Study Desk

Sin, Faith, Duty

Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to stumble^(a) are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.^(b)

It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones^(c) to stumble.^(d)

So watch yourselves. "If your brother or sister^[a] sins against you, rebuke them;^(e) and if they repent, forgive them.^(f)

Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,' you must forgive them."^(g)

The apostles^(h) said to the Lord,⁽ⁱ⁾ "Increase our faith!"

He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,^(j) you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.^(k)

"Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat'?

Won't he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me^(l) while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'?

Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?

So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"^(m)

Now on his way to Jerusalem,⁽ⁿ⁾ Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.^(o)

As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy^[b](p) met him. They stood at a distance^(q)

and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master,^(r) have pity on us!"

When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."^(s) And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God^(t) in a loud voice.

He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.^(u)

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?

Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?"

Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."^(v)

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,^(x) Jesus replied, "The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed,

nor will people say, ‘Here it is,' or ‘There it is,'^(y) because the kingdom of God is in your midst."^[c]

Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man,^(z) but you will not see it.^(aa)

People will tell you, ‘There he is!' or ‘Here he is!' Do not go running off after them.^(ab)

For the Son of Man in his day^[d] will be like the lightning,^(ac) which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.

But first he must suffer many things^(ad) and be rejected^(ae) by this generation.^(af)

"Just as it was in the days of Noah,^(ag) so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

"It was the same in the days of Lot.^(ah) People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

"It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.^(ai)

On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.^(aj)

Remember Lot's wife!^(ak)

Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.^(al)

I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.

Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."^(am)

^[36][e]

"Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."^(an)

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.^(a)

He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.

And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice^(b) against my adversary.'

"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or care what people think,

yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!'"^(c)

And the Lord^(d) said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.

And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out^(e) to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man^(f) comes,^(g) will he find faith on the earth?"

To some who were confident of their own righteousness^(h) and looked down on everyone else,⁽ⁱ⁾ Jesus told this parable:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray,^(j) one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood by himself^(k) and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

I fast^(l) twice a week and give a tenth^(m) of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast⁽ⁿ⁾ and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'^(o)

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."^(p)

People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.

But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child^(r) will never enter it."

A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"^(t)

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.

You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'^[a]"^(u)

"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor,^(v) and you will have treasure in heaven.^(w) Then come, follow me."

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.

Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!^(x)

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus replied, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."^(y)

Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"^(z)

"Truly I tell you," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come^(aa) eternal life."^(ab)

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem,^(ad) and everything that is written by the prophets^(ae) about the Son of Man^(af) will be fulfilled.

He will be delivered over to the Gentiles.^(ag) They will mock him, insult him and spit on him;

they will flog him^(ah) and kill him.^(ai) On the third day^(aj) he will rise again."^(ak)

The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.^(al)

As Jesus approached Jericho,^(an) a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.

When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening.

They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."^(ao)

He called out, "Jesus, Son of David,^(ap) have mercy^(aq) on me!"

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"^(ar)

Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him,

"What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see," he replied.

Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you."^(as)

Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.^(at)