The Archives Devotional Magazine June 2015 | Page 19

DAY 4
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a Roman officer met him
and begged for help: “Sir, my servant is sick in bed at home,
unable to move and suffering terribly.”
“I will go and make him well,” Jesus said.
“Oh no, sir,” answered the officer. “I do not deserve to
have you come into my house. Just give the order, and my
servant will get well. I, too, am a man under the authority of
superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this
one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he
comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was surprised and said to the
people following him, “I tell you, I have never found anyone
in Israel with faith like this. I assure you that many will come
from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven. But
those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into
the darkness, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.”
Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home, and what you
believe will be done for you.”
And the officer's servant was healed that very moment.
Jesus went to Peter's home, and there he saw Peter's
mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever. He touched her
hand; the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on
him.
When evening came, people brought to Jesus many
who had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits
with a word and healed all who were sick. He did this to
make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, “He
himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases.”
When Jesus noticed the crowd around him, he ordered his
disciples to go to the other side of the lake. A teacher of the
Law came to him. “Teacher,” he said, “I am ready to go with
you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have
nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.”

O Holy Night (literal translation of French verse)
by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure (1847)
Midnight, Christians, is the solemn hour, / When God as man
descended unto us / To erase the stain of original sin / And to end
the wrath of His Father. / The entire world thrills with hope / On this
night that gives it a Saviour. / People, kneel down, await your
deliverance. / Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer, /
Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer!

"THE GREATNESS OF MAN IS GREAT IN THAT HE KNOWS
HIMSELF TO BE WRETCHED. A TREE DOES NOT KNOW
ITSELF TO BE WRETCHED." ―BLAISE PASCAL
DAY 5
Another man, who was a disciple, said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury
my father.”
“Follow me,” Jesus answered, “and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus got into a boat, and his disciples went with him. Suddenly a
fierce storm hit the lake, and the boat was in danger of sinking. But Jesus
was asleep. The disciples went to him and woke him up. “Save us, Lord!”
they said. “We are about to die!”
“Why are you so frightened?” Jesus answered. “What little faith you
have!” Then he got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and
there was a great calm.
Everyone was amazed. “What kind of man is this?” they said. “Even the
winds and the waves obey him!”
When Jesus came to the territory of Gadara on the other side of the
lake, he was met by two men who came out of the burial caves there.
These men had demons in them and were so fierce that no one dared
travel on that road. At once they screamed, “What do you want with us,
you Son of God? Have you come to punish us before the right time?”
Not far away there was a large herd of pigs feeding. So the demons
begged Jesus, “If you are going to drive us out, send us into that herd of
pigs.”

NOTE