Gospel of the
Lord
"O Wonder Beyond Wonders,
Rapture,
Power, and Amazement is it,
That one can say nothing at all
[ About the
Gospel ]
Nor even conceive of it,
Nor even compare it to
anything".
-
Marcion of Sinope
Jesus teaches in
Luke 4:31-37
In the fifteenth year of Tiberius
Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Jesus went down to
The temple in
Luke
4:16-30
He came to
At the Setting of the
Sun
Luke
4:40-44
At sunset all
those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought
them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many
people, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But he warned them and would not allow
them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. When daylight came he left the house and
made his way to a lonely place. The
crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to
prevent him leaving them, but he answered, “I must proclaim the good news of the
The
Luke
5:1-11
Now it happened
that he was standing one day by the
Cure of a man with
leprosy
Luke
5:12-16
Now it happened
that Jesus was in one of the towns when suddenly a man appeared, covered with a
skin-disease. Seeing Jesus he fell
on his face and implored him saying, “Sir, if you are willing you can cleanse
me.” He stretched out his hand, and
touched him saying, “I am willing.
Be cleansed.” At once the
skin-disease left him. He ordered
him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make the
offering for your cleansing just as Moses prescribed, as evidence to them.” But the news of him kept spreading, and
large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their illnesses cured, but he
would go off to some deserted place and pray.
Healing of a
Paralytic
Luke
5:17-26
Now it happened
that he was teaching one day, and Pharisees and teachers of the Law, who had
come from every village in Galilee, from Judaea and from
The Feast of Levi the
Publican
Luke
5:27-35
When he went out
after this, he noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting at the tax office,
and said to him, “Follow me.” And
leaving everything Levi got up and followed him. In his honour Levi held a great
reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax
collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes
complained to his disciples and said, “Why do you eat and drink with tax
collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply, “It is
not those that are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have come to call not the upright
but sinners to repentance.” They
then said to him, “John's disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and
the disciples of the Pharisees, too, but yours go on eating and drinking.” Jesus replied, “Surely you cannot make
the bridegroom's attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the
bridegroom is taken away from them; then, in those days, they will
fast.”
The Lord of the
Sabbath
Luke
6:1-11
It happened that
one Sabbath he was walking through the cornfields, and his disciples were
picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said, “Why
are you doing something that is forbidden on the Sabbath day?” Jesus answered them, “So you have not
read what David did when he and his followers were hungry, how he went into the
house of God and took the loaves of the offering and ate them and gave them to
his followers, loaves which the priests alone are allowed to eat?” And he said to them, “The Son of
man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Now on another Sabbath he went into the temple and began to teach, and a
man was present, and his right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were
watching him to see if he would cure somebody on the Sabbath, hoping to find
something to charge him with. But
he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up
and stand out in the middle!” And
he came forward and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them, “I put it to you: is it permitted on the Sabbath
to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?” Then he looked round at them all and
said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were furious and began to
discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.
New Edicts of the True
God
Luke
6:20-42
He then came
down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large
gathering of his disciples, with a great crowd of people from all parts of
Judaea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to
hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were
also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came
out of him that cured them all.
Then fixing his
eyes on his disciples he said: “How blessed are you who are poor: the
But alas for you
who are rich: you are having your consolation now. Alas for you who have plenty to eat now:
you shall go hungry. Alas for you
who are laughing now: you shall mourn and weep. Alas for you when everyone speaks well
of you! This was the way their
ancestors treated the false prophets.
“But I say this
to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To anyone who slaps you on one cheek,
present the other cheek as well; to anyone who takes your cloak from you, do not
refuse your tunic. Give to everyone
who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from someone who takes
it. Treat others as you would like
people to treat you. If you love
those who love you, what credit can you expect? Even sinners love those who love
them. And if you do good to those
who do good to you, what credit can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you
hope to get money back, what credit can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back
the same amount. Instead, love your
enemies and do good to them, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you
will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and
the wicked.
“!Be
compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be
judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be
forgiven. Give, and there will be
gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard
used for you.”
He also told
them a parable, “Can one blind person guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? Disciple is not superior to teacher; but
fully trained disciple will be like teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your
brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own? How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me take out that splinter in your eye,’ when you cannot see the
great log in your own?
Hypocrite! Take the log out
of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the
splinter in your brother's eye”.
Good Fruit, Evil
Fruit
Luke
6:43-49
“There is no
sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces
sound fruit. Every tree can be told
by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from
brambles. Good people draw what is
good from the store of goodness in their hearts; bad people draw what is bad
from the store of badness. For the
words of the mouth flow out of what fills the heart.
“Why do you call
me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I say?
Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them-I will
show you what such a person is like.
Such a person is like the man who, when he built a house, dug, and dug
deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down
on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But someone who listens and does nothing
is like the man who built a house on soil, with no foundations; as soon as the
river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!”
Faith of the
Centurion
Luke
7:1-10
When he had come
to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into
Dead Corpse
Rising
Luke
7:11-17
It happened that
soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and
a great number of people. Now when
he was near the gate of the town there was a dead man being carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the
townspeople was with her. When the
Lord saw her he felt sorry for her and said to her, “Don't cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier and
the bearers stood still, and he said, “Young man, I tell you: get up.”
