Away from the Crowd - Mark 7:32-35

While he was there, some people brought a man to him. This man was deaf and could not talk. The people begged Jesus to put his hand on the man {to heal him}. Jesus led the man away from the people to be alone with him. Jesus put his fingers in the man's ears. Then Jesus spit and touched the man's tongue. Jesus looked up to the sky and made a breathing sound. Jesus said to the man, "Ephphatha!" (This means, "Open!") When Jesus did this, the man was able to hear. The man was able to use his tongue and spoke clearly. (ERV)   Full Text

"Be careful! When you do good things, don't do those things in front of people. Don't do those things for people to see you. If you do that, then you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. "When you give to poor people, don't announce that you are giving. Don't do like the hypocrites do. They blow trumpets before they give so that people will see them. They do that in the synagogues and on the streets. They want other people to give honor to them. I tell you the truth. Those hypocrites already have their full reward. So when you give to poor people, give very secretly. Don't let any person know what you are doing. Your giving should be done in secret. Your Father can see the things that are done in secret. And he will reward you. Matthew 6:1-4 (ERV) Jesus let only Peter, James, and John the brother of James go with him. Jesus and these followers went to the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. Jesus saw many people there crying loudly. There was much confusion. Jesus entered the house and said to the people, "Why are you people crying and making so much noise? This child is not dead. She is only sleeping." But all the people laughed at Jesus. Jesus told the people to leave the house. Then Jesus went into the room where the child was. He brought the child's father and mother and his three followers into the room with him. Then Jesus held the girl's hand and said to her, "Talitha, koum!" (This means, "Little girl, I tell you to stand up!") The girl stood up and began walking. (The girl was twelve years old.) The father and mother and the followers were amazed. Jesus gave the father and mother very strict orders not to tell people about this. Then Jesus told them to give the girl some food to eat. Mark 5:37-43 (ERV) The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman there. The woman had been caught doing the sin of adultery. These Jews forced the woman to stand before the people. They said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught having sex with a man that is not her husband. The law of Moses commands that we kill with rocks every woman that does this. What do you say we should do?" The Jews were using this question to trick Jesus. They wanted to catch Jesus saying something wrong. Then they could have a charge against him. But Jesus kneeled down and started writing on the ground with his finger. The Jewish leaders continued to ask Jesus their question. So Jesus stood up and said, "Is there any person here that has never sinned? That person without sin can throw the first rock at this woman." Then Jesus knelt down again and wrote on the ground. The people that heard Jesus began to leave one by one. The older men left first, and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman. She was standing before him. Jesus looked up again and asked her, "Woman, all of those people are gone. None of them judged you guilty?" The woman answered, "None of them judged me, sir." Then Jesus said, "So I also don't judge you. You can go now, but don't sin again." John 8:3-11 (ERV)