The women who supported ‘Īsā al-Masīh^(hpbuu)and his Companions

8Some time later, ‘Īsā went about the towns and villages, preaching and announcing the good news of the kingdom of Allah.[1]The twelve were with him, ²and also some women who had been healed of evil jinn[2]and illnesses. There was Maryam called Magdalene, from whom seven jinn[3]had come out, ³Johanna the wife of Khouza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others. These women used to support ‘Īsā and the twelve from their own resources.

The parable of the seed and the soils

⁴While a great crowd was gathering and people from one town after another kept coming to ‘Īsā, he told them this parable. ⁵‘A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds ate it up. ⁶Some seed fell on rocky ground. When it sprouted, the plants withered because they didn’t have any moisture. ⁷Other seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, which grew and produced a hundredfold crop.’

When he said this, he called out, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!’

⁹ His disciples asked him what this parable meant. ¹⁰ ‘Īsā replied, ‘It has been granted to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Allah, but to the rest I speak in parables, so that,

            “seeing, they may not see, and hearing, they may not understand.”[4]

¹¹ ‘This is what the parable means: the seed is the word of Allah. ¹²Those along the path are people who hear the word, but then Iblīs comes and takes the word away from their hearts, to prevent them from believing and being saved. ¹³ The ones on the rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they don’t have any root. For a while they believe, but in a time of testing they fall away. ¹⁴The seed that fell among thorns are people who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the concerns, riches and pleasures of life, and they don’t produce a mature, ripe yield. ¹⁵ The seed on the good soil stands for people with a good and upright heart, who hear the word, keep hold of it, and by enduring patiently,produce a crop.

The parable of the lamp on the lampstand

¹⁶‘No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they will put it on a lampstand, in order that everyone who comes in to the room may see the light. ¹⁷ For nothing is hidden that will not be clearly seen, and nothing is secret that will not be known and brought to light. ¹⁸ So be careful how you hear. For those who have will be given more; and those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.’

Al-Masīh ‘Īsā’s mother and brothers

¹⁹‘Īsā’s mother and brothers came to him, but were unable to meet him because of the crowd. ²⁰ ‘Īsā was told, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.’

²¹ He answered them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of Allah and do what it says.’

‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)calms a storm

²² One day ‘Īsā got into a boat with his disciples. He said to them, ‘Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.’ So they set off.

²³ While they were sailing, he fell asleep. A violent wind blew down on the lake, so that the boat was filling with water, and they were in severe danger. ²⁴The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to die!’

He got up and gave strict orders to the wind and the surging waves. They stopped, and it became calm.

²⁵ He said to the disciples, ‘Where is your faith?’

They were afraid and astonished and said to each other, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!’[5]

‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)drives out many jinn

²⁶ They sailed on, towards the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷ When ‘Īsā stepped ashore,he was met by a man from the town who was possessed by jinn.[6]For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house, but among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw ‘Īsā, he shouted and threw himself down in front of him. ‘What do I have to do with you, ‘Īsā, spiritual Son of the Most High God?’[7]he yelled, ‘I beg you, don’t torment me!’ ²⁹ For ‘Īsā had commanded the evil jinn[8]to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and the man had been bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard. But he would break the chains,and the jinn[9]would drive him into desolate places.

³⁰ ‘Īsā asked him, ‘What is your name?’

‘Legion,’[10]he answered, because many jinn had gone into him. ³¹They kept begging ‘Īsā not to command them to go into the Abyss.[11]

³² In that place there was a large herd of pigs[12]feeding on the hillside. The jinn begged ‘Īsā to allow them to go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. ³³The jinn came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd stampeded down the steep slope into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴Those who were looking after the pigs saw what had happened, and they ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside. ³⁵ The people went out to see what had happened. They came to ‘Īsā, and found the man from whom the jinn had come out, sitting at the feet of ‘Īsā, wearing clothes and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ Those who had seen it told the people how the man possessed by jinn had been saved from them. ³⁷Then all the people from the region of the Gerasenes requested ‘Īsā to leave them, because great terror had gripped them. So he got into the boat to return.

³⁸ The man from whom the jinn had come out pleaded with ‘Īsā that he might stay with him. But ‘Īsā sent him back saying, ³⁹ ‘Go to your home and tell them how much Allah has done for you.’

He went away and proclaimed around the whole town how much ‘Īsā had done for him.

‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)heals a woman and raises a dead girl

⁴⁰ When ‘Īsā returned to the other side of the lake, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. ⁴¹ A man named Jairus, who was a leader of the synagogue, came and fell down at ‘Īsā’s feet. He pleaded with ‘Īsā to come to his house, ⁴²because his only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying.

As ‘Īsā was going along, the crowds pressed in all around him. ⁴³A woman was there who had suffered continual bleeding for twelve years.[13]She had used up all her money on doctors, but no one was able to cure her. ⁴⁴ Coming up behind him, she touched the edge of his clothing, and immediately her flow of blood stopped.

⁴⁵ ‘Īsā said, ‘Who touched me?’

Everyone denied it,and Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds are all around pressing against you.’

⁴⁶But ‘Īsā said, ‘Somebody touched me; I knew it when power went out from me.’

⁴⁷ When the woman saw that she could not avoid being found out, she came trembling and fell down at ‘Īsā’s feet. In front of all the people, she confessed why she had touched him and how she had been healed instantly. ⁴⁸‘Īsā said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.’

⁴⁹While ‘Īsā was still speaking, a man came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, ‘Your daughter’s dead. Don’t bother the teacher any longer.’

⁵⁰But ‘Īsā heard this and he said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be saved.’

⁵¹When he reached the house, he would not allow anyone to enter with him except Peter, John and Ya’qūb, and the child’s father and mother.  ⁵² Everyone was weeping and mourning for her. ‘Īsā said, ‘Stop weeping; she’s not dead, she’s asleep.’

⁵³They ridiculed him, because they knew that she was dead. ⁵⁴ But he took hold of her hand[14]and called out, ‘Child, get up!’

⁵⁵ Her spirit returned and she got up straight away.[15]Then ‘Īsā told them to give her something to eat. ⁵⁶ Her parents were astounded, but he gave orders to them not to tell anyone what had happened.

[1]Or, ‘reign of Allah’ (Also v10). See Appendix D, The Kingdom of Allah.

[2]Or ‘evil spirits’.

[3]Or ‘demons’.

[4]Book of the ProphetIsaiah 6:9.

[5]These disciples would have known the Zabūr which says,

Some went out to sea in ships;
    their work was on the mighty waters...
the Lord...spoke and caused a storm to blow,
    that stirred up huge waves.
They rose up to the sky, they went down to the depths;
    in their distress their courage left them...
Then they cried out to the Lordin their desperate straits,
    and he brought them out of danger.
He calmed the storm to a whisper;
    the waves of the sea were made still.(Zabūr, Psalm 107:23-29)

With awesome and righteous deeds you answer us,
    Allah our Saviour...
You calm the uproar of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves(Zabūr, Psalm 65:5-7)

See also, Zabūr, Psalm 89:8-9.

[6]Or ‘demons’. Also in v30, 32, 33, 35, 38.

[7]We have translated ‘huie tou theou tou hupsistou’from the original Greek as ‘spiritualSon of the Most High God’, to show that this is not a physical or biological son-ship, but a spiritual son-ship that is spoken of. For more discussion on this see Appendix B, The Translation: ‘spiritual Son of God‘.

[8]Or ‘unclean spirit’.

[9]Or ‘demon’. Also v36.

[10]A legion was a military unit in the Roman imperial army consisting of around 6000 soldiers.

[11]The Abyss is the place of imprisonment of evil spiritual powers before the judgement day.

[12]Pigs were unclean animals for Jews and their meat was harām, so this was a non-Jewish area.

[13]This made her ritually unclean all of the time, see Taurāt, Leviticus 15:25-27: 

If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days other than the time of her monthly period, or she has a discharge of blood that continues after the time of her period, she will be unclean every day she has the discharge, just as she is in the days of her period. ²⁶Any bed she lies on during the days of her discharge becomes unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period. Anything she sits on becomes unclean, as during her monthly period. ²⁷Anyone who touches these things becomes unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.

[14]According to the Taurāt, contact with a dead body made a person unclean for seven days. After these seven days, he or she needed to follow a purification ritual to become clean (see Taurāt, Numbers 19:11-13).

[15]See Qur’an, Āl-’Imrān 3:49, where ‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)says, ‘And I will heal the blind and the leper and give life to the dead by God’s Leave’. See also, Qur’an, al-Mā’idah 5:110.