Study Desk

Fear seized them all, and they began to glorify God, saying, "A great prophet has appeared among us!" and "God has come to help his people!"

However, the Pharisees and the experts in religious law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

"To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.'

Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up with it and choked it.

He said, "You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand .

Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

Now Jesus' mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not get near him because of the crowd.

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

and as they sailed he fell asleep. Now a violent windstorm came down on the lake, and the boat started filling up with water, and they were in danger.

They came and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we are about to die!" So he got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they died down, and it was calm.

Then he said to them, "Where is your faith?" But they were afraid and amazed, saying to one another, "Who then is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!"

And they began to beg him not to order them to depart into the abyss.

When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside.

So the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus. They found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

Then all the people of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Jesus to leave them alone, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and left.

Then Jesus asked, "Who was it who touched me?" When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing against you!"

Now they were all wailing and mourning for her, but he said, "Stop your weeping; she is not dead but asleep."

And they began making fun of him, because they knew that she was dead.