- 5 minutes ago
The challenge Christ faces as He begins His ministry with Peter, Andrew, James, and John gains much fervor. John the Baptist is secretly visited in prison by friends. Jesus invites Matthew, a tax collector, to become one of his disciples.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00The End
00:36Accompanied by Andrew and Simon, James and John, his first four disciples,
00:41Jesus traveled the roads of Galilee,
00:43bringing a new interpretation of God's kingdom to all who would listen.
00:48You have heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
00:53But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil.
00:58But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
01:04And if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well.
01:09And if anyone would force you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
01:15You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
01:22But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
01:28so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.
01:34In many places where he spoke, there were those who, having listened, hungered to hear more.
01:47Each day saw Jesus' fame grow greater.
01:51Travelers carried reports of him throughout the land of Israel,
01:54even to Herod's fortress castle of Machiris on the desolate eastern shore of the Dead Sea,
01:59where John the Baptist was held prisoner.
02:20Oh, you again.
02:22Come on.
02:26The finest charcoal in all the land of Moab, prepared with the greatest of care.
02:32He did not waste your lives on me.
02:34I don't want any.
02:35Well, now, look here.
02:36If you ever should, I can get you charcoal.
02:40Oh, you can.
02:45Didn't I tell you to bring the castle charcoal in new sacks?
02:48These are the best we have.
02:50The dust.
02:51It seeps through any cloth.
02:53Old or new.
02:53Seeps through?
02:54There's more charcoal on the outside than on the end.
02:56Aye, it washes all.
02:58How would you know?
02:59All right, bring it in.
03:07Put it down there.
03:11Be careful.
03:18Oh, look out, you clumsy ox.
03:22Stay where you are.
03:24You too.
03:25Turn sideways.
03:28Now, hold still.
03:32Bring the bags down here.
03:33We'll stack them.
03:42John.
03:44John.
03:44Master John.
03:45Master.
03:47Here I am, my friends.
03:49Master John.
03:50Master John.
03:54Jabal.
03:56Still a good, faithful friend.
04:23It will be easy.
04:25Easy.
04:26Next week, we will overpower the guards and take the key.
04:29The guards do not have the key.
04:31Who does?
04:32The chief jailer.
04:33And we'll lay and wait for him.
04:34And have a hundred men hidden outside the wall to delay pursuit.
04:38I forbid it.
04:39But your life is at stake.
04:42Perhaps.
04:43Oh, master.
04:45Ordering one execution or a hundred means nothing to Herod.
04:49I'm still alive.
04:52Behold, I have been given the best cell.
04:56Permitted the luxuries of a lamp, a stool, a table.
05:00Even a longer chain than any other prisoner.
05:03But more than that,
05:06he has me brought to his chambers and he questions me at length.
05:10Master.
05:11Master, don't trust him.
05:14Trust.
05:17I pity him.
05:18You?
05:19Offer him salvation for his soul that he draws back.
05:24He scoffs at the thought that I've been sent.
05:26And yet he will neither free me nor have me put to death, as the woman Herodias demands.
05:33Yes, I pity him.
05:36Herod Antipas, who rules this tetrarch of a great land,
05:42lives in a frightful shadow world of doubt and uncertainty.
05:49Perhaps if I can speak with him enough, I may be able to convince him.
05:55But master, is he worth the risk?
05:59It may be the Lord's will that I am here.
06:01It may also be his will that we help you to escape.
06:05Until I know that it is, I will stay.
06:08But master, there is one thing you can do for me.
06:12Anything.
06:13Command us.
06:15I've heard rumors, whispers, of the acts of Jesus of Nazareth.
06:24Tell me all you know of him.
06:33Move faster, you soot-stained dog.
06:36Must you take all night to do an hour's work?
06:48And as they were carrying the body through the city gate of Nain,
06:52Jesus beheld the mother,
06:54a poor widow weeping bitterly.
06:56And he said to her,
06:59Weep not.
