The Narrow Door

²² Jesus^[a] went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. ²³ Someone asked him, ‘Lord, will only a few be saved?’ He said to them, ²⁴ ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, “Lord, open to us”, then in reply he will say to you, “I do not know where you come from.” ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” ²⁷ But he will say, “I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!” ²⁸ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹ Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.’

The Lament over Jerusalem

³¹ At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ ³² He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me,^[b] “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³ Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”

Jesus Heals the Man with Dropsy

14 On one occasion when Jesus^[a] was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. ² Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, ‘Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?’ ⁴ But they were silent. So Jesus^[b] took him and healed him, and sent him away. ⁵ Then he said to them, ‘If one of you has a child^[c] or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?’ ⁶ And they could not reply to this.

Humility and Hospitality

⁷ When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. ⁸ ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; ⁹ and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’

¹² He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

Psalm 63

Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence

A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.