Study Desk

I use stories when I speak to them because when they look, they cannot see, and when they listen, they cannot hear or understand.

So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said, "These people will listen and listen, but never understand. They will look and look, but never see.

All of them have stubborn minds! Their ears are stopped up, and their eyes are covered. They cannot see or hear or understand. If they could, they would turn to me, and I would heal them."

Many prophets and good people were eager to see what you see and to hear what you hear. But I tell you that they did not see or hear.

But they don't have deep roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.

The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything.

The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was planted.

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin.

When the net is full, it is dragged to the shore, and the fishermen sit down to separate the fish. They keep the good ones, but throw the bad ones away.

Then those evil people will be thrown into a flaming furnace, where they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.

and went to his hometown. He taught in their meeting place, and the people were so amazed that they asked, "Where does he get all this wisdom and the power to work these miracles?

Herod wanted to kill John. But the people thought John was a prophet, and Herod was afraid of what they might do.

John's followers took his body and buried it. Then they told Jesus what had happened.

That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said, "This place is like a desert, and it is already late. Let the crowds leave, so they can go to the villages and buy some food."

But they said, "We have only five small loaves of bread and two fish."

and he told the crowd to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to his disciples, and they gave it to the people.

When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming.

The people found out that he was there, and they sent word to everyone who lived in that part of the country. So they brought all the sick people to Jesus.

They begged him just to let them touch his clothes, and everyone who did was healed.

About this time some Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem. They asked Jesus,