07:01And then he touched the shroud.
07:04And he said,
07:06Young man, I say to you, arise.
07:10And the youth sat up and spoke.
07:15That's how it was told to me.
07:17They say that he is a great prophet.
07:20Even that the Messiah himself may be walking among our peoples.
07:25Have you talked with men who have seen these things?
07:28No, master.
07:29Only to those who have heard of them from others.
07:32The wonders were done in Galilee, not here.
07:35Yes, master.
07:38Yes.
07:38I must know.
07:41Go to Galilee.
07:43Seek him out.
07:45To Galilee?
07:46And when you have found him,
07:49ask him this.
07:52Are you
07:54he who is to come?
07:58Or shall we look for another?
08:01And then let me know.
08:06Let me know.
08:08Let me know.
08:15Far to the north in the city of Capernaum on the shore of Galilee.
08:23Judith.
08:25Judith.
08:26Yes, father-in-law.
08:28My throat dry.
08:31Okay.
08:46Are my sons back yet?
08:49They will be soon.
08:51Oh, I'm weak.
08:53So weak.
08:56When I was a young man,
08:58even when I was not so young,
09:02I'd match my strength with any man in Galilee.
09:06I know.
09:07Elam has told me.
09:08And when we'd pull in the nets,
09:13I'd outpull two men.
09:16Two strong men.
09:19Yes, father-in-law.
09:21But now I have no strength.
09:24No strength at all.
09:27You will have.
09:28Someday soon.
09:29When your illness is cured.
09:31Cured?
09:33I'll never be cured.
09:35Of course you will.
09:39Now, what do I sniff for supper, sister?
09:42Breast of peacock or tongues of nightingale?
09:45A stew of last night's haunch of mutton.
09:50You worked late today.
09:52We fished at the far end of the lake.
09:55Father.
09:58Father?
09:59Is he asleep?
10:02I think he's afraid to hear how bad our luck was
10:04or how the large seine was torn.
10:06I thought that would make you stop pretending.
10:09Was the seine torn badly?
10:11It wasn't hurt a bit.
10:13Our catch was fairly good.
10:15And you're not sleepy at all, are you?
10:17I am old.
10:20Weak.
10:23Useless now, father.
10:25Just keep taking the medicine as the physician ordered.
10:28Rest enough.
10:33You can't blame him.
10:34He's been taking that herb draft for over a year.
10:39I talked to him about the rabbi today.
10:42You know, the Nazarene.
10:44Jesus.
10:45You waste your time.
10:47Would it hurt to try?
10:49They say he has cured scores of people.
10:51They say.
10:52They say.
10:53Have you met any of them?
10:55One.
10:56Who?
10:56The mother of Simon's wife.
10:59She was sick with the fever for days.
11:02And then he touched her.
11:03Just touched her.
11:05And she was well in no time at all.
11:07Woman's gossip.
11:08I wonder.
11:09She told me so herself.
11:12Didn't Simon and Andrew go away with the men?
11:14Yes.
11:15James and John, too.
11:16Where did they go?
11:18They'll be back soon.
11:19Perhaps tomorrow.
11:20How did you know?
11:21Well, Simon's wife told me.
11:25When they come back, ask them to bring their master here.
11:30No.
11:31Why not, Father?
11:34If it is God's will that I be like this,
11:37no Nazarene can change it.
11:41I don't believe in such...
11:47...gossip.
11:57Haver, look.
12:00Strangers in on this.
12:01He'll have a pair of flower-pushing farmers
12:04from the look of them.
12:06Judging from the dust on them,
12:07I'd say they were mule herders from a caravan.
12:09Well, if we are herders,
12:11we came to the right place for donkeys.
12:14Good to see you, Haver.
12:17We knew you'd come back with a nap.
12:18Couldn't stay away, eh, Simon?
12:20Well, you're wrong twice.
12:21I just came to see how you were taking care of the boat.
