Study Desk

So why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, and I tell you, John is more than a prophet.

John came and did not eat or drink like other people. So people say, ‘He has a demon.'

At that time Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were hungry, so they began to pick the grain and eat it.

"So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day."

where there was a man with a crippled hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him, "Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?"

Surely a human being is more important than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day."

Jesus knew what the Pharisees were doing, so he left that place. Many people followed him, and he healed all who were sick.

Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk, because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man so that he could talk and see.

Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking, so he said to them, "Every kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed. And any city or family that is divided against itself will not continue.

You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use to force out demons? So they will be your judges.

So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sin and everything they say against God. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

You snakes! You are evil people, so how can you say anything good? The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart.

Good people have good things in their hearts, and so they say good things. But evil people have evil in their hearts, so they say evil things.

So the spirit says, ‘I will go back to the house I left.' When the spirit comes back, it finds the house still empty, swept clean, and made neat.

Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits even more evil than it is, and they go in and live there. So the person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today."

Large crowds gathered around him, so he got into a boat and sat down, while the people stood on the shore.

So they show that the things Isaiah said about them are true: ‘You will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not learn.

"So listen to the meaning of that story about the farmer.

But he does not let the teaching go deep into his life, so he keeps it only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching he accepted, he quickly gives up.

And what is the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching but lets worries about this life and the temptation of wealth stop that teaching from growing. So the teaching does not produce fruit in that person's life.