Study Desk

One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn't even find time to eat.

When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. "He's out of his mind," they said.

Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it.

In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake."

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?"

Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet,

She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.

For she thought to herself, "If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed."

His disciples said to him, "Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?'"

The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl's father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.

Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown.

Then they scoffed, "He's just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us." They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family."

And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits.

For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip's wife, but Herod had married her.

Herodias's chance finally came on Herod's birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee.