Study Desk

When the Lord saw the woman, he felt very sorry for her and said, "Don't cry."

John's followers told him about all these things. John called for two of his followers.

He sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one we heard was coming, or should we wait for someone else?"

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?'"

This Scripture was written about him: ‘Listen! I will send my messenger ahead of you. He will prepare the way for you.'

But the Pharisees and experts in the law refused to accept God's plan for themselves; they did not let John baptize them.)

They are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group of children calls to the other children and says, ‘We played flute music for you, but you did not dance; we sang a sad song, but you did not cry.'

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried my feet with her hair.

You did not honor me with oil for my head, but she rubbed my feet with her sweet-smelling oil.

Others are like the seed that fell on rock. That is like the people who hear God's teaching and gladly accept it. But they don't have deep roots. They believe for a while. But when trouble comes, they turn away from God.

When Jesus got out of the boat, a man from that town came to him. This man had demons inside him. For a long time he had worn no clothes. He did not live in a house but in the caves where the dead are buried.

The men who were caring for the pigs ran away and told the story in the fields and in the town.

"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.

When Jesus went back to Galilee, the people welcomed him. Everyone was waiting for him.

A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all her money on doctors, but no doctor was able to heal her.

He said to them, "When you travel, don't take a walking stick. Also, don't carry a bag, food, or money. Take for your trip only the clothes you are wearing.

But Jesus said to the apostles, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. Do you want us to go buy food for all these people?" There are too many!

Then Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish. He looked up into the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke it into pieces, which he gave to the followers to give to the people.

Jesus continued to say to all of them, "Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you every day for following me.

Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me will save it.