And the dead man sat up
and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled with awe and
glorified God saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us; God has visited
his people.” And this view of him
spread throughout
John the
Baptist
Luke
7:18-35
The disciples of
John gave him all this news, and John, summoning two of his disciples, sent them
to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone
else?” When the men
reached Jesus they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you
the one who is to come or are we to expect someone else?’” At that very time he cured many people
of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to
many who were blind. Then he gave
the messengers their answer, “Go back and tell John what you have seen and
heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, those suffering from virulent
skin-diseases are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the
good news is proclaimed to the poor; and blessed is anyone who does not find me
a cause of falling.” When John's
messengers had gone he began to talk to the people about John, “What did you go
out into the desert to see? A reed
swaying in the breeze? No! Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine
clothes? Look, those who go in
magnificent clothes and live luxuriously are to be found at royal courts! Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a
prophet: he is the one of whom scripture says: Look, I am going to send my
messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you. I tell you, of all the children born to
women, there is no one greater than John; yet the least in the
The Alabaster
Jar
Luke 7:36-50,
8:1-3
One of the
Pharisees invited him to a meal.
When he arrived at the Pharisee's house and took his place at table,
suddenly a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the
Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment. She waited behind him at his feet,
weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair;
then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him
saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who
this woman is and what sort of person it is who is touching him and what a bad
name she has.” Then Jesus took him
up and said, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He replied, “Say on, Master.” “There was once a creditor who had two
men in his debt; one owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty. They were unable to pay, so he let them
both off. Which of them will love
him more?” Simon answered, “The one
who was let off more, I suppose.”
Jesus said, “You are right.”
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “You see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured
no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped
them away with her hair. You gave
me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came
in. You did not anoint my head with
oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. For this reason I tell you that her
sins, many as they are, have been forgiven her, because she has shown such great
love. It is someone who is forgiven
little who shows little love.” Then
he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Those who were with him at table began to say to themselves, “Who is this
man, that even forgives sins?” But
he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Now it happened
that after this he made his way through towns and villages preaching and
proclaiming the good news of the
Parable of the
Sower
Luke 8:4-15
With a large
crowd gathering and people from every town finding their way to him, he told
this parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. Now as he sowed, some fell on the edge
of the path and was trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up. Some seed fell on rock, and when it came
up it withered away, having no moisture.
Some seed fell in the middle of thorns and the thorns grew with it and
choked it. And some seed fell into
good soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold.” Saying this he cried, “Anyone who has
ears for listening should listen!”
His disciples asked him what this parable might mean, and he said, “To
you is granted to understand the secrets of the
Parable of the
Lamp
Luke
8:16-18
“No one lights a
lamp to cover it with a bowl or to put it under a bed. No, it is put on a lamp-stand so that
people may see the light when they come in. For nothing is hidden but it will be
made clear, nothing secret but it will be made known and brought to light. So take care how you listen; anyone who
has, will be given more; anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he
thinks he has.”
Thy Mother and Thy
Brethren
Luke
8:19-21
His mother and
his brothers came looking for him, but they could not get to him because of the
crowd. He was told, “Your mother
and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.” But he said in answer, “My mother and my
brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into
practice.”
The storm on the
lake
Luke
8:22-25
It happened that
one day he got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us cross
over to the other side of the lake.”
So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. When a squall of wind came down on the
lake the boat started shipping water and they found themselves in danger. So they went to rouse him saying,
“Master! Master! We are lost!” Then he woke up and rebuked the wind and
the rough water; and they subsided and it was calm again. He said to them, “Where is your
faith?” They were awestruck and
astounded and said to one another, “Who can this be, that gives orders even to
winds and waves and they obey him?”
Legion of the
Gadarenes
Luke
8:26-39
They came to
land in the territory of the Gadarenes, which is opposite
Healing of the Woman /
Jairus' Daughter
Luke
8:40-56
On his return
Jesus was welcomed by the crowd, for they were all there waiting for him.
And suddenly there came
a man named Jairus, who was president of the temple. He fell at Jesus' feet and
pleaded with him to come to his house, because he had an only daughter about
twelve years old, who was dying.
And the crowds were almost stifling Jesus as he went. Now there was a woman suffering from a
haemorrhage for the past twelve years, whom no one had been able to cure. She came up behind him and touched the
fringe of his cloak; and the haemorrhage stopped at that very moment. Jesus said, “Who was it that touched
me?” When they all denied it, Peter
said, “Master, it is the crowds round you, pushing.” But Jesus said, “Somebody touched
me. I felt that power had gone out
from me.” Seeing herself
discovered, the woman came forward trembling, and falling at his feet explained
in front of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been cured at
that very moment. “My daughter,” he
said, “your faith has saved you; go in peace.” While he was still speaking, someone
arrived from the house of the president of the temple to say, “Your daughter has
died. Do not trouble the Master any
further.” But Jesus heard this, and
he spoke to the man, “Do not be afraid, only have faith and she will be
saved.” When he came to the house
he allowed no one to go in with him except Peter and John and James, and the
child's father and mother. They
were all crying and mourning for her, but Jesus said, “Stop crying; she is not
dead, but asleep.” But they
ridiculed him, knowing she was dead.
But taking her by the hand himself he spoke to her, “Child, get up.” And her spirit returned and she got up
at that very moment. Then he told
them to give her something to eat.
Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what
had happened.
Twelve Disciples
Bestowed Power
Luke
9:1-6
He called the
Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure
diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the
Herod the
Tetrarch
Luke
9:7-9
Meanwhile Herod
the tetrarch had heard about all that was going on; and he was puzzled, because
some people were saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah
had appeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to
life. But Herod said, “John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports
about?” And he was anxious to see
him.
Feeding of the Five
Thousand
Luke
9:10-17
On their return
the apostles gave him an account of all they had done. Then he took them with him and withdrew
towards a town called
Disciples
Reprimanded
Luke
9:18-27
Now it happened
that he was praying alone, and his disciples came to him and he put this
question to them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” And they answered, “Some say John the
Baptist; others Elijah; others again one of the ancient prophets come back to
life.” “But you,” he said to them,
“who do you say I am?” It was Peter
who spoke up. “The Christ of God,”
he said. But he gave them strict
orders and charged them not to say this to anyone. He said, “The Son of man is destined to
suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes
and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.” Then, speaking to all, he said, “If
anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his
cross every day and follow me.
Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his
life for my sake, will save it.
What benefit is it to anyone to win the whole world and forfeit or lose
his very self? For if anyone is
ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man will be ashamed when he
comes in his own glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. I tell you truly, there are some
standing here who will not taste death before they see the
The
Transfiguration
Luke
9:28-36
Now about eight
days after this had been said, he took with him Peter, John and James and went
up the mountain to pray. And it
happened that, as he was praying, the aspect of his face was changed and his
clothing became sparkling white.
And suddenly there were two men talking to him; they were Moses and
Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to
accomplish in
Luke
9:37-45
Now it happened
that on the following day when they were coming down from the mountain a large
crowd came to meet him. And suddenly a man in the crowd cried
out. “Master,” he said, “I implore
you to look at my son: he is my only child. A spirit will suddenly take hold of him,
and all at once it gives a sudden cry and throws the boy into convulsions with
foaming at the mouth; it is slow to leave him, but when it does, it leaves the
boy worn out. I begged your
disciples to drive it out, and they could not.” In reply Jesus said, “Faithless and
perverse generation! How much
longer must I be among you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” Even while the boy was coming, the devil
threw him to the ground in convulsions.
But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and cured the boy and gave him back
to his father, and everyone was awestruck by the greatness of God.
But while
everyone was full of admiration for all he did, he said to his disciples,
“For your part, you must have these words constantly in mind: The Son of
man is going to be delivered into the power of men.” But they did not understand what he
said; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and
they were afraid to ask him about it.
Luke
9:46-50
An argument
started between them about which of them was the greatest. Jesus knew what thoughts were going
through their minds, and he took a little child whom he set by his side
and then he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes this little child in my
name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. The least among you all is the one who
is the greatest.”
John spoke
up. “Master,” he said, “we saw
someone driving out devils in your name, and because he is not with us we tried
to stop him.” But Jesus said to
him, “You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for
you.”
Luke
9:51-62
Now it happened
that as the time drew near for him to be taken up, he resolutely turned his face
towards
As they
travelled along they met
a man on the road who said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered, “Foxes have
holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay
his head.” Another to whom he said,
“Follow me,” replied, “Let me go and bury my father first.” But he answered, “Leave the dead to bury
their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the
Seventy New Disciples
Appointed
Luke
10:1-28
After this the
Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him in pairs, to
all the towns and places he himself would be visiting. And he said to them, “The harvest is
rich but the labourers are few, so ask
the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to do his harvesting. Start off now, but look, I am sending
you out like lambs among wolves.
Take no purse with you, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, let your first
words be, "Peace to this house!"
And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if
not, it will come back to you. Stay
in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the
labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they
make you welcome, eat what is put before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say,
"The
The seventy-two
came back rejoicing. “Lord,” they said, “even the devils submit to us when we
use your name.” He said to them, “I
watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Look, I have given you power to tread
down serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall
ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice
that the spirits submit to you; rejoice instead that your names are written in
heaven.”
Just at this
time, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, “I bless you, Father, Lord of
heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and
revealing them to little children.
Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by
my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father
is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.”
Then turning to
his disciples he spoke to them by themselves, “Blessed are the eyes that see
what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you
see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.”
And now a lawyer
stood up and, to test him, asked, “Master, what must I do to inherit eternal
life?” He said to him, “What is
written in the Law? What is your
reading of it?” He replied, “You
must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered
right, do this and life is yours.”
Luke
10:29-37
But the man was
anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” In answer Jesus said, “A man was once on
his way down from
Luke
10:38-42
In the course of
their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into
her house. She had a sister called
Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, who was distracted with all
the serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister is
leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered, “Martha, Martha,”
he said, “you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are
needed, indeed only one. It is Mary
who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from
her.”
Luke
11:1-13
Now it came to
pass that he was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of
his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, this is
what to say: Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each
day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one
who is in debt to us. And do not
put us to the test.”
He also said to
them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the
night to say, ‘My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of
mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer
him;’ and the man answers from inside the house, ‘Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children
are with me in bed; I cannot get up to give it to you.’ I tell you, if the man does not get up
and give it to him for friendship's sake, persistence will make him get up and
give his friend all he wants.”