12:24And my name isn't Simon, it's Peter.
12:27Peter?
12:28Yes, the master renamed him Peter.
12:29After Petra a rock,
12:31because he's strong, dependable,
12:32a regular foundation of a man.
12:38That gouge in the boat here.
12:40Yeah, those rocks off Chinnereth.
12:47You truly believe in the Nazarene, don't you?
12:49We wouldn't be following him unless we did.
12:52These tales of his ability to cure all manner of illness,
12:56there's truth in them?
12:57There is.
12:58That he can cure any man?
12:59Any man who has faith.
13:02Oh, your father's still sick?
13:05Take him to the master,
13:07let him hear Jesus speak,
13:09and look into his eyes.
13:12He's too weak, too shaken with the palsy.
13:14And he never let us take him unless he believed.
13:17But you can convince him.
13:18You and your brother should be able to.
13:20How?
13:21When we aren't convinced ourselves.
13:24I wish I could believe, Andrew.
13:26Just as you do, but I can't.
13:28I know he's learned that he's cured some men,
13:31but there's nothing new in what he preaches.
13:33It's like any rabbi, any school.
13:35No, no, Elam, no.
13:36Oh, yes, it is.
13:38I heard of myself in your own courtyard
13:39when he said he hadn't come to destroy the laws,
13:41but to fulfill them.
13:43But you don't understand.
13:44By fulfilling, he means explaining, interpreting.
13:47We know what that means, don't we?
13:49The Pharisees have been interpreting the laws for centuries,
13:53explaining new meanings, new rules, new observances,
13:56until no man but a scholar
13:57can live without breaking ten a day.
13:59No, no.
14:00Jesus speaks of God's law,
14:01as it always was, as it always will be.
14:04Not the twists, the turns,
14:06the confusions added by men.
14:08And he fulfills God's law
14:09by making it clear to every man.
14:11Even to men who can't read or write?
14:13Yes.
14:14To men so busy earning the daily bread
14:16for their families,
14:17they haven't time to turn scholar?
14:18The kingdom of heaven is for all men.
14:21For all men who have observed the laws.
14:24All the laws.
14:25The kingdom is for all men.
14:28For you, and for me, and for everyone.
14:31And four simple rules will unlock its gate.
14:34Just four?
14:35Four.
14:37Repent, believe, love God, love thy neighbor.
14:42It's as simple as that.
14:43I've heard the master say so.
14:45Not once, but many times.
14:47If it could only be true.
14:49If you want proof,
14:50why don't you go to the master and ask him?
14:51And look into his eyes as he answers.
14:55We'll talk with him.
14:57This evening or tomorrow.
14:59Why wait until then?
15:00Why not go now?
15:02There's a catch to unload.
15:04We'll help you.
15:05Well, we're not dressed fit for talking to a rabbi.
15:08He won't care.
15:10Working clothes.
15:11That's what we were wearing when he asked us to go with him.
15:15Come.
15:16Let's get the fish ashore.
15:17Then we'll take you to the master.
15:19Let him convince you.
15:20Peter.
15:20Then you can tell your father.
15:22Take him to the Nazarene.
15:23Peter.
15:23Yes?
15:24There's no need to rush.
15:25Jesus left with James and John this morning.
15:28Oh, yes.
15:29See, though, it's cousins of theirs.
15:31I think so.
15:32James said they'd be back about sundown.
15:34Good.
15:35But wait for him at the city gate.
15:37Come, brother.
15:39Let's see if you can still wrestle a basket of fish.
15:42All right.
15:45Don't you ever caulk a seam?
15:53At every city gate stood a tax collector's stand.
15:57That, at the western entrance to Capernaum,
15:59was administered by Matthew Ben-Helfi, publican.
16:03That will be two coppers.
16:09Two coppers each.
16:10Four all together.
16:12Four coppers?
16:13Four.
16:14But I'll be lucky to get a denarii for the whole.
