Study Desk

"A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.

About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.

He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.

"When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!

"So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.'

"But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.

‘Your brother is back,' he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.'

"The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him,

"His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.

Jesus told this story to his disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer's money.

"So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?'

"For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery. And anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."

At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores.

As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man's table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.

and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

"The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.'

One day Jesus said to his disciples, "There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!

"When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me'?

Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won't see it.