“So I say to
you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the
door will be opened to you. For
everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks
will have the door opened. What
father among you, if his son asked for a fish, would hand him a snake? Or if he asked for an egg, hand him a
scorpion? If you then, evil as you
are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke
11:14-26
He was driving
out a devil and it was dumb; and it happened that when the devil had gone out
the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. But some of them said, “It is through
Beelzebub, the prince of devils, that he drives devils out.” Others asked him, as a test, for a sign
from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, “Any kingdom
which is divided against itself is heading for ruin, and house collapses against
house. So, too, with Satan: if he
is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? Since you claim that it is through
Beelzebub that I drive devils out.
Now if it is through Beelzebub that I drive devils out, through whom do
your own sons drive them out? They shall be your judges, then. But if it is through the finger of God
that I drive devils out, then the
Luke
11:27-28
It happened that
as he was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed the
womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you!” But he replied, “More blessed still are
those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Luke
11:29
The crowds got
even bigger and he addressed them, “This is an evil generation; it is asking for
a sign and there shall be no sign given it.”
Luke
11:33-36
“No one lights a
lamp and puts it in some hidden place or under a tub; they put it on the
lamp-stand so that people may see the light when they come in. The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is clear, your whole body,
too, is filled with light; but when it is diseased your body, too, will be
darkened. See to it then that the
light inside you is not darkness.
If, therefore, your whole body is filled with light, and not darkened at
all, it will be light entirely, as when the lamp shines on you with its rays.”
Luke
11:37-54
He had just
finished speaking when a Pharisee invited him to dine at his house. He went in and sat down at table.
The Pharisee saw this and was
surprised that he had not first washed before the meal. But the Lord said to him, “You
Pharisees! You clean the outside of
cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and
wickedness. Fools! Did not he who made the outside make the
inside too? Instead, give alms from
what you have and, look, everything will be clean for you. But alas for you Pharisees, because you
pay your tithe of mint and rue and all sorts of garden herbs and neglect justice
and the love of God! These you
should have practised, without
neglecting the others. Alas for you Pharisees, because you like
to take the seats of honour in the temples and to be greeted respectfully in the
market squares! Alas for
you, because you are like the unmarked tombs that people walk on without knowing
it!” A lawyer then spoke
up. “Master,” he said, “when you speak like this you insult us too.” But he said, “Alas for you lawyers as
well, because you load on people burdens that are unendurable, burdens that you
yourselves do not touch with your fingertips.” Alas for you because you build tombs for
the prophets, the people your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness to what
your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the
building. Alas for you lawyers who
have taken away the key of knowledge!
You have not gone in yourselves and have prevented others from going in
who wanted to. When he left there,
the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force
answers from him on innumerable questions, lying in wait to catch him out in
something he might say.
The Leaven of the
Pharisees / "Fear Him"
Luke
12:1-12
Meanwhile the
people had gathered in their thousands so that they were treading on one
another. And he began to speak,
first of all to his disciples. “Be
on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees - their hypocrisy. Everything now covered up will be
uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said
in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden
places will be proclaimed from the housetops. To you my friends I say: Do not be
afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him
who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, he is the one to
fear. Can you not buy five sparrows
for two pennies? And yet not one is
forgotten in God's sight. Why,
every hair on your head has been counted.
There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than many
sparrows. I tell you, if anyone
openly declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, the Son of man
will declare himself for him in the presence of God's angels. But anyone who disowns me in the
presence of human beings will be disowned in the presence of God's angels. Everyone who says a word against the Son
of man will be forgiven, but no one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will
be forgiven. When they take you
before temples and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend
yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will
teach you what you should say.
Luke
12:13-21
A man in the
crowd said to him, “Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our
inheritance.” He said to him, “My
friend, who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?” Then he said to them, “Watch, and be on
your guard against avarice of any kind, for life does not consist in
possessions, even when someone has more than he needs.” Then he told them a parable, “There was
once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to
himself, ‘What am I to do? I have
not enough room to store my crops.’
Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and
build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say
to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to
come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This very
night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will
it be then?’ So it is when someone
stores up treasure for himself instead of becoming rich in the sight of
God.”
Seek Ye the
Luke
12:22-34
Then he said to
his disciples, “That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and
what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. For life is more than food, and the body
more than clothing. Think of the
ravens. They do not sow or reap;
they have no storehouses and no barns; yet God feeds them. And how much more you are worth than the
birds! Can any of you, however much
you worry, add a single cubit to your span of life? If a very small thing is beyond your
powers, why worry about the rest?
Think how the flowers grow; they never have to spin or weave; yet, I
assure you, not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of
them. Now if that is how God
clothes a flower which is growing wild today and is thrown into the furnace
tomorrow, how much more will he look after you, who have so little faith! But you must not set your hearts on
things to eat and things to drink; nor must you worry. It is the gentiles of this world who set
their hearts on all these things.
Your Father well knows you need them. No; set your hearts on his kingdom, and
these other things will be given you as well. There is no need to be afraid, little
flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to those
in need. Get yourselves purses that
do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can
reach it and no moth destroy it. For wherever your treasure is, that is
where your heart will be too”.
Luke
12:35-48
“See that you
have your belts done up and your lamps lit. Be like people waiting for their master
to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and
knocks. Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds awake when he comes.
In truth I tell you, he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and
wait on them. It may be in the
second watch that he comes, or in the third, but blessed are those servants if
he finds them ready. You may be
quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time the burglar
would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his
house. You too must stand ready,
because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Peter said, “Lord, do you mean this
parable for us, or for everyone?”