16:17I can't afford four coppers.
16:19Then stay out of the city and pay none.
16:22Master publican, please, consider my problem.
16:26I pay the owner of the forest where I cut the wood,
16:29rent on the hut where my family dwell,
16:32tax on the house,
16:34tax on grain,
16:35on fish,
16:36on meat,
16:37on salt,
16:38and all from what two loads of wood will bring.
16:42Four coppers.
16:55Eight, ten, twelve.
16:57That is a very nice catch.
16:59There will be three silver shekels.
17:07Does that make the payment easier?
17:11You know, we have a lot in common, fishermen.
17:14I dare say the fish hate you as much as the taxpayers hate me.
17:18But as long as they're fish, there will be fishermen.
17:20As long as they're taxpayers, there will be-
17:22vultures like you.
17:24Well, well, son of Jonas.
17:26Backust, I have missed you these many months.
17:28I'm sure you have.
17:29A shekel's worth every working day.
17:32Oh, much more than that.
17:33The taxes increased.
17:35All right, all right.
17:36Get this other downwind.
17:44I heard that you two had become scholars,
17:47a follower of a young rabbi.
17:48We have, of Jesus, the Nazarene.
17:51Not that it's any concern of yours,
17:54unless you've got a tax on teaching or knowledge.
17:57I will consider it.
17:59And while I do,
18:01you walk the dusty roads,
18:02poor and penniless,
18:03and be loved by all men.
18:05And I will dress in silks and live in comfort.
18:08Watch my wealth increase as all men hate me.
18:11And then we'll see who is the happiest.
18:14Will it be you, Matthew?
18:17I think so, rabbi.
18:18I think so.
18:20I'm an humble man.
18:21I have no hope for heaven.
18:23So I must be content with earthly things.
18:25A minor paradise bought with gold.
18:30I have position,
18:32security,
18:32comfort.
18:37I am a contented man.
18:41All men hate me because they envy me.
18:46If I can't find happiness with all I have,
18:48how can I find it with less?
18:52Where else could I turn?
18:58If there be a better way,
19:01tell me.
19:04Follow me.
19:06Follow me.
19:15Oh, Jesus preaches that we should love our enemies.
19:19But a publican.
19:29Leave me alone.
19:32Oh, leave me alone.
19:33But they'll be here any moment,
19:35bringing the healer with them.
19:38Healer?
19:39Healer.
19:39Yes, healer.
19:40He returned last night.
19:42And if your sons talk with him today
19:44and bring him here,
19:47don't you want to be well?
19:49To be strong and fit again?
19:52Do you think I could?
19:55Oh, of course.
19:57I know you could.
20:00There's a magic in this man's hands.
20:05A power beyond all explaining.
20:09Oh, you'll see.
20:23Did you see the rabbi today?
20:26We saw him.
20:27Is he coming here?
20:29No.
20:31Couldn't Andrew or Simon persuade him to come?
20:33I doubt if the rabbi has time for such as us.
20:36He's too busy with his latest follower,
20:38Matthew the publican.
20:40The whole city to pick from.
20:41He chooses a tax collector to be one of his disciples.
20:44Are we to ask help from a man like that?
20:46You're sure?
20:47We stood and saw and listened.
20:51There was no mistake.
20:54But what difference does it make?
20:57Are you going to let this kindness to a publican
21:00stand in the way of your father's health?
21:03You know we wouldn't.
21:05It's more than that.
21:06Andrew says one must have faith in order to be cured.
21:09How can we have faith in a man who is a companion to publicans?
21:18That night, the publican Matthew Ben-Helvi gave a great feast
21:22to honor the man he had decided to follow.
21:24And many of the tax collectors of Capernaum
21:26sat at meet with them.
21:40I was hoping you'd come.
21:42Only to see if you and James and John
21:44still followed a lover of tax collectors.
21:47What if the tax collector is no longer a tax collector?
