JESUS FRIEND DIES

A man by the name of Lazarus was sick in the village of Bethany. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha. The sisters sent a messages to the Lord and told him that his good friend Lazarus was sick. When Jesus got to Bethany. he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Martha went out to meet him. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother will live again! I am the one who raise the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord! I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God." After Martha said this, she went and privately said to her sister Mary, "The Teacher is here, and he wants to see you." As soon as Mary heard this she got up and went out to Jesus. She knelt at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would no have died." When Jesus saw that Mary and the people with her were crying. he was terribly upset and asked, "Where have you put his body?" They replied, "Lord , come and you will see." Jesus started crying, and the people said, "See how much he loved Lazarus." Some of them said, "He gives sight to the blind. Why couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying?" After the stone had been rolled aside, Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, "Father, I thank you for answering my prayer. I know that you always answer my prayers. But I said this, so that the people here would believe that you sent me." When Jesus had finished praying, he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were wrapped withn strips of burial cloth, and a cloth covered his face. Jesus then told the people " Untie him and let him go.

A CHANGED LIFE

Jesus was going through Jericho, where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes and was very rich. Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree. When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, " Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today" Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus. Everyone who saw this started grumbling, "This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him." Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated." Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost."

THE SEARCH FOR JESUS

It was almost time for Passover. Many of the Jewish people who lived out in the country had come to Jerusalem to get themselves ready for the festival. They looked around for Jesus. Then when they were in the temple.they asked each other, "You don't think he will come here for Passover, do you?" The chief priests and the Pharisees told the people to let them know if any of them saw Jesus. That is how they hoped to arrest him. Six days before Passover Jesus went back to Bethany, where he had raised Lazarus from death. A lot of people came when they heard that Jesus was there. They also wanted to see Lazarus. He was the reason that many of the people were turning from them and putting their faith in Jesus."

THE PLOT TO KILL JESUS

Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw the things that Jesus did, and they put their faith in him. Others went to the Pharisees and told what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, "What should we do? This man is working a lot of miracles. If we don't stop him now, everyone will put their faith in him." From that day on, the council started making plans to put Jesu to death.