Thurzo Gizella Bible Study

Red Words of Jesus in Matthew

:2-12 – Then he began his teaching by saying to them,

“How happy are the humble-minded, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs!

“How happy are those who know what sorrow means for they will be given courage and comfort!

“Happy are those who claim nothing, for the whole earth will belong to them!

“Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for goodness, for they will be fully satisfied!

“Happy are the merciful, for they will have mercy shown to them!

“Happy are the utterly sincere, for they will see God!

“Happy are those who make peace, for they will be sons of God!

“Happy are those who have suffered persecution for the cause of goodness, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs! “

And what happiness will be yours when people blame you and ill-treat you and say all kinds of slanderous things against you for my sake!

Be glad then, yes, be tremendously glad – for your reward in Heaven is magnificent.

They persecuted the prophets before your time in exactly the same way.

5:13 – “You are the earth’s salt. But if the salt should become tasteless, what can make it salt again? It is completely useless and can only be thrown out of doors and stamped under foot.

5:14-15 – “You are the world’s light – it is impossible to hide a town built on the top of a hill.

Men do not light a lamp and put it under a bucket. They put it on a lamp-stand and it gives light for everybody in the house.

5:16 – “Let your light shine like that in the sight of men. Let them see the good things you do and praise your Father in Heaven.”

5:17-20 – “You must not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to complete them.

Indeed, I assure you that, while Heaven and earth last, the Law will not lose a single dot or comma until its purpose is complete.

This means that whoever now relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men to do the same will himself be called least in Heaven.

But whoever teaches and practices them will be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.

For I tell you that your goodness must be a far better thing then the goodness of the scribes and Pharisees before you can set foot in the kingdom of Heaven at all!

5:21-22 – “You have heard that it was said to the people in the old days, ‘You shall not murder’, and anyone who does must stand his trial.

But I say to you that anyone who is angry with his brother must stand his trial;

anyone who contemptuously calls his brother a fool must face the supreme court;

and anyone who looks on his brother as a lost soul is himself heading straight for the fire of destruction.

5:23-24 – “So that if, while you are offering your gift at the altar, you should remember that your brother has something against you, you must leave your gift there before the altar and go away.

Make your peace with your brother first, then come and offer your gift.”

5:25-26 – “Come to terms quickly with your opponent while you have the chance, or else he may hand you over to the judge and the judge in turn hand you over to the officer of the court and you will be thrown into prison.

Believe me, you will never get out again till you have paid your last farthing!”

5:27-28 – “You have heard that it was said to the people in the old days, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you that every man who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her – in his heart.

5:29-30 – “Yes, if your right eye leads you astray pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than that your whole body should be thrown on to the rubbish-heap.

“Yes, if your right hand leads you astray cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than that your whole body should go to the rubbish-heap.

5:31-32 – “It also used to be said that ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce’.

But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife except on the ground of unfaithfulness is making her an adulteress.

And whoever marries the woman who has been divorced also commits adultery.

5:33-37 – “Again, you have heard that the people in the old days were told – ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord’,

but I say to you, don’t use an oath at all. Don’t swear by Heaven for it is God’s throne, nor by the earth for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great king.

No, and don’t swear by your own head, for you cannot make a single hair – white or black!

Whatever you have to say let your ‘yes’ be a plain ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ a plain ‘no’ – anything more than this has a taint of evil.

5:38-39 – “You have heard that it used to be said ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’, but I tell you, don’t resist the man who wants to harm you. If a man hits your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.

5:40-42 – “If a man wants to sue you for your coat, let him have it and your overcoat as well. If anybody forces you to go a mile with him, do more – go two miles with him.

Give to the man who asks anything from you, and don’t turn away from the man who wants to borrow.”

5:43-45 – “You have heard that it used to be said, ‘You shall love your neighbour’, and ‘hate your enemy’, but I tell you,

Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Heavenly Father.

For he makes the sun rise upon evil men as well as good, and he sends his rain upon honest and dishonest men alike.

5:46-48 – For if you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even tax-collectors do that!

And if you exchange greetings only with your own circle, are you doing anything exceptional?

Even the pagans do that much. No, you are to be perfect, like your Heavenly Father.

6:1 – “Beware of doing your good deeds conspicuously to catch men’s eyes or you will miss the reward of your Heavenly Father.

6:2-4 – “So, when you do good to other people, don’t hire a trumpeter to go in front of you – like those play-actors in the synagogues and streets who make sure that men admire them.

Believe me, they have had all the reward they are going to get! No, when you give to charity, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be secret.

Your Father who knows all secrets will reward you. 6:5-13 – “And then, when you pray, don’t be like the play-actors.

They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at street-corners so that people may see them at it.

Believe me, they have had all the reward they are going to get. But when you pray, go into your own room, shut your door and pray to your Father privately.

Your Father who sees all private things will reward you. And when you pray don’t rattle off long prayers like the pagans who think they will be heard because they use so many words.

Don’t be like them. After all, God, who is your Father, knows your needs before you ask him. Pray then like this – ‘Our Heavenly Father, may your name be honoured;

May your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day the bread we need,

Forgive us what we owe to you, as we have also forgiven those who owe anything to us. Keep us clear of temptation, and save us from evil’.” Forgiveness of fellow-man is essential

6:14-15 – “For if you forgive other people their failures, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you will not forgive other people, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you your failures.”

6:16-18 – “Then, when you fast, don’t look like those miserable play-actors! For they deliberately disfigure their faces so that people may see that they are fasting.

Believe me, they have had all their reward. No, when you fast, brush your hair and wash your face so that nobody knows that you are fasting – let it be a secret between you and your Father. And your Father who knows all secrets will reward you.

6:19-21 – “Don’t pile up treasures on earth, where moth and rust can spoil them and thieves can break in and steal. But keep your treasure in Heaven where there is neither moth nor rust to spoil it and nobody can break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, you may be certain that your heart will be there too!”

6:22-23 – “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If all the light you have is darkness, it is dark indeed!”

6:24 – “No one can be loyal to two masters. He is bound to hate one and love the other, or support one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and the power of money at the same time.”

6:25-30 – “That is why I say to you, don’t worry about living – wondering what you are going to eat or drink, or what you are going to wear.

Surely life is more important than food, and the body more important than the clothes you wear. Look at the birds in the sky. They never sow nor reap nor store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.

Aren’t you much more valuable to him than they are? Can any of you, however much he worries, make himself an inch taller? And why do you worry about clothes?

Consider how the wild flowers grow. They neither work nor weave, but I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was never arrayed like one of these! Now if God so clothes the flowers of the field, which are alive today and burnt in the stove tomorrow, is he not much more likely to clothe you, you ‘little-faiths’?

6:31-33 – “So don’t worry and don’t keep saying, ‘What shall we eat, what shall we drink or what shall we wear?!

That is what pagans are always looking for; your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

Set your heart on the kingdom and his goodness, and all these things will come to you as a matter of course.

6:34 – “Don’t worry at all then about tomorrow. Tomorrow can take care of itself! One day’s trouble is enough for one day.”

