Study Desk

The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. But how can I prove this to you? Maybe you are thinking it was easy for me to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven.' There's no proof that it really happened. But what if I say to the man, ‘Stand up and walk'? Then you will be able to see that I really have this power." So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, stand up! Take your mat and go home!"

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely. They were waiting to see if he would heal on the Sabbath day. They wanted to see him do something wrong so that they could accuse him.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law got so mad they couldn't think straight. They talked to each other about what they could do to Jesus.

If you lend things to people, always expecting to get something back, should you get any special praise for that? No, even sinners lend to other sinners so that they can get back the same amount!

Give to others, and you will receive. You will be given much. It will be poured into your hands—more than you can hold. You will be given so much that it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you."

So Jesus went with them. He was coming near the officer's house when the officer sent friends to say, "Lord, you don't need to do anything special for me. I am not good enough for you to come into my house.

So the men came to Jesus. They said, "John the Baptizer sent us to you with this question: ‘Are you the one who is coming, or should we wait for someone else?'"

So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, John is a prophet. But I tell you, he is more than that.

There was a sinful woman in that town. She knew that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house. So the woman brought some expensive perfume in an alabaster jar.

The men had no money, so they could not pay their debt. But the banker told the men that they did not have to pay him. Which one of those two men will love him more?"

He said, "You have been chosen to know the secret truths about God's kingdom. But I use stories to speak to other people. I do this so that ‘They will look, but they will not see, and they will listen, but they will not understand.'

"What about the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That is like the people who hear God's teaching, but they let the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life stop them from growing. So they never produce a crop.

"No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. Instead, they put the lamp on a lampstand so that the people who come in will have enough light to see.

So think carefully about what you are hearing. The people who have some understanding will receive more. But those who do not have understanding will lose even what they think they have."

Jesus' mother and brothers came to visit him. But they could not get close to him, because there were so many people.

One day Jesus and his followers got into a boat. He said to them, "Come with me across the lake." And so they started across.

On that hill there was a big herd of pigs eating. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into the pigs. So he allowed them to do this.

All those who lived in the area around Gerasa asked Jesus to go away because they were afraid. So Jesus got into the boat to go back to Galilee.

"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.

A man named Jairus came to him. He was a leader of the synagogue. He had only one daughter. She was twelve years old, and she was dying. So Jairus bowed down at the feet of Jesus and begged him to come to his house. While Jesus was going to Jairus' house, the people crowded all around him.