21:51Matthew has pledged himself to give all his wealth to the poor
21:54and follow the master just as we do.
21:56But come.
21:56Come inside with me.
21:57Talk with him.
21:58Learn for yourself.
21:59We've seen enough from here.
22:02Disgraceful.
22:04Utterly disgraceful that a man who sets himself up as a teacher
22:07can choose the company of publicans.
22:08Not only that, but to allow his followers to drink,
22:12gorge on a day of fasting.
22:14Today, not one of the great days to observe,
22:16but one every truly learned man should know.
22:19All Pharisees observe it.
22:20And our scribes.
22:22But either this Nazarene carpenter has never heard of it
22:25or cares so little for sacred law that he ignores it.
22:31I wonder which excuse he would give.
22:35Why not ask him?
22:37They're coming out.
22:39You, my man, one question.
22:43Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?
22:48Why, he has every right to...
22:52Those who are well have no need of a physician,
22:55but those who are sick...
22:57I have not come to call the righteous,
23:00but sinners to repentance.
23:01The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers,
23:05and so do the Pharisees.
23:06But yours eat and drink.
23:12Can you make wedding guests fast
23:14while the bridegroom is with them?
23:16The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
23:20and then they will fast in those days.
23:23And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth
23:26on an old garment.
23:27For the patch tears away from the garment,
23:30and the worst tear is made.
23:31Neither is new wine put into old wineskins.
23:35If it is, the skins burst,
23:37and the wine is spilled,
23:38and the skins are destroyed.
23:40But new wine is put into fresh wineskins,
23:44and so both are preserved.
24:02Those who are well have no need of a physician.
24:05Hmm?
24:06This afternoon at the shore,
24:08when Peter said the kingdom of heaven was for all men,
24:10I wanted to believe.
24:11But I still had my doubts.
24:14And I too.
24:15Particularly after Jesus was so friendly with Matthew.
24:18Tell me.
24:20Would the Nazarene choose unworthy men as his followers?
24:23Men too lowly to enter the kingdom?
24:26No.
24:27No.
24:28And yet he chose Andrew,
24:31Peter, James, John,
24:32fishermen like ourselves.
24:34And now the publican.
24:36Certainly, if such a man is worth...
24:54Put it down.
24:57Let us through, please.
24:59Let us through, friend.
25:00We have a very sick man here.
25:01Master speaking.
25:02Please.
25:03Okay?
25:05For everyone who asks, receives.
25:08And he who seeks, finds.
25:11Let's take it around to the rear.
25:22You both know me,
25:24and you know whence I come.
25:26And I am not come of myself.
25:28But he that sent me is true,
25:30whom you know not.
25:32But I know him.
25:34For I am from him.
25:36And he hath sent me.
25:38Our authority is the scripture,
25:40which we have scanned.
25:42Studied.
25:42By what authority do you speak?
25:45The Father who sent me has himself
25:47borne witness to me.
25:51His voice you have never heard.
25:53His form you have never seen.
25:56And you do not have his word abiding in you,
25:58for you do not believe him whom he has sent.
26:02You search the scriptures because you think
26:04that in them you have eternal life.
26:06And it is they that bear witness to me.
26:10Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
26:13How can you believe who receive glory from one another
26:18do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
26:23Master!
26:24Master!
26:39Our apologies, Master.
26:40We couldn't get to the door.
26:42This is our father, Master.
26:45Cure him of his affliction,
26:47as we know you can.
26:57Take heart.
26:58Your sins are forgiven you.
27:01How dare he speak so?
27:03Who can forgive sins but God alone?
27:05Blasphemy!
27:06Blasphemy!
27:07Why do you question in your hearts?
27:11Which is easier to say,
27:13your sins are forgiven you,
27:15or to say rise and walk?
27:18But that you may know the Son of Man
27:20has authority on earth to forgive sins.
27:23I say to you, rise,
27:26take up your bed and walk.
27:27Go click.
27:28Go click.