Deep Feeling and Direct Teaching

64. Effects of the Mission of Jesus

In the meantime, when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trode one upon another, Jesus began to say unto his disciples first of all,

Think ye that I am come to cast peace on the earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: for there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. They shall be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother in law against her daughter in law, and daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what will I, if it is already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am straightened till it be accomplished!

65. The Signs of the Times

And Jesus said to the multitudes also, When ye see a cloud rising in the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it cometh to pass. And when ye see a south wind blowing, ye say, There will be a scorching heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye know how to interpret the face of the earth and the heaven; but how is it that ye cannot discern the signs of the times?

66. Warnings of National Disaster

Now there were some present at that very season which told Jesus of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered and said unto them,

Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they have suffered these things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.

Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

67. Teaching About Reliance on Wealth

And one out of the multitude said unto Jesus, Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me. But Jesus said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

And Jesus said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourself from all covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

And Jesus spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my corn and goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

68. Saying on Light and Darkness

And when the multitudes were gathering together unto Jesus, he began to say,

The lamp of thy body is thine eye: when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.

Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness. If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!

69. Limits of the Kingdom of God

And Jesus went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and journeying on unto Jerusalem.

And one said unto him, Master, are they few that be saved?

And Jesus said unto them, strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

Ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without. And they shall come from the east and west, and from the north and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

70. Forecast of his Death by Jesus

In that very hour there came certain Pharisees, saying to Jesus, Get thee out, and go hence: for Herod would fain kill thee. And he said unto them, Go and say to that fox, Behold, I must go on my way to-day and tomorrow, and the third day I am perfected: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

71. Teaching in Criticism of Anxiety

And Jesus said unto his disciples,

Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink: nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?

Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and God feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.

Your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

72. Teachings at the Table of a Pharisee

And it came to pass that Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread.

And he spake a parable unto those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them,

When thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him, and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee cometh, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher. For everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

And he said to him also that had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee.

73. The Costs of Discipleship

Now there went with Jesus great multitudes: and he turned, and said unto them,

If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.

So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.