'Great' in the Bible

But the man was saddened at Jesus’ words, and he left grieving, because he owned much property and had many possessions [which he treasured more than his relationship with God].

Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their powerful men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them].

But this is not how it is among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road [as was his custom].

David himself calls Him (the Son, the Messiah) ‘Lord’; so how can it be that He is David’s Son?” The large crowd enjoyed hearing Jesus and listened to Him with delight.

Jesus replied to him, “You see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left on another which will not be torn down!”

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory [in royal majesty and splendor].

for he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord; and will never drink wine or liquor, and he will be filled with and empowered to act by the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.

He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

“For He who is mighty has done great things for me;And holy is His name [to be worshiped in His purity, majesty, and glory].

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.

But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were [at the point of] breaking;

But the news about Him was spreading farther, and large crowds kept gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their illnesses.

Levi (Matthew) gave a great banquet for Him at his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them.

Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a vast multitude of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,

Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for their fathers used to treat the prophets in the same way.

But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked.

But the one who has [merely] heard and has not practiced [what I say], is like a [foolish] man who built a house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it; and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s].”

Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain [near Nazareth], and His disciples and a large crowd accompanied Him.

Fear and profound awe gripped them all, and they began glorifying and honoring and praising God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people [to help and care for and provide for them]!”

When a large crowd was gathering together, and people from city after city were coming to Him, He spoke [to them] using a parable:

And some fell into good soil, and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

But as they were sailing, He fell asleep. And a fierce gale of wind swept down [as if through a wind tunnel] on the lake, and they began to be swamped, and were in great danger.

Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the mountain. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.

“Return home and tell [about] all the great things God has done for you.” So the man went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.

and He told them, “Whoever welcomes this child in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me [also] welcomes Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you [that is, the one who is genuinely humble—the one with a realistic self-view]—he is the one who is [truly] great.”

But Jesus said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many guests;

So the servant came back and reported this to his master. Then [his master,] the head of the household, became angry [at the rejections of his invitation] and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame.’

Or else [if he feels he is not powerful enough], while the other [king] is still a far distance away, he sends an envoy and asks for terms of peace.

And besides all this, between us and you [people] a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to come over from here to you will not be able, and none may cross over from there to us.’

There will be violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and [deadly and devastating] pestilences (plagues, epidemics); and there will be terrible sights and great signs from heaven.

Woe to those women who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For great trouble and anguish will be on the land, and wrath and retribution on this people [Israel].

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with [transcendent, overwhelming] power [subduing the nations] and with great glory.

And being in agony [deeply distressed and anguished; almost to the point of death], He prayed more intently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down on the ground.

Following Him was a large crowd of the people, including women who were mourning and wailing for Him.

And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy [fully understanding that He lives and that He is the Son of God];

In these porticoes lay a great number of people who were sick, blind, lame, withered, [waiting for the stirring of the water;

A large crowd was following Him because they had seen the signs (attesting miracles) which He continually performed on those who were sick.

The sea was getting rough and rising high because a strong wind was blowing.

A large crowd of Jews learned that He was there [at Bethany]; and they came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.

‘The sun shall be turned into darknessAnd the moon into blood,Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

And with great ability and power the apostles were continuously testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace [God’s remarkable lovingkindness and favor and goodwill] rested richly upon them all.

And hearing these words, Ananias fell down suddenly and died; and great fear and awe gripped those who heard of it.

And great fear and awe gripped the whole church, and all who heard about these things.

Now Stephen, full of grace (divine blessing, favor) and power, was doing great wonders and signs (attesting miracles) among the people.

“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great distress and our fathers could not find food [for their households and livestock].

But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and together rushed at him [considering him guilty of blasphemy].

Saul wholeheartedly approved of Stephen’s death.And on that day a great and relentless persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem; and the believers were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned greatly over him [expressing a personal sense of loss].

The crowds gathered and were paying close attention to everything Philip said, as they heard [the message] and saw the [miraculous] signs which he was doing [validating his message].

So there was great rejoicing in that city.

They all paid [a great deal of] attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God!”

