Books: Luke - Bible Claret

On the Sabbath

One Sabbath, Jesus was walking through a grain field, and his disciples began to pick heads of grain, crushing them in their hands to eat.

Some of the Pharisees asked them:

“Why do you do what is forbidden on the Sabbath?”

Then Jesus spoke up and asked them:

“Have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry?

He entered the house of God, took and ate the bread of the offering, and even gave some to his men, even though only priests are allowed to eat that bread.”

And Jesus added:

“The Son of Man is Lord and rules over the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching. There was a man with a paralyzed right hand

and the teachers of the law and the Pharisees watched him: Would Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? If he did, they could accuse him.

But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man:

“Get up and stand in the middle.”

Then he spoke to them:

“I want to ask you: what is allowed by the law on the Sabbath? To do good or to harm, to save a life or to destroy it?”

And Jesus looked around at them all.

Then he said to the man:

“Stretch out your hand.”

He stretched it out, and his hand was restored, becoming as healthy as the other.

But they were furious and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.

Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God.

When day arrived, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he called ‘apostles’:

Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;

Matthew and Thomas; James, son of Alpheus, and Simon, called the Zealot;

Judas, son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would later become the traitor.

Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of his disciples were there, along with a large crowd of people from all parts of Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon.

They gathered to listen to him and to be healed of their diseases. And those troubled by unclean spirits were healed.

The entire crowd tried to touch him because of the power that flowed from him and healed everyone.

Raising his eyes towards his disciples, Jesus said:

“Fortunate are you who are poor,

for the kingdom of God is yours.

Fortunate are you

who are hungry now,

for you will be filled.

Fortunate are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

Fortunate are you when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets.

But alas for you

who have wealth,

for you have been comforted now.

Alas for you who are full,

will go hungry.

Alas for you, who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

Alas for you when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.

Love for Enemies

Jesus said to his disciples:

I say to you who hear me:

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.

Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.

To the one who strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek; from the one who takes your coat, do not hold back your shirt.

Give to anyone who asks, and if someone has taken something from you, do not demand it back.

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

If you only love those who love you, what kind of grace do you have? Even sinners love those who love them.

If you only do favors for those who are good to you, what kind of grace do you have? Even sinners do the same.

If you only lend when you expect to be repaid, what kind of grace do you have? For sinners also lend to sinners, expecting to get something back.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend without expecting anything in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Don’t judge others, and you won’t be judged; don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

give, and it will be given to you—a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.

Jesus told his disciples a parable:

“Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a pit.

A disciple is not above the teacher; but when fully trained, he will be like the teacher.

So why do you focus on the speck in your brother’s eye while you have a log in your own eye and are unaware of it?

How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me remove this speck from your eye,’ when you can’t remove the log from your own? You hypocrite! First, remove the log from your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbor’s eye.

Jesus said to his disciples:

A healthy tree does not produce bad fruit, nor does a poor tree produce good fruit.

Each tree is recognized by its fruit: you can’t gather figs from thorn bushes or grapes from brambles.

Similarly, a good person brings forth good things from the good stored in his heart, while an evil person brings forth evil things from the evil stored in his heart, for the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.

Why do you call me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ and not do what I say?

I will show you what the one is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.

That person is like a builder who digs deep and lays the foundation of his house on the rock. When the river overflows and the stream crashes against the house, it cannot be carried off because the house is well built.

But the one who listens and does not act is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The flood burst against it and the house fell at once, and what a terrible disaster that was!”

On the Sabbath

Love for Enemies

Related Website Content for "Luke"