Study Desk

He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. "What sort of new teaching is this?" they asked excitedly. "It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!"

After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew's home.

And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, "We've never seen anything like this before!"

But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, "Why does he eat with such scum?"

But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Then he turned to his critics and asked, "Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" But they wouldn't answer him.

Jesus went out to the lake with his disciples, and a large crowd followed him. They came from all over Galilee, Judea,

Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him.

Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach,

Then Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them.

Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain.

Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"

Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.

so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.'"

Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand.

So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed).

The disciples were absolutely terrified. "Who is this man?" they asked each other. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"

The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened.

A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.