The Lord replied, “Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy steward whom
the master will place over his household to give them at the proper time their
allowance of food? Blessed is that
servant if his master's arrival finds him doing exactly that. I tell you truly, he will put him in
charge of everything that he owns.
But if the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking his time
coming,’ and sets about beating the menservants and the servant-girls, and
eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not
expect and at an hour he does not know.
The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the
unfaithful. The servant who knows
what his master wants, but has got nothing ready and done nothing in accord with
those wishes, will be given a great many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but has acted
in such a way that he deserves a beating, will be given fewer strokes. When someone is given a great deal, a
great deal will be demanded of that person; when someone is entrusted with a
great deal, of that person even more will be expected”.
Luke
12:49-59
“I have come to
bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive,
and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you suppose that I am here to bring
peace on earth? No, I tell you, but
rather division. For from now on, a
household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three;
father opposed to son, son to father, mother to daughter, daughter to mother,
mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law to mother-in-law.” He said again to the crowds, “When you
see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so
it does. And when the wind is from
the south you say it's going to be hot, and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of
the earth and the sky. How is it
you do not know how to interpret these times? Why not judge for yourselves what is
upright? For example: when you are
going to court with your opponent, make an effort to settle with him on the way,
or he may drag you before the judge and the judge hand you over to the officer
and the officer have you thrown into prison. I tell you, you will not get out till
you have paid the very last penny.”
Luke
13:10-21
One Sabbath day
he was teaching in one of the temples, and there before him was a woman who for
eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit that crippled her; she was bent
double and quite unable to stand upright.
When Jesus saw her he called her over and said, “Woman, you are freed
from your disability,” and he laid his hands on her. And at once she straightened up, and she
glorified God. But the ruler of the
temple was indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and he addressed
all those present saying, “There are six days when work is to be done. Come and be healed on one of those days
and not on the Sabbath.” But the
Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Is there one of you who does not untie
his ox or his donkey from the manger on the Sabbath and take it out for
watering? And this woman, a
daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held bound these eighteen years, was it not
right to untie this bond on the Sabbath day?” When he said this, all his adversaries
were covered with confusion, and all the people were overjoyed at all the
wonders he worked. He went on to
say, “'What is the
Luke
13:22-35
Through towns
and villages he went teaching, making his way to
Luke
14:1-24
Now it happened
that on a Sabbath day he had gone to share a meal in the house of one of the
leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. Now there in front of him was a man with
dropsy, and Jesus addressed the lawyers and Pharisees with the words, “Is it
against the law to cure someone on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent, so he took the
man and cured him and sent him away.
Then he said to them, “Which of you here, if his son falls into a well,
or his ox, will not pull him out on a Sabbath day without any hesitation?” And to this, again, they could find no
answer.
He then told the
guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of
honour. He said this, “When someone invites you
to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may
have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, ‘Give
up your place to this man.’ And
then, to your embarrassment, you will have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way
to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say,
‘My friend, move up higher.’ Then,
everyone with you at the table will see you honoured. For everyone who raises himself up will
be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be raised up.”
Then he said to
his host, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your
brothers or your relations or rich neighbours, in case they invite you back and
so repay you. No; when you have a
party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; then you will be
blessed, for they have no means to repay you and so you will be repaid when the
upright rise again.”
On hearing this,
one of those gathered round the table said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will
share the meal in the
Luke
14:25-33
Great crowds
accompanied him on his way and he turned and spoke to them. “Anyone who comes to me without hating
father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too,
cannot be my disciple. No one who
does not carry his cross and come after me can be my disciple. And indeed, which of you here, intending
to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he
had enough to complete it?
Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to
finish the work, anyone who saw it would start making fun of him and saying,
‘Here is someone who started to build and was unable to finish.’ Or again, what king marching to war
against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten
thousand men he could stand up to the other who was advancing against him with
twenty thousand? If not, then while
the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for
peace. So in the same way, none of
you can be my disciple without giving up all that he owns.”
Joy in the Presence of
God
Luke
15:1-10
The tax
collectors and sinners, however, were all crowding round to listen to him, and
the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats
with them.” So he told them this
parable: “Which one of you with a hundred sheep, if he lost one, would fail to
leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the missing one till he found
it? And when he found it, would he
not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together
his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, I have found my
sheep that was lost.’ In the same
way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner
repenting than over ninety-nine upright people who have no need of
repentance. Or again, what woman
with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the
house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call
together her friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, I have
found the drachma I lost.’ In the
same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one
repentant sinner.”
Steward of
Unrighteousness/ God and Mammon
Luke
16:1-18
He also said to
his disciples, “There was a rich man and he had a steward who was denounced to
him for being wasteful with his property.
He called for the man and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your
stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.’ Then the steward said to himself, ‘Now
that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure
that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their
homes.’ Then he called his master's
debtors one by one. To the first he
said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
‘One hundred measures of oil,’ he said. The steward said, ‘Here, take your bond;
sit down and quickly write fifty.’
To another he said, ‘And you, sir, how much do you owe?’ ‘One hundred measures of wheat,’ he
said. The steward said, ‘Here, take
your bond and write eighty.’ The
master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more
astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of
light.”
“And so I tell
you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure
that when it fails you, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings. Anyone who is trustworthy in little
things is trustworthy in great; anyone who is dishonest in little things is
dishonest in great. If then you are
not trustworthy with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine
riches? And if you are not
trustworthy with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very
own? No servant can be the slave of
two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached
to the first and despise the second.
