Study Desk

"Yes," Jesus said to them, "and I assure you that anyone who leaves home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God

"What do you want me to do for you?" "Sir," he answered, "I want to see again."

Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today, for this man, also, is a descendant of Abraham.

Now, as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them in my presence!'"

When he came near Jerusalem, at the place where the road went down the Mount of Olives, the large crowd of his disciples began to thank God and praise him in loud voices for all the great things that they had seen:

saying, "If you only knew today what is needed for peace! But now you cannot see it!

saying to them, "It is written in the Scriptures that God said, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer.' But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves!"

Then Jesus told the people this parable: "There was once a man who planted a vineyard, rented it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time.

So they looked for an opportunity. They bribed some men to pretend they were sincere, and they sent them to trap Jesus with questions, so that they could hand him over to the authority and power of the Roman Governor.

These spies said to Jesus, "Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is right. We know that you pay no attention to anyone's status, but teach the truth about God's will for people.

Tell us, is it against our Law for us to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, or not?"

"Teacher, Moses wrote this law for us: ‘If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man's brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.'

He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to him all are alive."

For they did not dare ask him any more questions.

For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit here at my right side

For the others offered their gifts from what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, gave all she had to live on."

"Teacher," they asked, "when will this be? And what will happen in order to show that the time has come for it to take place?"

Jesus said, "Watch out; don't be fooled. Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, ‘I am he!' and, ‘The time has come!' But don't follow them.

Before all these things take place, however, you will be arrested and persecuted; you will be handed over to be tried in synagogues and be put in prison; you will be brought before kings and rulers for my sake.

For those will be ‘The Days of Punishment,' to make come true all that the Scriptures say.