Study Desk

One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake." So they started out.

As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a strong wind blew down on the lake, and the boat began to fill with water, so that they were all in great danger.

There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he let them.

The men who had been taking care of the pigs saw what happened, so they ran off and spread the news in the town and among the farms.

Then all the people from that territory asked Jesus to go away, because they were terribly afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and left.

The woman saw that she had been found out, so she came trembling and threw herself at Jesus' feet. There in front of everybody, she told him why she had touched him and how she had been healed at once.

When the sun was beginning to set, the twelve disciples came to him and said, "Send the people away so that they can go to the villages and farms around here and find food and lodging, because this is a lonely place."

After the disciples had done so,

A spirit attacks him with a sudden shout and throws him into a fit, so that he foams at the mouth; it keeps on hurting him and will hardly let him go!

But the disciples did not know what this meant. It had been hidden from them so that they could not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about the matter.

Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he took a child, stood him by his side,

Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.

But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side.

Martha was upset over all the work she had to do, so she came and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!"

The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things,

And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Others wanted to trap Jesus, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him.

But Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, "Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family divided against itself falls apart.

So if Satan's kingdom has groups fighting each other, how can it last? You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so.