The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (78 page)

The Parable of the Widow andthe Unrighteous Judge

18
  
And he
told them a parable
, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
²
He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man;
³
and there was
a widow
in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary.'
⁴
For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor regard man,
⁵
yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by
her continual coming
.' "
⁶
And the Lord said, "Hear what
the unrighteous judge
says.
⁷
And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
⁸
I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

The Parable of the Pharisees andthe Tax Collector

9
 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others:
¹⁰
"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
¹¹
The Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
¹²
I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.'
¹³
But
the tax collector
, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'
¹⁴
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Jesus Blesses the Children

15
 Now they were bringing even
infants
to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
¹⁶
But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such
belongs the kingdom of God
.
¹⁷
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."

The Rich Ruler

18
 And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
¹⁹
And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.
^20
20
You know
the commandments
: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.' "
²¹
And he said, "All these I have observed from my youth."
²²
And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, "One thing you still lack.
Sell all
that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
²³
But when he heard this he became sad, for he was very rich.
²⁴
Jesus looking at him said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!
²⁵
For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
²⁶
Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?"
²⁷
But he said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
²⁸
And Peter said, "Behold, we have left our homes and followed you."
²⁹
And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or
wife or brothers or parents
or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,
³⁰
who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life."

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31
 And taking the Twelve,
he said to them
, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of man
by the prophets
will be accomplished.
³²
For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon;
³³
they will scourge him and kill him, and on the third day he will rise."
³⁴
But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar near Jericho

35
 As he drew near to
Jericho
, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging;
³⁶
and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant.
³⁷
They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
³⁸
And he cried, "Jesus,
Son of David
, have mercy on me!"
³⁹
And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
⁴⁰
And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him,
⁴¹
"What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me receive my sight."
⁴²
And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."
⁴³
And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Jesus and Zacchaeus [
Map
]

19
  
He entered Jericho
and was passing through.
²
And there was a man named Zacchae'us; he was a
chief tax collector
, and rich.
³
And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature.
⁴
So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.
⁵
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchae'us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today."
⁶
So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully.
⁷
And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."
⁸
And Zacchae'us stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it
fourfold
."
⁹
And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a
son of Abraham
.
¹⁰
For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost
."

The Parable of the Ten Pounds

11
 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to
appear immediately
.
¹²
He said therefore, "
A nobleman
went into a far country to receive kingly power
^d
and then return.
¹³
Calling ten of his servants, he gave them
ten pounds
,
^e
and said to them, 'Trade with these till I come.'
¹⁴
But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.'
¹⁵
When he returned, having received the kingly power,
^d
he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading.
¹⁶
The first came before him, saying, 'Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.'
¹⁷
And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.'
¹⁸
And the second came, saying, 'Lord, your pound has made five pounds.'
¹⁹
And he said to him, 'And you are to be over five cities.'
²⁰
Then another came, saying, 'Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin;
²¹
for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.'
²²
He said to him, 'I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?
²³
Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?'
²⁴
And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.'
²⁵
(And they said to him, 'Lord, he has ten pounds!')
²⁶
'I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
²⁷
But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and
slay them
before me.' "

Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem

28
 And when he had said this,
he went on ahead
,
going up to Jerusalem
.
²⁹
When he drew near to
Beth'phage and Beth'any
, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples,
³⁰
saying, "Go into the village opposite, where on entering you will find
a colt
tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here.
³¹
If any one asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' you shall say this, 'The Lord has need of it.' "
³²
So those who were sent went away and found it as he had told them.
³³
And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
³⁴
And they said, "The Lord has need of it."
³⁵
And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they set Jesus upon it.
³⁶
And as he rode along, they spread their garments on the road.
³⁷
As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,
³⁸
saying, "
Blessed is the King
who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
³⁹
And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples."
⁴⁰
He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

41
 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it,
⁴²
saying, "
Would that even today
you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
⁴³
For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side,
⁴⁴
and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation."
 
*

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

45
 
And he entered the temple
and began to drive out those who sold,
⁴⁶
saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers."

47
 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him;
⁴⁸
but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words.

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20
  
One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up
²
and said to him, "Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority."
³
He answered them, "I also will ask you a question; now tell me,
⁴
Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?"
⁵
And they discussed it with one another, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?'
⁶
But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet."
⁷
So they answered that they did not know where it was from.
⁸
And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you
by what authority
I do these things."