You cannot be the slave both of God and of
money.”
The Pharisees,
who loved money, heard all this and jeered at him. He said to them, “You are the very ones
who pass yourselves off as upright in people's sight, but God knows your
hearts. For what is highly esteemed
in human eyes is loathsome in the sight of God.”
“Up to the time
of John it was the Law and the Prophets; from then onwards, the
Everyone who
divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery, and the man who
marries a woman divorced by her husband commits adultery.
Luke
16:19-31
“There was a
rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently
every day. And at his gate there
used to lie a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill
himself with what fell from the rich man's table. Even dogs came and licked his
sores. Now it happened that the
poor man died and was carried away by the angels into Abraham's embrace. The rich man also died and was
buried. In his torment in Hades he
looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his embrace. So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, pity
me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am in agony in these flames.’
Abraham said, ‘My son, remember that during your life you had your fill
of good things, just as Lazarus his fill of bad. Now he is being comforted here while you
are in agony. But that is not all:
between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to prevent those who want to
cross from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ So he said, ‘Father, I beg you then to
send Lazarus to my father's house, since I have five brothers, to give them
warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too.’ Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the
prophets, let them listen to them.’
The rich man replied, ‘Ah no, father Abraham, but if someone comes to
them from the dead, they will repent.’
Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they will not listen either to Moses or to
the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the
dead.”
Luke
17:1-10
He said to his
disciples, “Causes of falling are sure to come, but alas for the one through
whom they occur! It would be better
for such a person to be thrown into the sea with a millstone round the neck than
to be the downfall of a single one of these little ones. Keep watch on yourselves! But if your brother does something
wrong, rebuke him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day
and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive
him.”
The apostles
said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied, “If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say to
this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey
you.”
“Which of you,
with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned
from the fields, ‘Come and have your meal at once?’ Would he not be more likely to say, ‘Get
my supper ready; fasten your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You
yourself can eat and drink afterwards?’
Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you
have been told to do, say, ‘We are useless servants: we have done no more than
our duty.’”
Luke
17:11-19
Now it happened
that on the way to
Kingdom Cometh Not with
Observation
Luke
17:20-37
Asked by the
Pharisees when the
He said to the
disciples, “A time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the
Son of man and will not see it.
They will say to you, ‘Look, it is there!’ or, ‘Look, it is here!’ Make no move; do not set off in pursuit;
for as the lightning flashing from one part of heaven lights up the other, so
will be the Son of man when his Day comes.
But first he is destined to suffer grievously and be rejected by this
generation. As it was in Noah's
day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of man. People were eating and drinking,
marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the
Flood came and destroyed them all.
It will be the same as it was in Lot's day: people were eating and
drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom,
it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes
for the Son of man to be revealed.
When that Day comes, no one on the housetop, with his possessions in the
house, must come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn
back. Remember
The
unscrupulous judge and the importunate widow
Luke
18:1-8
Then he told
them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart. “There was a judge in a certain town,”
he said, “who had neither fear of God nor respect for anyone. In the same town there was also a widow
who kept on coming to him and saying, ‘I want justice from you against my
enemy!’ For a long time he refused,
but at last he said to himself, ‘Even though I have neither fear of God nor
respect for any human person, I must give this widow her just rights
since she keeps pestering me, or she will come and slap me in the face.’” And the Lord said, “You notice what the
unjust judge has to say? Now, will
not God see justice done to his elect if they keep calling to him day and night
even though he still delays to help them?
I promise you, he will see justice done to them, and done speedily. But when the Son of man comes, will he
find any faith on earth?”
Pharisee and
Publican/Suffer the Little Children
Luke
18:9-17
He spoke the
following parable to some people who prided themselves on being upright and
despised everyone else, “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee,
the other a tax collector. The
Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, ‘I thank you, God, that I
am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like everyone else, and particularly that I
am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all
I get.’ The tax collector stood
some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his
breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ This man, I tell you, went home again
justified; the other did not. For
everyone who raises himself up will be humbled, but anyone who humbles himself
will be raised up.”
“People even
brought babies to him, for him to touch them; but when the disciples saw this
they scolded them. But Jesus called
the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not
stop them; for it is to such as these that the
Luke
18:18-30
One of the
rulers put this question to him, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life?” Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good? No one is
good but God alone. You know the
commandments: You shall not commit adultery; You shall not kill; You shall not
steal; You shall not give false witness; Honour your father and your
mother.” He replied, “I have kept
all these since my earliest days.”
And when Jesus heard this he said, “There is still one thing you
lack. Sell everything you own and
distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then
come, follow me.” But when he heard
this he was overcome with sadness, for he was very
rich.
Jesus looked at
him and said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to make their way into
the
But Peter said,
“Look, we left all we had to follow you.”
He said to them, “In truth I tell you, there is no one who has left
house, wife, brothers, parents or children for the sake of the
Luke
18:15-43
Now it happened
that as he drew near to
Luke
19:1-10
He entered
Luke
19:11-48
While the people
were listening to this he went on to tell a parable, because he was near
Luke
20:1-8
Now it happened
that one day while he was teaching the people in the
Luke
20:20-26
So they awaited
their opportunity and sent agents to pose as upright men, and to catch him out
in something he might say and so enable them to hand him over to the
jurisdiction and authority of the governor. They put to him this question, “Master,
we know that you say and teach what is right; you favour no one, but teach the
way of God in all honesty. Is it
permissible for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” But he was aware of their cunning and
said, “Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and title are on
it?” They said, “Caesar's.” He said to them, “Well then, pay Caesar what belongs to
Caesar and God what belongs to God.”
