Invited to dine at the home of a Pharisee, Jesus recommended future guest lists of people who could not reciprocate. In a parable, the Lord described a steward who misused the master’s money. Too weak for manual labor and too vain to beg, the steward ingratiated the master’s debtors to him by reducing what they owed. The master commended the scheme, probably what he would have done in the steward’s place. In earshot of followers and Pharisees, Jesus said to make friends with dishonest wealth so that when the money ran out, they would rece

In a synagogue, the Lord freed a crippled woman of her infirmity. The synagogue leader bristled because Jesus had worked the miracle on the day of rest. At a Pharisee’s home on another Sabbath, the Lord asked if He could lawfully cure a man with dropsy (swelling due to illness). No one answered, but Jesus healed him anyway. He came to save the world but usually cured people one at a time, showing what He meant by comparing God’s Kingdom to a seed becoming a huge plant or a little yeast raising a batch of dough. Word about Jesus got around!

In the Old Testament, Abraham believed that God would make him patriarch of a nation with a long line of descendants. Never mind that Abraham and his wife had reached old age and had no children—for God, no problem! Jesus didn’t think much of a request to arbitrate when a man’s brother refused to share an inheritance. In response, He told a parable of a rich man’s plan to hoard a bountiful harvest and live in leisure for years that he would actually never live to see. Jesus also advised not slacking off when the master of the house migh

Jesus offered more wisdom than Solomon and more universal preaching than Jonah, yet people wanted another sign. Scribes and Pharisees asked questions to try to trip up Jesus, not to learn from Him. Their conduct snatched away from others the key to knowledge that comes from openness to Jesus’ teaching. Nothing remains hidden from God—a fearsome thought, except that God values people anyway. By rejecting God’s mercy and forgiveness, refusing to repent, people blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Offered salvation, they tragically decline. Lo

Jonah felt angry about all that he had gone through to warn the notoriously sinful people of Nineveh, only to have God accept their repentance and spare them from destruction. A scholar of Mosaic Law, someone who looked down on Samaritans, doubted that Jesus could find fault with him. Then the Lord told His parable of a good Samaritan. Two sisters welcomed Jesus’ visit, but Martha got nowhere by asking Him to tell her sister to help with the serving, instead of sitting around listening to Him. When the Lord doesn’t grant what we ask, do we

Kids depend on adults. When the Disciples asked Jesus who ranked among the greatest in heaven, the Lord advised them to become like children. James and John offered to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village that refused to welcome Jesus, but the Lord said to just move on. Jesus had appointed 72 messengers to precede Him to Jerusalem, giving them power to heal wherever they found welcome. At each stop, received in peace or not, the messengers preached the Kingdom of heaven at hand. God gives people talents to use in their individual l

Even people in the same room with Jesus did not always see Him as the Light of the world. In contrast, Nathanael met Jesus for the first time, realized that the Lord already knew him, and recognized Him as the Son of God. After giving the Twelve authority to preach and heal, Jesus sent them as missionaries with the instruction to take nothing with them except the clothes and sandals they wore. That took faith! Rumors spread as people speculated that John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the other prophets had come back to life as Jesus. Herod had