Study Desk

Jesus left and went to the region near the city of Tyre, where he stayed in someone's home. He did not want people to know he was there, but they found out anyway.

Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged Jesus just to touch him.

They were completely amazed and said, "Everything he does is good! He even heals people who cannot hear or talk."

One day another large crowd gathered around Jesus. They had not brought along anything to eat. So Jesus called his disciples together and said,

"I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me for three days, and they don't have anything to eat.

They also had a few little fish, and after Jesus had blessed these, he told the disciples to pass them around.

The crowd of about four thousand people ate all they wanted, and the leftovers filled seven large baskets. As soon as Jesus had sent the people away,

The Pharisees came out and started an argument with Jesus. They wanted to test him by asking for a sign from heaven.

The disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you talking about not having any bread? Don't you understand? Are your minds still closed?

Jesus then asked, "And how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up when I broke seven small loaves of bread for those four thousand people?" "Seven," they answered.

The man looked up and said, "I see people, but they look like trees walking around."

Jesus and his disciples went to the villages near the town of Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, "What do people say about me?"

Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him. They went up on a high mountain, where they could be alone. There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed.

As Jesus and his disciples were coming down the mountain, he told them not to say a word about what they had seen, until the Son of Man had been raised from death.

I can assure you that Elijah has already come. And people treated him just as they wanted to, as the Scriptures say they would.

When Jesus and his three disciples came back down, they saw a large crowd around the other disciples. The teachers of the Law of Moses were arguing with them.

Whenever the demon attacks my son, it throws him to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grit his teeth in pain. Then he becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to force out the demon, but they couldn't do it."

They brought the boy, and as soon as the demon saw Jesus, it made the boy shake all over. He fell down and began rolling on the ground and foaming at the mouth.

After Jesus and the disciples had gone back home and were alone, they asked him, "Why couldn't we force out that demon?"