Even Simon believed [Philip’s message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch [a man of great authority], a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship,

But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, especially how much suffering and evil he has brought on Your saints (God’s people) at Jerusalem;

and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet descending, lowered by its four corners to the earth,

And the hand (the power and presence) of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord [for salvation, accepting and drawing near to Jesus as Messiah and Savior].

One of them named Agabus stood up and prophesied through the [Holy] Spirit that a severe famine would come on the entire world. And this did happen during the reign of Claudius.

The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great and numerous during their stay [as foreigners] in the land of Egypt, and then with an uplifted arm He led them out of there.

Now in Iconium Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue together and spoke in such a way [with such power and boldness] that a large number of Jews as well as Greeks believed [and confidently accepted Jesus as Savior];

So, after being supplied and sent on their way by the church, they went through both Phoenicia and Samaria telling in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they brought great joy to all the believers.

and when they had brought them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, who are Jews, are throwing our city into confusion and causing trouble.

suddenly there was a great earthquake, so [powerful] that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

And some of them were persuaded to believe and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and many of the leading women.

And when Apollos wanted to go across to Achaia (southern Greece), the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples, [urging them] to welcome him gladly. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who, through grace, had believed and had followed Jesus as Lord and Savior,

for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public discussions, proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will be discredited, but also that the [magnificent] temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and that she whom all Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned and lose her glorious magnificence.”

When they heard this, they were filled with rage, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

But when they realized that he was a Jew, a single outcry went up from the crowd as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

After the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what person is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of that [sacred stone image of her] which fell from the sky?

When the commander had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, gestured with his hand to the people; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic), saying,

“But as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a great blaze of light suddenly flashed from heaven and shone around me.

Then a great uproar occurred, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and began to argue heatedly [in Paul’s favor], saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has [really] spoken to him?”

So the next day Agrippa and [his sister] Bernice came with great pageantry, and they went into the auditorium accompanied by the military commanders and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

But I have had help from God to this day, and I stand [before people] testifying to small and great alike, stating nothing except what the Prophets and Moses said would come to pass—

While Paul was making this defense, Festus said loudly, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great education is turning you toward madness.”

But now I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

I came to you in [a state of] weakness and fear and great trembling.

Nevertheless, God was not well-pleased with most of them, for they were scattered along the ground in the wilderness [because their lack of self-control led to disobedience which led to death].

Pursue [this] love [with eagerness, make it your goal], yet earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual gifts [to be used by believers for the benefit of the church], but especially that you may prophesy [to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people].

because a wide door for effective service has opened to me [in Ephesus, a very promising opportunity], and there are many adversaries.

For I wrote to you out of great distress and with an anguished heart, and with many tears, not to cause you sorrow but to make you realize the [overflowing] love which I have especially for you.

but we commend ourselves in every way as servants of God: in great endurance, in sufferings, in hardships, in distresses,

Therefore, since we have these [great and wonderful] promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, completing holiness [living a consecrated life—a life set apart for God’s purpose] in the fear of God.

Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride and boasting on your behalf. I am filled [to the brim] with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in spite of all our trouble.

But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us,

This mystery [of two becoming one] is great; but I am speaking with reference to [the relationship of] Christ and the church.

God [in His eternal plan] chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in and among you, the hope and guarantee of [realizing the] glory.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those [believers] at Laodicea, and for all who [like yourselves] have never seen me face to face.

for our good news [regarding salvation] came to you not only in word, but also in [its inherent] power and in the Holy Spirit and with great conviction [on our part]. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your benefit.

but after we had already suffered and been outrageously treated in Philippi, as you know, yet in [the strength of] our God we summoned the courage to proclaim boldly to you the good news of God [regarding salvation] amid great opposition.

But since we were taken away from you, believers, for a little while—in person, but not in heart—we endeavored, with great longing to see you face to face.

Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed],

The coming of the [Antichrist, the lawless] one is through the activity of Satan, [attended] with great power [all kinds of counterfeit miracles] and [deceptive] signs and false wonders [all of them lies],

And great, we confess, is the mystery [the hidden truth] of godliness:He (Jesus Christ) who was revealed in human flesh,Was justified and vindicated in the Spirit,Seen by angels,Preached among the nations,Believed on in the world,Taken up in glory.

Honor and help those widows who are truly widowed [alone, and without support].