its own, and if the world loves you, ask yourself whose servant you truly are.
54 Blessed is the man who has laboured for his neighbour and found life. | Gospel of Thomas 58
55 But woe to you who seek comfort in your faith and call it devotion, for the kingdom is not given to those who rest in their inheritance but to those who have wrestled for it.
56 Blessed are the solitary and elect, for you will find my father's kingdom. For you came from it, and you will return to it again. | Gospel of Thomas 49
57 But woe to you who have made the kingdom a crowd, a nation, a banner to march under, for the kingdom does not belong to movements but to those who have stood alone before the Father and been known.
58 Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven, because in the same way they persecuted the righteous and those condemned by the law who were before you.” | Matthew 5:12