They were unable to catch him out in anything he had to say in public;
they were amazed at his answer and were silenced.
Luke
20:27-40
Some Sadducees,
those who argue that there is no resurrection, approached him and they put this
question to him, “Master, Moses prescribed for us, if a man's married brother
dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his
brother. Well then, there were
seven brothers; the first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married
the widow. And the same with all
seven, they died leaving no children.
Finally the woman herself died.
Now, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since she had been
married to all seven?” Jesus
replied, “The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are
judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the
dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the
same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of
God. And Moses himself implies that
the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of
the living; for to him everyone is alive.”
Some scribes then spoke up.
They said, “Well put, Master.”
They did not dare to ask him any more questions.
Luke
20:41-44
He then said to
them, “How can people maintain that the Christ is son of David? Why, David himself says in the Book of
Psalms: The Lord declared to my Lord, take your seat at my right hand, till I
have made your enemies your footstool.
David here calls him Lord; how then can he be his son?”
Beware of the
Scribes
Luke
20:45-47
While all the
people were listening he said to the disciples, “Beware of the scribes who like
to walk about in long robes and love to be greeted respectfully in the market
squares, to take the front seats in the temples and the places of honour at banquets,
who devour the property of widows, and for show offer long prayers. The more severe will be the sentence
they receive.”
A Widow's Two Penny
Worth
Luke
21:1-4
Looking up, he
saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury; and he noticed a
poverty-stricken widow putting in two small coins, and he said, “I tell you
truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of them; for these have all put
in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in all she had to live
on.”
Luke
21:5-38
When some were
talking about the temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and
votive offerings, he said, “All these things you are staring at now-the time
will come when not a single stone will be left on another; everything will be
destroyed.” And they put to him
this question, “Master,” they said, “when will this happen, then, and what sign
will there be that it is about to take place?” But he said, “Take care not to be
deceived, because many will come using my name and saying, ‘I am the one’ and
‘The time is near at hand.’ Refuse
to join them. And when you hear of
wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for this is something that must
happen first, but the end will not come at once.” Then he said to them, “Nation will fight
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and
plagues and famines in various places; there will be terrifying events and great
signs from heaven. But before all
this happens, you will be seized and persecuted; you will be handed over to the
temples and to imprisonment, and brought before kings and governors for the sake
of my name and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Make up your minds not to prepare your
defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of
your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and
brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated universally on account
of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your perseverance will win you your
lives. When you see
And he told them
a parable, “Look at the fig tree and indeed every tree. As soon as you see them bud, you can see
for yourselves that summer is now near.
So with you when you see these things happening: know that the
“Watch
yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and
the cares of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly, like a
trap. For it will come down on all
those living on the face of the earth.
Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is
going to happen.”
All day long he
would be in the
Judas
betrays Jesus
Luke
22:1-6
The feast of
Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was now drawing near, and the chief
priests and the scribes were looking for some way of doing away with him,
because they were afraid of the people.
Then Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve, approached the
chief priests and the officers of the guard to discuss some way of handing Jesus
over to them. They were delighted
and agreed to give him money. He
accepted and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them without
people knowing about it.
Luke 22:7-30
The day of
Unleavened Bread came round, on which the Passover had to be sacrificed, and he
sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make the preparations for us to eat the
Passover.” They asked him, “Where
do you want us to prepare it?” He
said to them, “Look, as you go into the city you will meet a man carrying a
pitcher of water. Follow him into
the house he enters and tell the owner of the house, “The Master says this to
you: ‘Where is the room for me to eat the Passover with my disciples?’ The man will show you a large upper room
furnished with couches. Make the
preparations there.” They set off
and found everything as he had told them and prepared the
Passover.
When the time
came he took his place at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have ardently
longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; because, I tell you, I
shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the
Then he took
bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying,
“This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” He did the same with the cup after
supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you.”
“But look, here
with me on the table is the hand of the man who is betraying me. The Son of man is indeed on the path
which was decreed, but alas for that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to ask one another which
of them it could be who was to do this.
An argument also
began between them about who should be reckoned the greatest; but he said to
them, “Among the gentiles it is the kings who lord it over them, and those who
have authority over them are given the title Benefactor. With you this must not happen. No; the greatest among you must behave
as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves. For who is the greater: the one at table
or the one who serves? The one at
table, surely? Yet here am I among
you as one who serves!”
“You are the men
who have stood by me faithfully in my trials; and now I confer a kingdom on you,
just as my Father conferred one on me.”
Peter's Denial of Jesus
Foretold
Luke
22:31-35
And the Lord
said, “Simon, Simon! Look, Satan
has got his wish to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, Simon,
that your faith may not fail, and once you have recovered, you in your turn must
strengthen your brothers.” “Lord,”
he answered, “I would be ready to go to prison with you, and to death.” Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, by
the time the cock crows today you will have denied three times that you know
me.”
