Be in Readiness

³⁵ “Be dressed and ready for active service, and keep your lamps continuously burning. ³⁶ Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes and knocks they may immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) are those servants whom the master finds awake and watching when he arrives. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will prepare himself to serve, and will have them recline at the table, and will come and wait on them. ³⁸ Whether he comes in the second watch (before midnight), or even in the third (after midnight), and finds them so [prepared and ready], blessed are those servants.

³⁹ “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time the thief was coming, he [would have been awake and alert, and] would not have allowed his house to be broken into.^{(A) 40} You too, be continually ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us [disciples], or to everyone else as well?”

Parable of the Faithful Steward

⁴² The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward [of the estate], whom his master will put in charge over his household, to give his servants their portion of food at the proper time?^{(B) 43} Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he arrives. ⁴⁴ I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time in coming,’ and begins to beat the servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will ^[a]cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master’s will, and yet did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will be beaten with many lashes [of the whip], ⁴⁸ but the one who did not know it and did things worthy of a beating, will receive only a few [lashes]. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.^(C)

Christ Divides Men

⁴⁹ “I have come to cast fire (judgment) on the earth; and how I wish that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism [of great suffering] with which to be baptized, and how [greatly] I am distressed until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division [between believers and unbelievers];^{(D) 52} for from now on five in one household will be divided [over Me], three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”^(E)

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and that is how it turns out. ⁵⁵ And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders)! You know how to analyze and intelligently interpret the appearance of the earth and sky [to forecast the weather], but why do you not intelligently interpret this present time?

⁵⁷ “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? ⁵⁸ For while you are going with your opponent [at law] to appear before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle, so that he does not drag you before the judge, and the judge does not [rule against you and] turn you over to the officer, and the officer does not throw you into prison.^{(F) 59} I say to you, you [absolutely] will not get out of there until you have paid the very last ^[b]cent.”

Call to Repent

13 Just at that time some people came who told Jesus about the ^[c]Galileans whose blood Pilate [the governor] had mixed with their sacrifices. ² Jesus replied to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they have suffered in this way? ³ I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or do you assume that ^[d]those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed were worse sinners than all the others who live in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”

Parable of the Fig Tree

⁶ Then He began telling them this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find any; ⁷ so he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground [depleting the soil and blocking the sunlight]?’ ⁸ But he replied to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, [just] one more year until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; ⁹ and if it bears fruit after this, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Healing on the Sabbath

¹⁰ Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had an illness caused by a spirit (demon). She was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are released from your illness.” ¹³ Then He laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood erect again and she began glorifying and praising God. ¹⁴ But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work ought to be done; so come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”^{(G) 15} But the Lord replied to him, “You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶ And this woman, a daughter (descendant) of Abraham whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷ As He was saying this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things that were being done by Him.

Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven

¹⁸ So this led Him to say, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?^{(H) 19} It is like a ^[e]mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky found shelter and nested in its branches.”^(I)

²⁰ And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ²¹ It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three peck measures of flour until it was all leavened.”^(J)

Healing the Man Born Blind

9 While He was passing by, He noticed a man [who had been] blind from birth. ² His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), who ^[a]sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him. ⁴ We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world [giving guidance through My word and works].” ⁶ When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made mud with His saliva, and He spread the mud [like an ointment] on the man’s eyes. ⁷ And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of ^[b]Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. ⁸ So the neighbors, and those who used to know him as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some said, “It is he.” Still others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But he kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰ So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He replied, “The Man called Jesus made mud and smeared it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received my sight!” ¹² They asked him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”

Controversy over the Man

¹³ Then they brought the man who was formerly blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ Now it was on a Sabbath day that Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes. ¹⁵ So the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶ Then some of the Pharisees said, “This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner (a non-observant Jew) do such signs and miracles?” So there was a difference of opinion among them. ¹⁷ Accordingly they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “[It must be that] He is a ^[c]prophet!”

¹⁸ However, the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the man’s parents. ¹⁹ They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but as to how he now sees, we do not know; or who has opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him [and stop asking us]; ^[d]he is of age, he will speak for himself and give his own account of it.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of [the leaders of] the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated). ²³ Because of this his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So a second time they called the man who had been [born] blind, and said to him, “Give God glory and praise [for your sight]! We know this Man [Jesus] is a sinner [separated from God].” ²⁵ Then he answered, “I do not know whether He is a sinner [separated from God]; but one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ So they said to him, “What did He [actually] do to you? How did He open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered, “I already told you and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again and again? Do you want to become His disciples, too?” ²⁸ And [at that remark] they stormed at him and jeered, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! ²⁹ We know [for certain] that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this Man, we do not know where He is from.” ³⁰ The man replied, “Well, this is astonishing! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes! ³¹ We know [according to your tradition] that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone fears God and does His will, He hears him. ³² Since the ^[e]beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³ If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything [like this because God would not hear His prayer].” ³⁴ They answered him, “You were ^[f]born entirely in sins [from head to foot], and you [presume to] teach us?” Then they threw him out [of the synagogue].

Jesus Affirms His Deity

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had ^[g]put him out [of the synagogue], and finding him, He asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ He answered, “Who is He, Sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him.” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and [in fact] He is the one who is talking with you.” ³⁸ And he said, “Lord, I believe [in You and Your word]!” And he worshiped Him [with reverence and awe]. ³⁹ Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment [to separate those who believe in Me from those who reject Me—to declare judgment on those who choose to be separated from God], so that the sightless would see, and those who see would become blind.” ⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “Are we also blind?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind [to spiritual things], you would have no sin [and would not be blamed for your unbelief]; but since you claim to have [spiritual] sight, [you have no excuse so] your sin and guilt remain.^(A)