The common sense behind right behaviour

7:1-2 – “Don’t criticise people, and you will not be criticised. For you will be judged by the way you criticise others, and the measure you give will be the measure you receive.”

7:3-5 – “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to notice the plank in your own?

How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye’, when there is a plank in your own?

You fraud! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you can see clearly enough to remove your brother’s speck of dust.”

7:6 – “You must not give holy things to dogs, nor must you throw your pearls before pigs – or they may trample them underfoot and turn and attack you.”

7:7-8 – “Ask and it will be given to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you.

The one who asks will always receive; the one who is searching will always find, and the door is opened to the man who knocks.”

7:9-11 – “If any of you were asked by his son for bread would you be likely to give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish would you give him a snake?

If you then, for all your evil, quite naturally give good things to your children, how much more likely is it that your Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him?”

7:12 – “Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them – this is the essence of all true religion.”

7:13-14 – “Go in by the narrow gate. For the wide gate has a broad road which leads to disaster and there are many people going that way.

The narrow gate and the hard road lead out into life and only a few are finding it.”

Living, not professing, is what matters

7:15-20 – “Be on your guard against false religious teachers, who come to you dressed up as sheep but are really greedy wolves. You can tell them by their fruit.

Do you pick a bunch of grapes from a thorn-bush or figs from a clump of thistles? Every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.

A good tree is incapable of producing bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit.

The tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and burnt. So you may know men by their fruit.”

7:21 – “It is not everyone who keeps saying to me ‘Lord, Lord’ who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the man who actually does my Heavenly Father’s will.

7:22-23 – “In ‘that day’ many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we preach in your name, didn’t we cast out devils in your name, and do many great things in your name?’

Then I shall tell them plainly, ‘I have never known you. Go away from me, you have worked on the side of evil!’”

To follow Christ’s teaching means the only real security

7:24-25 – “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a sensible man who builds his house on the rock.

Down came the rain and up came the floods, while the winds blew and roared upon that house – and it did not fall because its foundations were on the rock.

7:26-27 – “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not follow them can be compared with a foolish man who built his house on sand.

Down came the rain and up came the floods, while the winds blew and battered that house till it collapsed, and fell with a great crash.”

8:10-12 – When Jesus heard this, he was astonished. “Believe me,” he said to those who were following him, “I have never found faith like this, even in Israel!

I tell you that many people will come from east and west and sit at my table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven.

But those who should have belonged to the kingdom will be banished to the darkness outside, where there will be tears and bitter regret.”

8:13 – Then he said to the centurion, “Go home now, and everything will happen as you have believed it will.” And his servant was healed at that actual moment.

9:3-8 – At once some of the scribes thought to themselves, “This man is blaspheming”. But Jesus realised what they were thinking, and said to them,

“Why must you have such evil thoughts in your minds? Do you think it is easier to say to this man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’?

But to make it quite plain that the Son of Man has full authority on earth to forgive sins” – and here he spoke to the paralytic –

“Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And the man sprang to his feet and went home. When the crowds saw what had happened they were filled with awe and praised God for giving such power to men.

9:10-13 – Later, as Jesus was in the house sitting at the dinner-table, a good many tax-collectors and other disreputable people came on the scene and joined him and his disciples.

The Pharisees noticed this and said to the disciples, “Why does your master have his meals with tax-collectors and sinners?”

But Jesus heard this and replied, “It is not the fit and flourishing who need the doctor, but those who are ill!

Suppose you go away and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’. In any case I did not come to invite the ‘righteous’ but the ‘sinners’.”

He explains the joy and strength of the new order

9:14 – Then John’s disciples approached him with the question, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees observe the fasts, but your disciples do nothing of the kind?”

9:15 – “Can you expect wedding-guests to mourn while they have the bridegroom with them?” replied Jesus.

“The day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them – they will certainly fast then!”

9:16-17 – “Nobody sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on to an old coat, for the patch will pull away from the coat and the hole will be worse than ever.

Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins – otherwise the skins burst, the wine is spilt and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into new skins and both are preserved.”

10:5-8 – These were the twelve whom Jesus sent out, with the instructions:

“Don’t turn off into any of the heathen roads, and don’t go into any Samaritan town. Concentrate on the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

As you go proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven has arrived. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the lepers, drive out devils – give, as you have received, without any charge whatever.

10:9-10 – “Don’t take any gold or silver or even coppers to put in your purse; nor a knapsack for the journey, nor even a change of clothes, or sandals or a staff – the workman is worth his keep!

10:11-13 – “Wherever you go, whether it is into a town or a village, find out someone who is respected, and stay with him until you leave.

As you enter his house give it your blessing. If the house deserves it, the peace of your blessing will come to it. But if it doesn’t, your peace will return to you.

10:14-15 – “And if no one will welcome you or even listen to what you have to say, leave that house or town, and once outside it shake off the dust of that place from your feet. Believe me, Sodom and Gomorrah will fare better in the day of judgment than that town.”

He warns them of troubles that lie ahead

10:16-18 – “Here I am sending you out like sheep with wolves all round you; so be as wise as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.

But be on your guard against men. For they will take you to the court and flog you in their synagogues.

You will be brought into the presence of governors and kings because of me – to give your witness to them and to the heathen.

10:19-20 – “But when they do arrest you, never worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say.

You will be told at the time what you are to say. For it will not be really you who are speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

10:21-22 – “Brothers are going to betray their brothers to death, and fathers their children. Children are going to betray their parents and have them executed.

You yourselves will be universally hated because of my name. But the man who endures to the very end will be safe and sound.

10:23-27 – “But when they persecute you in one town make your escape to the next. Believe me, you will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives.

The disciple is not superior to his teacher any more than the servant is superior to his master, for what is good enough for the teacher is good enough for the disciple as well, and the servant will not fare better than his master.

If men call the master of the household the ‘Prince of Evil’, what sort of names will they give to his Servants?

But never let them frighten you, for there is nothing covered up which is not going to be exposed nor anything private which will not be made public.

The things I tell you in the dark you must say in the daylight, and the things you hear in your private ear you must proclaim from the house-tops.

They should reverence God but have no fear of man

10:28 – “Never be afraid of those who can kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul!

Far better to stand in awe of the one who has the power to destroy body and soul in the fires of destruction!

10:29-31 – “Two sparrows sell for a farthing, don’t they? Yet not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.

The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Never be afraid, then – you are far more valuable than sparrows.

10:32-33 – “Every man who publicly acknowledges me I shall acknowledge in the presence of my Father in Heaven, but the man who disowns me before men I shall disown before my Father in Heaven.

The Prince of Peace comes to bring division

10:34-36 – “Never think I have come to bring peace upon the earth. No, I have not come to bring peace but a sword!

For I have come to set a man against his own father, a daughter against her own mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

A man’s enemies will be those who live in his own house.

10:37-39 – “Anyone who puts his love for father or mother above his love for me does not deserve to be mine, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and neither is the man who refuses to take up his cross and follow my way.

The man who has found his own life will lose it, but the man who has lost it for my sake will find it.

10:40 – “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me is welcoming the one who sent me.

10:41-42 – “Whoever welcomes a prophet just because he is a prophet will get a prophet’s reward.

And whoever welcomes a good man just because he is a good man will get a good man’s reward.

Believe me, anyone who gives even a drink of water to one of these little ones, just because he is my disciple, will by no means lose his reward.”

11:4-6 – Jesus gave them this reply, “Go and tell John what you see and her – that blind men are recovering their sight, cripples are walking, lepers being healed, the deaf hearing, the dead being brought to life and the good news is being given to those in need.

And happy is the man who never loses faith in me.”

11:7-10 – As John’s disciples were going away Jesus began talking to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to look at? A reed waving in the breeze?

No? Then what was it you went out to see? – a man dressed in fine clothes? But the men who wear fine clothes live in the courts of kings! But what did you really go to see – a prophet?

Yes, I tell you, a prophet and far more than a prophet! This is the man of whom the scripture says – ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you’.

11:11 – “Believe me, no one greater than John the Baptist has ever been born of all mankind, and yet a humble member of the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

11:12-15 – “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven has been taken by storm and eager men are forcing their way into it.

For the Law and all the prophets foretold it till the time of John and – if you can believe it – John himself is the ‘Elijah’ who must come before the kingdom. The man who has ears to hear must use them.

11:16-19 – “But how can I show what the people of this generation are like? They are like children sitting in the market-place calling out to their friends, ‘We played at weddings for you but you wouldn’t dance, and we played at funerals and you wouldn’t cry!’

For John came in the strictest austerity and people say, ‘He’s crazy!’ Then the Son of Man came, enjoying life, and people say, ‘Look, a drunkard and a glutton – the bosom-friend of the tax-collector and the sinner.’ Ah, well, wisdom stands or falls by her own actions.”

1:21-22 – “Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if Tyre and Sidon had seen the demonstrations of God’s power which you have seen they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Yet I tell you this, that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

11:23-24 – “And as for you, Capernaum, are you on your way up to Heaven? I tell you will go hurtling down among the dead!

If Sodom had seen the miracles that you have seen, Sodom would be standing today. Yet I tell you now that it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

11:25-26 – At this same time Jesus said, “O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, I thank you for hiding these things from the clever and intelligent and for showing them to mere children. Yes, I thank you, Father, that this was your will.”

11:27 – Then he said: “Everything has been put in my hands by my Father, and nobody knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son – and the man to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

11:28-30 – “Come to me, all of you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest! Put on my yoke and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

12:3-4 – “Haven’t any of you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?” replied Jesus, “- how he went into the house of God and ate the presentation loaves, which he and his followers were not allowed to eat since only priests can do so?

12:5-8 – “Haven’t any of you read in the Law that every Sabbath day priests in the Temple can break the Sabbath and yet remain blameless?

I tell you that there is something more important than the Temple here. If you had grasped the meaning of the scripture ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’, you would not have been so quick to condemn the innocent! For the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath.”

12:11-12 – “If any of you had a sheep which fell into a ditch on the Sabbath day, would he not take hold of it and pull it out?” replied Jesus. “How much more valuable is a man than a sheep? You see, it is right to do good on the Sabbath day.”

12:13 – Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He did stretch it out, and it was restored as sound as the other.

12:25-29 – Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is bound to collapse, and no town or household divided against itself can last for long.

If it is Satan who is expelling Satan, then he is divided against himself – so how do you suppose that his kingdom can continue?

And if I expel devils because I am an ally of Beelzebub, what alliance do your sons make when they do the same thing? They can settle that question for you!

But if I am expelling devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has swept over you unawares!

How do you suppose anyone could get into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first tied up the strong man? But if he did that, he could ransack his whole house.

12:30-32 – “The man who is not on my side is against me, and the man who does not gather with me is really scattering.

That is why I tell you that men may be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit cannot be forgiven.

A man may say a word against the Son of Man and be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come!

12:33 – “You must choose between having a good tree with good fruit and a rotten tree with rotten fruit. For you can tell a tree at once by its fruit.

12:34-37 – “You serpent’s brood, how can you say anything good out of your evil hearts?

For a man’s words depend on what fills his heart. A good man gives out good – from the goodness stored in his heart; a bad man gives out evil – from his store of evil.

I tell you that men will have to answer at the day of judgment for every careless word they utter – for it is your words that will acquit you, and your words that will condemn you.”

Jesus refuses to give a sign

12:38-42 – Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said, “Master, we want to see a sign from you.” But Jesus told them, “It is an evil and unfaithful generation that craves for a sign, and no sign will be given to it – except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

For just as Jonah was in the belly of that great sea-monster for three days and nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and nights.

The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation in the judgment and will condemn it. For they did repent when Jonah preached to them, and you have more than Jonah’s preaching with you now!

The Queen of the South will stand up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it.

For she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and you have more than the wisdom of Solomon with you now!

The danger of spiritual emptiness

12:43-45 – “When the evil spirit goes out of a man it wanders through waterless places looking for rest and never finding it. Then it says, ‘I will go back to my house from which I came.’

When it arrives it finds it unoccupied, but clean and all in order. Then it goes and collects seven other spirits more evil than itself to keep it company, and they all go in and make themselves at home.

The last state of that man is worse than the first – and that is just what will happen to this evil generation.”

, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”; then with a gesture of his hand towards his disciples he went on, “There are my mother and brothers! For whoever does the will of my Heavenly Father is brother and sister and mother to me.”

n: “There was once a man who went out to sow. In his sowing some of the seeds fell by the road-side and the birds swooped down and gobbled them up.

Some fell on stony patches where they had very little soil. They sprang up quickly in the shallow soil, but when the sun came up they were scorched by the heat and withered away because they had no roots.

Some seeds fell among thorn-bushes and the thorns grew up and choked the life out of them.

But some fell on good soil and produced a crop – some a hundred times what had been sown, some sixty and some thirty times. The man who has ears should use them!”

13:10 – At this the disciples approached him and asked, “Why do you talk to them in parables?”

13:11-15 – “Because you have been given the chance to understand the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven,” replied Jesus, “but they have not.

For when a man has something, more is given to him till he has plenty. But if he has nothing even his nothing will be taken away from him.

This is why I speak to them in these parables; because they go through life with their eyes open, but see nothing, and with their ears open, but understand nothing of what they hear.

They are the living fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull.

Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them’.

13:16-17 – “But how fortunate you are to have eyes that see and ears that hear! Believe me, a great many prophets and good men have longed to see what you are seeing and they never saw it. Yes, and they longed to hear what you are hearing and they never heard it.

13:18-23 – “Now listen to the parable of the sower. When a man hears the message of the kingdom and does not grasp it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.

This is like the seed sown by the road-side. The seed sown on the stony patches represents the man who hears the message and eagerly accepts it. But it has not taken root in him and does not last long – the moment trouble or persecution arises through the message he gives up his faith at once.

The seed sown among the thorns represents the man who hears the message, and then the worries of this life and the illusions of wealth choke it to death and so it produces no ‘crop’ in his life.

But the seed sown on good soil is the man who both hears and understands the message. His life shows a good crop, a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Good and evil grow side by side in this present world

13:24-30 – Then he put another parable before them. “The kingdom of Heaven,” he said, “is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

But while his men were asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the crop came up and ripened, the weeds appeared as well.

Then the owner’s servants came up to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did all these weeds come from?

‘Some blackguard has done this to spite me.’ he replied. ‘Do you want us then to go out and pull them all up?’ said the servants.

‘No,’ he returned, ‘if you pull up the weeds now, you would pull up the wheat with them. Let them both grow together till the harvest.

And at harvest-time I shall tell the reapers, ‘Collect all the weeds first and tie them up in bundles ready to burn, but collect the wheat and store it in my barn.’”

The kingdom’s power of growth, and widespread influence

13:31-32 – Then he put another parable before them: “the kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny grain of mustard-seed which a man took and sowed in his field.

As a seed it is the smallest of them all, but it grows to be the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, big enough for birds to come and nest in its branches.”

13:33 – This is another of the parables he told them: “the kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, taken by a woman and put into three measures of flour until the whole lot had risen.”

13:37-39 – “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,” replied Jesus. “The field is the whole world. The good seed?

That is the sons of the kingdom, while the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The blackguard who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of this world. The reapers are angels.

13:40-43 – “Just as weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire so will it happen at the end of this world.

The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will uproot from the kingdom everything that is spoiling it, and all those who live in defiance of its laws,

and will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be tears and bitter regret.

Then the good will shine out like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. The man who has ears should use them

More pictures of the kingdom of Heaven

13:44 – “Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like some treasure which has been buried in a field. A man finds it and buries it again, and goes off overjoyed to sell all his possessions to buy himself that field.

13:45-46 – “Or again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he has found a single pearl of great value, he goes and sells all his possessions and buys it.

13:47-50 – “Or the kingdom of Heaven is like a big net thrown into the sea collecting all kinds of fish.

When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore and sit down and pick out the good ones for the barrels, but they throw away the bad. That is how it will be at the end of this world.

The angels will go out and pick out the wicked from among the good and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be tears and bitter regret.

13:51 – “Have you grasped all this?”

13:52 – “You can see, then,” returned Jesus, “how every one who knows the Law and becomes a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who can produce from his store both the new and the old.”

15:3-9 – “Tell me,” replied Jesus, “why do you break God’s commandment through your tradition? For God said,

‘Honour your father and your mother’, and ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death’ . But you say that if a man tells his parents, ‘Whatever use I might have been to you is now given to God’, then he owes no further duty to his parents.

And so your tradition empties the commandment of God of all its meaning. You hypocrites!

Isaiah describes you beautifully when he said: ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’.”

Superficial and true cleanliness

15:10-11 – Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen, and understand this thoroughly! It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes him common or unclean. It is what comes out of a man’s mouth that makes him unclean.”

15:12 – Later his disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees are deeply offended by what you said?”

15:13-14 – “Every plant which my Heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots,” returned Jesus.

“Let them alone. They are blind guides, and when one blind man leads another blind man they will both end up in the ditch!”

15:15 – “Explain this parable to us,” broke in Peter.

15:16 – “Are you still unable to grasp things like that?” replied Jesus.

15:17-20 – “Don’t you see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then out of the body altogether?

But the things that come out of a man’s mouth come from his heart and mind, and it is they that really make a man unclean.

For it is from a man’s mind that evil thoughts arise – murder, adultery, lust, theft, perjury and blasphemy.

These are the things which make a man unclean, not eating without washing his hands properly!”

Jesus again refuses to give a sign

16:1-4 – Once the Pharisees and the Sadducees arrived together to test him, and asked him to give them a sign from Heaven. But he replied,

“When the evening comes you say, ‘Ah, fine weather – the sky is red.’ In the morning you say, ‘There will be a storm today, the sky is red and threatening.’

Yes, you know how to interpret the look of the sky but you have no idea how to interpret the signs of the times!

A wicked and unfaithful age insists on a sign; and it will not be given any sign at all but that of the prophet Jonah.” And he turned on his heel and left them.

He is misunderstood by the disciples

16:5-12 – Then his disciples came to him on the other side of the lake, forgetting to bring any bread with them. “Keep your eyes open,” said Jesus to them, “and be on your guard against the ‘yeast’ of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

But they were arguing with each other, and saying, “We forgot to bring the bread.” When Jesus saw this he said to them,

“Why all this argument among yourselves about not bringing any bread, you little-faiths?

Don’t you understand yet, or have you forgotten the five loaves and the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up afterwards; or the seven loaves and the four thousand and how many baskets you took up then?

I wonder why you don’t understand that I wasn’t talking about bread at all – I told you to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Then they grasped the fact that he had not told them to be beware of yeast in the ordinary sense but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

16:17-20 – “Simon, son of Jonah, you are a fortunate man indeed!” said Jesus, “for it was not your own nature but my Heavenly Father who has revealed this truth to you!

Now I tell you that you are Peter the rock, and it is on this rock that I am going to found my Church, and the powers of death will never prevail against it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; whatever you forbid on earth will be what is forbidden in Heaven and whatever you permit on earth will be what is permitted in Heaven!”

Then he impressed on his disciples that they should not tell anyone that he was Christ.

16:22-23 – Then Peter took him on one side and started to remonstrate with him over this. “God bless you, Master! Nothing like this must happen to you!”

Then Jesus turned round and said to Peter, “Out of my way, Satan! … you stand right in my path, Peter, when you look at things from man’s point of view and not from God’s”

16:24-26 – Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps he must give up all right to himself, take up his cross and follow me.

For the man who wants to save his life will lose it; but the man who loses his life for my sake will find it.

For what good is it for a man to gain the whole world at the price of his own soul? What could a man offer to buy back his soul once he had lost it?

16:27-28 – “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father and in the company of his angels and then he will repay every man for what he has done.

Believe me, there are some standing here today who will know nothing of death till they have seen the Son of Man coming as a king.”

17:20-21 – “Because you have so little faith,” replied Jesus. “I assure you that if you have as much faith as a grain of mustard-seed you can say to this hill,

‘Up you get and move over there!’ and it will move – you will find nothing is impossible.” “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting”

17:22-23 – As they went about together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be handed over to the power of men, and they will kill him. And on the third day he will be raised to life again.” This greatly distressed the disciples.

17:25 – “Oh, yes, he does!” replied Peter. Later when he went into the house Jesus anticipated what he was going to say.

“What do you think, Simon?” he said. “Whom do the kings of this world get their rates and taxes from – their own people or from others?”

17:26 – “From others,” replied Peter.

17:27 – “Then the family is exempt,” Jesus told him. “Yet we don’t want to give offence to these people, so go down to the lake and throw in your hook.

Take the first fish that bites, open his mouth and you’ll find a coin. Take that and give it to them, for both of us.”

18:2-4 – Jesus called a little child to his side and set him on his feet in the middle of them all. “Believe me,” he said, “unless you change your whole outlook and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.

It is the man who can be as humble as this little child who is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.

18:5-7 – “Anyone who welcomes one child like this for my sake is welcoming me. But if anyone leads astray one of these little children who believe in me he would be better off thrown into the depths of the sea with a mill-stone hung round his neck!

Alas for the world with its pitfalls! In the nature of things there must be pitfalls. yet alas for the man who is responsible for them!

The right way may mean costly sacrifice

18:8-9 – “If your hand or your foot is a hindrance to your faith, cut it off and throw it away. It is a good thing to go into life maimed or crippled – rather than to have both hands and feet and be thrown on to the everlasting fire.

Yes, and if your eye leads you astray, tear it out and throw it away. It is a good thing to go one-eyed into life – rather than to have both your eyes and be thrown on the fire of the rubbish heap.

18:10-11 – “Be careful that you never despise a single one of these little ones – for I tell you that they have angels who see my Father’s face continually in Heaven.”

18:12-14 – “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one wanders away from the rest, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hill-side and set out to look for the one who has wandered away?

Yes, and if he should chance to find it I assure you he is more delighted over that one than he is over the ninety-nine who never wandered away.

You can understand then that it is never the will of your Father in Heaven that a single one of these little ones should be lost.”

Reconciliation must always be attempted

18:15-17 – “But if your brother wrongs you, go and have it out with him at once – just between the two of you. If he will listen to you, you have won him back as your brother.

But if he will not listen to you, take one or two others with you so that everything that is said may have the support of two or three witnesses.

And if he still won’t pay any attention, tell the matter to the church. And if he won’t even listen to the church then he must be to you just like a pagan – or a tax-collector!

The connection between earthly conduct and spiritual reality

18:18 – “Believe me, whatever you forbid upon earth will be what is forbidden in Heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be what is permitted in Heaven.”

18:19-20 – “And I tell you once more that if two of you on earth agree in asking for anything it will be granted to you by my Heavenly Father. For wherever two or three people come together in my name, I am there, right among you!”

18:22-27 – “No,” replied Jesus, “not seven times, but seventy times seven! For the kingdom of Heaven is like a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants.

When he had started calling in his accounts, a man was brought to him who owed him millions of pounds. And when it was plain that he had no means of repaying the debt, his master gave orders for him to be sold as a slave, and his wife and children and all his possessions as well, and the money to be paid over.

At this the servant fell on his knees before his master, ‘Oh, be patient with me!’ he cried, ‘and I will pay you back every penny!’ Then his master was moved with pity for him, set him free and cancelled his debt.

18:28-30 – “But when this same servant had left his master’s presence, he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him a few shillings.

He grabbed him and seized him by the throat, crying, ‘Pay up what you owe me!’ At this his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and implored him,

‘Oh, be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ But he refused and went out and had him put in prison until he should repay the debt.

18:31 – When the other fellow-servants saw what had happened, they were horrified and told their master the whole incident.

18:32-35 – Then his master called him in. “‘You wicked servant!’ he said. ‘Didn’t I cancel all that debt when you begged me to do so?

Oughtn’t you to have taken pity on your fellow-servant as I, your master, took pity on you?

And his master in anger handed him over to the gaolers till he should repay the whole debt.

This is how my Heavenly Father will treat you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.”

The divine principle of marriage

19:1-2 – When Jesus had finished talking on these matters, he left Galilee and went on to the district of Judea on the far side of the Jordan. Vast crowds followed him, and he cured them.

19:3 – Then the Pharisees arrived with a test-question. “Is it right,” they asked, “for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds whatever?”

19:4-6 – “Haven’t you read,” he answered, “that the one who created them from the beginning ‘made them male and female’ and said:

‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

So they are no longer two separate people but one. No man therefore must separate what God has joined together.”

19:7 – “Then why,” they retorted, “did Moses command us to give a written divorce-notice and dismiss the woman?”

19:8-9 – “It was because you knew so little of the meaning of love that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives!

But that was not the original principle. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife on any grounds except her unfaithfulness and marries some other woman commits adultery.”

19:10 – His disciples said to him, “If that is a man’s position with his wife, it is not worth getting married!”

19:11-12 – “It is not everybody who can live up to this,” replied Jesus, “- only those who have a special gift.

For some are incapable of marriage from birth, some are made incapable by the action of men, and some have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let the man who can accept what I have said accept it.”

Jesus welcomes children

19:13-15 – Then some little children were brought to him, so that he could put his hands on them and pray for them.

The disciples frowned on the parents’ action but Jesus said, “You must let little children come to me, and you must never stop them.

The kingdom of Heaven belongs to little children like these!” Then he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

Jesus shows that keeping the commandments is not enough

19:16 – Then it happened that a man came up to him and said, “Master what good thing must I do to secure eternal life?”

19:17 – “I wonder why you ask me about what is good?” Jesus answered him. “Only one is good. But if you want to enter that life you must keep the commandments.”

19:18-19 – “Which ones?” he asked. “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honour your father and your mother’, and ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’,” replied Jesus.

19:20 – “I have carefully kept all these,” returned the young man. “What is still missing in my life?”

19:21 – Then Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go now and sell your property and give the money away to the poor – you will have riches in Heaven. Then come and follow me!”

19:22 – When the young man heard that he turned away crestfallen, for he was very wealthy.

19:23-24 – Then Jesus remarked to his disciples, “Believe me, a rich man will find it very difficult to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Yes, I repeat, a camel could more easily squeeze through the eye of a needle than a rich man get into the kingdom of God!”

19:25 – The disciples were simply amazed to hear this, and said, “Then who can possibly be saved?”

19:26 – Jesus looked steadily at them and replied, “Humanly speaking it is impossible; but with God anything is possible!”

Jesus declares that sacrifice for the kingdom will be repaid

19:27 – At this Peter exclaimed, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. What is that going to be worth to us?”

19:28-30 – “Believe me,” said Jesus, “when I tell you that in the next world, when the Son of Man shall sit down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones and become judges of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Every man who has left houses or brothers or sisters or fathers or mother or children or land for my sake will receive it all back many times over, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first now will be last then – and the last first!

But God’s generosity may appear unfair

20:1-7 – “For the kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer going out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. He agreed with them on a wage of a silver coin a day and sent them to work.

About nine o’clock he went and saw some others standing about in the market-place with nothing to do. ‘You go to the vineyard too,” he said to them, ‘and I will pay you a fair wage.’

And off they went. At about mid-day and again at about three o’clock in the afternoon he went and did the same thing. Then about five o’clock he went out and found some others standing about.

‘Why are you standing about here all day doing nothing?’ he asked them. ‘Because no one has employed us,’ they replied. ‘You go off into the vineyard as well, then,’ he said.

20:8-12 – “When evening came the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the labourers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’

So those who were engaged at five o’clock came up and each man received a silver coin. But when the first to be employed came they reckoned they would get more, but they also received a silver coin a man.

As they took their money they grumbled at the farmer and said, ‘These last fellows have only put in one hour’s work and you’ve treated them exactly the same as us who have gone through all the hard work and heat of the day!’

20:13-15 – “But he replied to one of them, ‘My friend, I’m not being unjust to you. Wasn’t our agreement for a silver coin a day?

Take your money and go home. It is my wish to give the latecomers as much as I give you.

May I not do what I like with what belongs to me? Must you be jealous because I am generous?’

20:16 – “So, many who are the last now will be the first then and the first last.”

20:17-19 – Then, as he was about to go up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside and spoke to them as they walked along.

“Listen, we are now going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes – and they will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the heathen to ridicule and flog and crucify. And on the third day he will rise again!”

20:20 – At this point the mother of the sons of Zebedee arrived with her sons and knelt in front of Jesus to ask him a favour.

20:21 – “What is it you want?” he asked her.

“Please say that these two sons of mine may sit one on each side of you when you are king!” she said.

20:22 – “You don’t know what it is you are asking,” replied Jesus. “Can you two drink what I have to drink?”

“Yes, we can,” they answered.

20:23 – “Ah, you will indeed ‘drink my drink’,” Jesus told them, “but as for sitting on either side of me, that is not for me to grant – that belongs to those for whom my Father has planned it.”

20:24 – When the other ten heard of this incident they were highly indignant with the two brothers.

20:25-28 – But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the heathen lord it over them and that their great ones have absolute power? But it must not be so among you.

No, whoever among you wants to be great must become the servant of you all, and if he wants to be first among you he must be your slave – just as the Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life to set many others free.”

21:12-13 – Then Jesus went into the Temple and drove out all the buyers and sellers there. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those who sold doves, crying –

“It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’. But you have turned it into a ‘den of thieves!’”

21:14-16 – And there in the Temple the blind and the lame came to him and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things he had done, and that children were shouting in the Temple the words, “God save the Son of David”, they were highly indignant.

“Can’t you hear what these children are saying?” they asked Jesus. “Yes,” he replied, “and haven’t you ever read the words, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have perfected praise’?”

21:21-22 – “Believe me,” replied Jesus, “if you have faith and have no doubts in you heart, you will not only do this to a fig-tree but even if you should say to this hill, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea’, it will happen! Everything you ask for in prayer, if you have faith, you will receive.”

Jesus meets a question with a counter-question

21:23 – Then when he had entered the Temple and was in the act of teaching, the chief priests and Jewish elders came up to him and said, “What authority have you for what you’re doing, and who gave you that authority?”

21:24-26 – “I am also going to ask you one question,” Jesus replied to them, “and if you answer it I will tell you what authority I have for what I do. John’s baptism, now, did it come from Heaven or was it purely human?”

At this they began arguing among themselves, “If we say, ‘it came from Heaven’, he will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe in him?’ If on the other hand we should say, ‘It was purely human’ – well, frankly, we are afraid of the people – for all of them consider John was a prophet.”

21:27 – So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”

“Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things!” returned Jesus.

21:28-31 – “But what is your opinion about this? There was a man with two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Go and work in my vineyard today, my son,’ he said, ‘All right, sir’ – but he never went near it. Then his father approached the second son with the same request. He said, ‘I won’t.’ But afterwards he changed his mind and went. Which of these two did what their father wanted?” “The second one,” they replied.

“Yes, and I tell you that tax-collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God in front of you!” retorted Jesus.

21:32 – “For John came to you as a saint, and you did not believe him – yet the tax-collectors and the prostitutes did! And, even after seeing that, you would not change your minds and believe him.”

Jesus tells a pointed story

21:33-40 – “Now listen to another story. There was once a man, a land-owner, who planted a vineyard, fenced it round, dug out a hole for the wine-press and built a watch-tower.

Then he let it out to farm-workers and went abroad. When the vintage-time approached he sent his servants to the farm-workers to receive his share of the proceeds. But they took the servants. beat up one, killed another, and drove off a third with stones.

Then he sent some more servants, a larger party than the first, but they treated them in just the same way. Finally he sent his own son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ Yet when the farm-workers saw the son they said to each other,

‘This fellow is the future owner. Come on, let’s kill him and we shall get everything that he would have had!’ So they took him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those farm-workers?”

21:41 – “He will kill those scoundrels without mercy,” they replied, “and will let the vineyard out to other tenants, who will give him the produce at the right season.”

21:42 – “And have you never read these words of scripture,” said Jesus to them: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?’

21:43-44- “Here, I tell you, lies the reason why the kingdom of God is going to be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its proper fruit.”

The kingdom is not to be lightly disregarded

22:1 – Then Jesus began to talk to them again in parables.

22:2-14 – “The kingdom of Heaven,” he said, “is like a king who arranged a wedding for his son. He sent his servants to summon those who had been invited to the festivities, but they refused to come. Then he tried again; he sent some more servants, saying to them,

‘Tell those who have been invited, “Here is my wedding-breakfast all ready, my bullocks and fat cattle have been slaughtered and everything is prepared.

Come along to the festivities.”‘ But they took no notice of this and went off, one to his farm, and another to his business. As for the rest, they got hold of the servants, treated them disgracefully, and finally killed them.

At this the king was very angry and sent his troops and killed those murderers and burned down their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is quite ready, but those who were invited were not good enough for it.

So go off now to all the street corners and invite everyone you find there to the feast.’ So the servants went out on to the streets and collected together all those whom they found, bad and good alike. And the hall became filled with guests.

But when the king came in to inspect the guests, he noticed among them a man not dressed for a wedding. ‘How did you come in here, my friend,’ he said to him, ‘without being properly dressed for the wedding?’

And the man had nothing to say. Then the king said to the ushers, ‘Tie him up and throw him into the darkness outside. There he can weep and regret his folly!’ For many are invited but few are chosen.”

A clever trap – and a penetrating answer

22:18-20 – But Jesus knowing their evil intention said, “Why try this trick on me, you frauds? Show me the money you pay the tax with.” They handed him a coin, and he said to them, “Whose face is this and whose name is in the inscription?”

22:21 – “Caesar’s,” they said. “Then give to Caesar,” he replied, “what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God!”

22:29-33 – “You are very wide of the mark,” replied Jesus to them, “for you are ignorant of both the scriptures and the power of God. For in the resurrection there is no such thing as marrying or being given in marriage – men live like the angels in Heaven. And as for the matter of the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you ever read what was once said to you by God himself, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? God is not God of the dead but of living men!” When the crowds heard this they were astounded at his teaching.

The greatest commandments in the Law

22:34-36 – When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they came up to him in a body, and one of them, an expert in the Law, put this test-question: “Master, what are we to consider the Law’s greatest commandment?”

22:37-40 – Jesus answered him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’. This is the first and great commandment. And there is a second like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. The whole of the Law and the Prophets depends on these two commandments.”

Jesus puts an unanswerable question

22:41-42 – Then Jesus asked the assembled Pharisees this question: “What is your opinion about Christ? Whose son is he?

“The Son of David,” they answered.

22:43-44 – “How then,” returned Jesus, “does David when inspired by the Spirit call him Lord? He says – ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool?’

22:45 – If David then calls him Lord, how can he be his son?”