The
Luke
22:39-46
He then left to
make his way as usual to the
Jesus Delivered to the
Religious Leaders
Luke
22:47-53
Suddenly, while
he was still speaking, a number of men appeared, and at the head of them the man
called Judas, one of the Twelve, who went up to Jesus to kiss him. Jesus said, “Judas, are you betraying
the Son of man with a kiss?” And
Jesus said to the chief priests and captains of the
Peter's
Denial
Luke
22:54-62
They seized him
then and led him away, and they took him to the high priest's house. Peter followed at a distance. They had lit a fire in the middle of the
courtyard and Peter sat down among them, and as he was sitting there by the
blaze a servant-girl saw him, peered at him, and said, “This man was with him
too.” But he denied it. “Woman, I do not know him,” he
said. Shortly afterwards someone
else saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter replied, “I am not, my
friend.” About an hour later
another man insisted, saying, “This fellow was certainly with him. Why, he is a Galilean.” Peter said, “My friend, I do not know
what you are talking about.” At
that instant, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed, and the Lord turned
and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the Lord's words when he had
said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will have disowned me three
times.” And he went outside and
wept bitterly.
Jesus Tortured and
Interrogated
Luke
22:63-71
Meanwhile the
men who guarded Jesus were mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and questioned him,
saying, “Prophesy! Who hit you
then?” And they heaped many other
insults on him. When day broke
there was a meeting of the elders of the people, the chief priests and
scribes. He was brought before
their council, and they said to him, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” He replied, “If I tell you, you will not
believe, and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of man will be
seated at the right hand of the Power of God.” They all said, “So you are the Son of
God then?” He answered, “It is you who say I am.” Then they said, “Why do we need any
evidence? We have heard it for
ourselves from his own lips.”
Luke
23:1-12
The whole
assembly then rose, and they brought him before Pilate. They began their accusation by saying,
“We found this man inciting our people to revolt, opposing payment of the
tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king.” Pilate put to him this question, “Are
you the king of the Jews?” He
replied, “It is you who say it.”
Pilate then said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no case
against this man.” But they
persisted, “He is inflaming the people with his teaching all over Judaea and all
the way from
Luke
23:13-25
Pilate then
summoned the chief priests and the leading men and the people. He said to them, “You brought this man
before me as a popular agitator.
Now I have gone into the matter myself in your presence and found no
grounds in the man for any of the charges you bring against him. Nor has Herod either, since he has sent
him back to us. As you can see, the
man has done nothing that deserves death, so I shall have him flogged and then
let him go.” He was under
obligation to release one man for them every feast day. But as one man they howled, “Away with
him! Give us Barabbas!” (This man had been thrown into prison
because of a riot in the city and murder.)
In his desire to set Jesus free, Pilate addressed them again, but they
shouted back, “Crucify him! Crucify
him!” And for the third time he
spoke to them, “But what harm has this man done? I have found no case against him that
deserves death, so I shall have him flogged and then let him go.” But they kept on shouting at the top of
their voices, demanding that he should be crucified. And their shouts kept growing
louder. Pilate then gave his
verdict: their demand was to be granted.
He released the man they asked for, who had been imprisoned because of
rioting and murder, and handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they pleased.
Luke
23:26-56
As they were
leading him away they seized on a man, Simon from
When they
reached the place called The Skull, there they crucified him and the two
criminals, one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; they
do not know what they are doing.”
Then they cast lots to share out his clothing.
The people
stayed there watching. As for the
leaders, they jeered at him with the words, “He saved others, let him save
himself if he is the Christ of God, the
One of the
criminals hanging there abused him: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well.” But the other spoke up and rebuked
him. “Have you no fear of God at
all?” he said. “You got the same
sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we
did. But this man has done nothing
wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He answered him, “In truth I tell you,
today you will be with me.”
It was now about
the sixth hour and the sun's light failed, so that darkness came over the whole
land until the ninth hour. The veil
of the Sanctuary was torn right down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice saying,
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” With these words he breathed his
last.
When the
centurion saw what had taken place, he gave praise to God and said, 'Truly, this
was an upright man.'48And when all the crowds who had gathered for
the spectacle saw what had happened, they went home beating their
breasts.49All his friends stood at a distance; so also did the women
who had accompanied him from Galilee and saw all this happen.
And now a member
of the Council arrived, a good and upright man named Joseph. He had not consented to what the others
had planned and carried out. He
came from Arimathaea, a Jewish town, and he lived in the hope of seeing the
Luke
24:1-12
On the first day
of the week, at the first sign of dawn, they went to the tomb with the spices
they had prepared. They found that
the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but on entering they could not
find the body of the Lord Jesus. As
they stood there puzzled about this, two men in brilliant clothes suddenly
appeared at their side. Terrified,
the women bowed their heads to the ground.
But the two said to them, “Why look among the dead for someone who is
alive? He is not here; he has
risen. Remember what he told you
when he was still in
Luke
24:13-35
Now that very
same day, two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles
from
Luke
24:36-47
They were still
talking about all this when he himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace
be with you!” In a state of alarm
and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, “Why are you so agitated,
and why are these doubts stirring in your hearts? See by my hands and my feet that it is I
myself. Touch me and see for
yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this he showed them his
hands and his feet. Their joy was
so great that they still could not believe it, as they were dumbfounded; so he
said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” And they offered him a piece of grilled
fish and a honeycomb, which he took and ate before their eyes.
Then he told
them, “This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that it was
necessary for the Christ to suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and
that, in his name, repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached to all
nations”.