Study Desk

Don't I have the right to do as I wish with my own money? Or are you jealous because I am generous?'"

But if we say, ‘From human beings,' we are afraid of what the people might do, because they are all convinced that John was a prophet."

Then they sent to him some of their disciples and some members of Herod's party. "Teacher," they said, "we know that you tell the truth. You teach the truth about God's will for people, without worrying about what others think, because you pay no attention to anyone's status.

Jesus answered them, "How wrong you are! It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power.

So you must obey and follow everything they tell you to do; do not, however, imitate their actions, because they don't practice what they preach.

You must not be called ‘Teacher,' because you are all equal and have only one Teacher.

And you must not call anyone here on earth ‘Father,' because you have only the one Father in heaven.

Nor should you be called ‘Leader,' because your one and only leader is the Messiah.

"Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me.

Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come.

So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.

Then the foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Let us have some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.'

And Jesus concluded, "Watch out, then, because you do not know the day or the hour.

He knew very well that the Jewish authorities had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.

While Pilate was sitting in the judgment hall, his wife sent him a message: "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night I suffered much on account of him."

Jesus healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases and drove out many demons. He would not let the demons say anything, because they knew who he was.

But Jesus answered, "We must go on to the other villages around here. I have to preach in them also, because that is why I came."

Because of the crowd, however, they could not get the man to him. So they made a hole in the roof right above the place where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they let the man down, lying on his mat.

"No one uses a piece of new cloth to patch up an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear off some of the old cloth, making an even bigger hole.

Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, because the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins."