Study Desk

The next day, Jesus traveled through some cities and small towns. Jesus told the people a message from God, the Good News about God's kingdom. The twelve apostles were with him.

Others are like the seed that fell on rock. That is like the people who hear God's teaching and gladly accept it. But they don't have deep roots. They believe for a while. But when trouble comes, they turn away from God.

The demon inside the man had often seized him, and he had been put in jail with his hands and feet in chains. But he would always break the chains. The demon inside him would force him to go out to the places where no one lived. Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. When the man saw Jesus, he fell down before him, shouting loudly, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, don't punish me!"

"Go back home and tell people what God did for you." So the man went all over town telling what Jesus had done for him.

Then Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish. He looked up into the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke it into pieces, which he gave to the followers to give to the people.

Then Jesus said to his followers, "And who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah from God."

All the people were amazed at the great power of God. The people were still amazed about all the things Jesus did. He said to his followers,

He said to them, "There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them. God owns the harvest. Ask him to send more workers to help bring in his harvest.

The man answered, "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' Also, ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.'"

So I tell you, continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you.

Some others there wanted to test Jesus. They asked him to do a miracle as a sign from God.

But I use the power of God to force out demons. This shows that God's kingdom has now come to you.

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman with the people there called out to him, "Blessings from God belong to the woman who gave birth to you and fed you!"

But Jesus said, "The people who hear the teaching of God and obey it—they are the ones who have God's blessing."

The crowd grew larger and larger. Jesus said, "The people who live today are evil. They ask for a miracle as a sign from God. But no miracle will be done to prove anything to them. The only sign will be the miracle that happened to Jonah.

"But it will be bad for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, your rue, and every other little plant in your garden. But you forget to be fair to others and to love God. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things.

This is why God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them. Some of my prophets and apostles will be killed by evil men. Others will be treated badly.'

"It will be bad for you, you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to learning about God. You yourselves would not learn, and you stopped others from learning too."

I will show you the one to fear. You should fear God, who has the power to kill you and also to throw you into hell. Yes, he is the one you should fear.

"When birds are sold, five small birds cost only two pennies. But God does not forget any of them.