23:1-12 – Then Jesus addressed the crowds and his disciples. “The scribes and the Pharisees speak with the authority of Moses,” he told them, “so you must do what they tell you and follow their instructions. But you must not imitate their lives! For they preach but do not practise. They pile up back-breaking burdens and lay them on other men’s shoulders – yet they themselves will not raise a finger to move them. Their whole lives are planned with an eye to effect. They increase the size of their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their robes; they love seats of honour at dinner parties and front places in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect in public places and to have men call them ‘rabbi!’ Don’t you ever be called ‘rabbi’ – you have only one teacher, and all of you are brothers. And don’t call any human being ‘father’ – for you have one Father and he is in Heaven. And you must not let people call you ‘leaders’ – you have only one leader, Christ! The only ‘superior’ among you is the one who serves the others. For every man who promotes himself will be humbled, and every man who learns to be humble will find promotion.

23:13-14 – “But alas for you, you scribes and Pharisees, play-actors that you are! You lock the door of the kingdom of Heaven in men’s faces; you will not go in yourselves neither will you allow those at the door to go inside.

23:15 – “Alas for you, you scribes and Pharisees, play-actors! You scour sea and land to make a single convert, and then you make him twice as ripe for destruction as you are yourselves.

23:16-22 – “Alas for you, you blind leaders! You say, ‘if anyone swears by the Temple it amounts to nothing, but if he swears by the gold of the Temple he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools, which is the more important, the gold or the Temple which sanctifies the gold? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar it doesn’t matter, but if he swears by the gift placed on the altar he is bound by his oath.’ Have you no eyes – which is more important, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift? Any man who swears by the altar is swearing by the altar and whatever is offered upon it; and anyone who swears by the Temple is swearing by the Temple and by him who dwells in it; and anyone who swears by Heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by the one who sits upon that throne.

23:23-24 – “Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you utter frauds! For you pay your tithe on mint and aniseed and cummin, and neglect the things which carry far more weight in the Law – justice, mercy and good faith. These are the things you should have observed – without neglecting the others. You call yourselves leaders, and yet you can’t see an inch before your noses, for you filter out the mosquito and swallow the camel.

23:25-26 – “What miserable frauds you are, you scribes and Pharisees! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, while the inside is full of greed and self-indulgence. Can’t you see, Pharisee? First wash the inside of a cup, and then you can clean the outside.

23:27-28 – “Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees! You are like white-washed tombs, which look fine on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all kinds of rottenness. For you appear like good men on the outside – but inside you are a mass of pretence and wickedness.

23:29-36 – “What miserable frauds you are, you scribes and Pharisees! You build tombs for the prophets, and decorate monuments for good men of the past, and then say, ‘If we had lived in the times of our ancestors we should never have joined in the killing of the prophets.’ Yes, ‘your ancestors’ – that shows you to be sons indeed of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead then, and finish off what your ancestors tried to do! You serpents, you viper’s brood, how do you think you are going to avoid being condemned to the rubbish-heap? Listen to this: I am sending you prophets and wise and learned men; and some of these you will kill and crucify, others you will flog in your synagogues and hunt from town to town. So that on your hands is all the innocent blood spilt on this earth, from the blood of Abel the good to the blood of Zachariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Yes, I tell you that all this will be laid at the doors of this generation.

Jesus mourns over Jerusalem, and foretells its destruction

23:37-39 – “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You murder the prophets and stone the messengers that are sent to you. How often have I longed to gather your children round me like a bird gathering her brood together under her wing – and you would never have it. Now all you have left is your house. I tell you that you will never see me again till the day when you cry, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

24:1-2 – Then Jesus went out of the Temple, and was walking away when his disciples came up and drew his attention to its buildings. “You see all these?” replied Jesus. “I tell you every stone will be thrown down till there is not a single one left standing upon another.”

24:3 – And as he was sitting on the slope of the Mount of Olives his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen? What will be the signal for your coming and the end of this world?”

24:4-14 – “Be careful that no one misleads you,” returned Jesus, “for many men will come in my name saying ‘I am christ’, and they will mislead many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars – but don’t be alarmed. Such things must indeed happen, but that is not the end. For one nation will rise in arms against another, and one kingdom against another, and there will be famines and earthquakes in different parts of the world. But all that is only the beginning of the birth-pangs. For then comes the time when men will hand you over to persecution, and kill you. And all nations will hate you because you bear my name. Then comes the time when many will lose their faith, and will betray and hate each other. Yes, and many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many people. Because of the spread of wickedness the love of most men will grow cold, though the man who holds out to the end will be saved. This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed to men all over the world as a witness to all the nations, and the end will come.

Jesus prophesies a future of suffering

24:15-22 – “When the time comes, then, that you see the ‘abomination of desolation’ prophesied by Daniel ‘standing in the sacred place’ – the reader should note this – then is the time for those in Judea to escape to the hills. A man on his house-top must not waste time going into his house to collect anything; a man at work in the fields must not go back home to fetch his clothes. Alas for the pregnant, alas for those with tiny babies at that time! Pray God that you may not have to make your escape in the winter or on the Sabbath day, for then there will be great misery, such as has never happened from the beginning of the world until now, and will never happen again! Yes, if those days had not been cut short no human being would survive. But for the sake of God’s people those days are to be shortened.

24:23-28 – “If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ don’t believe it. False christs and false prophets are going to appear and will produce great signs and wonders to mislead, if it were possible, even God’s own people. Listen, I am warning you. So that if people say to you, ‘There he is, in the desert!’ you are not to go out there. If they say, ‘Here he is, in this inner room!’ don’t believe it. For as lightning flashes across from east to west so will the Son of Man’s coming be. ‘Wherever there is a dead body, there the vultures will flock.’

At the end of time the Son of Man will return

24:29-31 – “Immediately after the misery of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, the moon will fail to give her light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken’ . Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will wring their hands as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky in power and great splendour. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet-call and they will gather his chosen from the four winds – from one end of the heavens to the other.

24:32-41 – “Learn what the fig-tree can teach you. As soon as its branches grow full of sap and produce leaves you know that summer is near. So when you see all these things happening you may know that he is near, at your very door! Believe me, this generation will not disappear till all this has taken place. Earth and sky will pass away, but my words will never pass away! But about that actual day and time no one knows – not even the angels of Heaven, nor the Son, only the Father. For just as life went on in the days of Noah so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood people were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the very day that Noah went into the ark, and knew nothing about the flood until it came and destroyed them all. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left behind. Two women will be grinding at the hand-mill; one is taken and one is left behind.

25:1-13 – “In those days the kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were sensible and five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. But the sensible ones brought their lamps and oil in their flasks as well. Then, as the bridegroom was a very long time, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But in the middle of the night there came a shout, ‘Wake up, here comes the bridegroom! Out you go to meet him!” Then up got the bridesmaids and attended to their lamps. The foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Please give us some of your oil – our lamps are going out!’ ‘Oh no,’ returned the sensible ones, ‘there might not be enough for all of us. Better go to the oil-shop and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they had gone off to buy the oil the bridegroom arrived, and those bridesmaids who were ready went in with him for the festivities and the door was shut behind them. Later on the rest of the bridesmaids came and said, ‘Oh, please, sir, open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘I tell you I don’t know you!’ So be on the alert – for you do not know the day or the time.

Life is hard for the faint-hearted

25:14-15 – “It is just like a man going abroad who called his household servants together before he went and handed his property to them to manage. He gave one five thousand pounds, another two thousand and another one thousand – according to their respective abilities. Then he went away.

