Study Desk

The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.

"No one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people will see the light as they come in.

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

As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a strong wind blew down on the lake, and the boat began to fill with water, so that they were all in great danger.

The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up, saying, "Master, Master! We are about to die!" Jesus got up and gave an order to the wind and to the stormy water; they quieted down, and there was a great calm.

Then he said to the disciples, "Where is your faith?" But they were amazed and afraid, and said to one another, "Who is this man? He gives orders to the winds and waves, and they obey him!"

They went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

The men who had been taking care of the pigs saw what happened, so they ran off and spread the news in the town and among the farms.

People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid.

Then all the people from that territory asked Jesus to go away, because they were terribly afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and left.

The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town named Bethsaida.

When the crowds heard about it, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it.

When the sun was beginning to set, the twelve disciples came to him and said, "Send the people away so that they can go to the villages and farms around here and find food and lodging, because this is a lonely place."

But Jesus said to them, "You yourselves give them something to eat." They answered, "All we have are five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?"

They all ate and had enough, and the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over.

Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah,

Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him.

When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen.

But the disciples did not know what this meant. It had been hidden from them so that they could not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about the matter.

When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"