25:16-18 – “The man who had received five thousand pounds went out at once and by doing business with this sum he made another five thousand. Similarly the man with two thousand pounds made another two thousand. But the man who had received one thousand pounds went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

25:19-23 – “Some years later the master of these servants arrived and went into the accounts with them. The one who had the five thousand pounds came in and brought him an additional five thousand with the words, ‘You gave me five thousand pounds, sir; look, I’ve increased it by another five thousand.’ ‘Well done!’ said his master, ‘you’re a sound, reliable servant. You’ve been trustworthy over a few things, now I’m going to put you in charge of much more. Come in and share your master’s rejoicing.’ Then the servant who had received two thousand pounds came in and said, ‘You gave me two thousand pounds, sir; look, here’s two thousand more that I’ve managed to make by it.’ ‘Well done!’ said his master, ‘you’re a sound, reliable servant. You’ve been trustworthy over a few things, now I’m going to put you in charge of many. Come in and share your master’s pleasure.’

25:24-25 – “Then the man who had received the one thousand pounds came in and said, ‘Sir, I always knew you were a hard man, reaping where you never sowed and collecting where you never laid out – so I was scared and I went off and hid your thousand pounds in the ground. Here is your money, intact.’

25:26-30 – “‘You’re a wicked, lazy servant!’ his master told him. ‘You say you knew that I reap where I never sowed and collect where I never laid out? Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and when I came out I should at any rate have received what belongs to me with interest. Take his thousand pounds away from him and give it to the man who now has the ten thousand!’ (For the man who has something will have more given to him and will have plenty. But as for the man who has nothing, even his ‘nothing’ will be taken away.) ‘And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where he can weep and wail over his stupidity.’

The final judgment

25:31-33 – “But when the Son of Man comes in his splendour with all his angels with him, then he will take his seat on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men from each other like a shepherd separating sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.

25:34-36 – “Then the king will say to those on his right ‘Come, you who have won my Father’s blessing! Take your inheritance – the kingdom reserved for you since the foundation of the world! For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was lonely and you made me welcome. I was naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you came and looked after me. I was in prison and you came to see me there.”

25:37-39 – “Then the true men will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you lonely and make you welcome, or see you naked and clothe you, or see you ill or in prison and go to see you?’

25:40 – “And the king will reply, ‘I assure you that whatever you did for the humblest of my brothers you did for me.’

25:41-43 – “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Out of my presence, cursed as you are, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was lonely and you never made me welcome. When I was naked you did nothing to clothe me; when I was sick and in prison you never cared about me.’

25:44 – “Then they too will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or lonely, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and fail to look after you?’

25:45 – “Then the king will answer them with these words, ‘I assure you that whatever you failed to do to the humblest of my brothers you failed to do to me.’

25:46 – “And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the true men to eternal life.”

26:1-2 – When Jesus had finished all this teaching he spoke to his disciples, “Do you realise that the Passover will begin in two days’ time; and the Son of Man is going to be betrayed and crucified?”

26:6-13 – Back in Bethany, while Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster flask of most expensive perfume, and poured it on his head as he was at table. The disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “What is the point of such wicked waste? Couldn’t this perfume have been sold for a lot of money which could be given to the poor?” Jesus knew what they were saying and spoke to them, “Why must you make this woman feel uncomfortable? She has done a beautiful thing for me. You have the poor with you always, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she was preparing it for burial. I assure you that wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the whole world, this deed of hers will also be recounted, as her memorial to me.”

26:18-25 – “Go into the city,” Jesus replied, “to a certain man there and say to him, ‘The Master says, “My time is near. I am going to keep the Passover with my disciples at your house.”‘” The disciples did as Jesus had instructed them and prepared the Passover. Then late in the evening he took his place at table with the twelve and during the meal he said, “I tell you plainly that one of you is going to betray me.” They were deeply distressed at this and each began to say to him in turn, “Surely, Lord, I am not the one?” And his answer was, “The man who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the man who will betray me. It is true that the Son of Man will follow the road foretold by the scriptures, but alas for the man through whom he is betrayed! It would be better for that man if had never been born.” And Judas, who actually betrayed him, said, “Master, am I the one?” “As you say!” replied Jesus.

26:26-29 – In the middle of the meal Jesus took a loaf and after blessing it he broke it into pieces and gave it to the disciples. “Take and eat this,” he said, “it is my body.” Then he took a cup and after thanking God, he gave it to them with the words, “Drink this, all of you, for it is my blood, the blood of the new agreement shed to set many free from their sins. I tell you I will drink no more wine until I drink it fresh with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

26:30-31 – Then they sang a hymn together and went out to the Mount of Olives. There Jesus said to them, “Tonight every one of you will lose his faith in me. For the scripture says, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’.

26:32 – But after I have risen I shall go before you into Galilee!”

26:33 – At this Peter exclaimed, “Even if everyone should lose his faith in you, I never will!”

26:34 – “I tell you, Peter,” replied Jesus, “that tonight, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times.”

26:36-39 – Then Jesus came with the disciples to a place called Gethsemane and said to them, “Sit down here while I go over there and pray.” Then he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be in terrible distress and misery. “My heart is nearly breaking,” he told them, “stay here and keep watch with me.” Then he walked on a little way and fell on his face and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible let this cup pass from me – yet it must not be what I want, but what you want.”

26:40-46 – Then he came back to the disciples and found them fast asleep. He spoke to Peter, “Couldn’t you three keep awake with me for a single hour? Watch and pray, all of you, that you may not have to face temptation. Your spirit is willing, but human nature is weak.” Then he went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to pass from me without my drinking it, then your will must be done.” And he came and found them asleep again, for they could not keep their eyes open. So he left them and went away again and prayed for the third time using the same words as before. Then he came back to his disciples and spoke to them, “Are you still going to sleep and take your ease? In a moment you will see the Son of Man betrayed into the hands of evil men. Wake up, let us be going! Look, here comes my betrayer!”

26:51-54 – Suddenly one of Jesus’ disciples drew his sword, slashed at the High Priest’s servant and cut off his ear. At this Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its proper place. All those who take the sword die by the sword. Do you imagine that I could not appeal to my Father, and he would at once send more than twelve legions of angels to defend me? But then, how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that all this must take place?”

26:55-56 – And then Jesus spoke to the crowds around him: “So you’ve come out with your swords and staves to capture me like a bandit, have you? Day after day I sat teaching in the Temple and you never laid a finger on me. But all this is happening as the prophets said it would.” And at this point all the disciples deserted him and made their escape.

26:62-64 – Then the High Priest rose to his feet and addressed Jesus, “Have you no answer? What about the evidence of these men against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the High Priest said to him, “I command you by the living God, to tell us on your oath if you are Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “I am. Yes, and I tell you that in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of Heaven.”

28:9-10 – But quite suddenly, Jesus stood before them in their path, and said, “Peace be with you!” And they went forward to meet him and, clasping his feet, worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go now and tell my brothers to go into Galilee and they shall see me there”

28:18-20 – But Jesus came and spoke these words to them, “All power in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. You, then, are to go and make disciples of all the nations and baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you and, remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”