Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Jesus: ² Do you think these Galileans were somehow being singled out for their sins, that they were worse than any other Galileans, because they suffered this terrible death? ³ Of course not. But listen, if you do not consider God’s ways and truly change, then friends, you should prepare to face His judgment and eternal death.

⁴ Speaking of current events, you’ve all heard about the 18 people killed in that building accident when the tower in Siloam fell. Were they extraordinarily bad people, worse than anyone else in Jerusalem, so that they would deserve such an untimely death? ⁵ Of course not. But all the buildings of Jerusalem will come crashing down on you if you don’t wake up and change direction now.

⁶ (following up with this parable) A man has a fig tree planted in his vineyard. One day he comes out looking for fruit on it, but there are no figs. ⁷ He says to the vineyard keeper, “Look at this tree. For three years, I’ve come hoping to find some fresh figs, but what do I find? Nothing. So just go ahead and cut it down. Why waste the space with a fruitless tree?”

⁸ The vineyard keeper replies, “Give it another chance, sir. Give me one more year working with it. I’ll cultivate the soil and heap on some manure to fertilize it. ⁹ If it surprises us and bears fruit next year, that will be great, but if not, then we’ll cut it down.”

Synagogue Official: Look, there are six other days when it’s appropriate to get work done. Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath!

Jesus: ¹⁵ You religious leaders are such hypocrites! Every single one of you unties his ox or donkey from its manger every single Sabbath Day, and then you lead it out to get a drink of water, right? ¹⁶ Do you care more about your farm animals than you care about this woman, one of Abraham’s daughters, oppressed by Satan for 18 years? Can’t we untie her from her oppression on the Sabbath?

Jesus (explaining): ¹⁸ Do you want to understand the kingdom of God? Do you want Me to tell you what it’s like? ¹⁹ It’s like a single mustard seed that someone took and planted in his garden. That tiny seed grew and became a tree so large that the birds could fly in and make their nests in its branches.

²⁰ Do you want Me to tell you what the kingdom of God is like? ²¹ It’s like some yeast which a woman hid within a huge quantity of flour; soon the whole batch of dough was rising.

Inquiring Individual: Lord, will only a few people be rescued?

Jesus: ²⁴ Strive to enter through the narrow door now, because many people—hear Me on this—will try to enter later on and will not be able to. ²⁵ Imagine you want to enter someone’s home, but you wait until after the homeowner has shut the door. Then you stand outside and bang on the door, and you say, “Sir, please open the door for us!” But he will answer, “I don’t know where you’re from.”

²⁶ Then you’ll say, “Just a minute. We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” ²⁷ But he’ll say, “Sorry, I have no idea where you’re from. Leave me, all of you evildoers.” ²⁸ Then you’ll see something that will make you cry and grind your teeth together—you’ll see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves will be on the outside looking in.

²⁹ And then you’ll see people streaming in from east and west, from north and south, gathering around the table in the kingdom of God, but you’ll be on the outside looking in. ³⁰ That’s how it will be; some are last now who will be first then, and some are first now who will be last then.

Pharisees: You’d better get out of here because Herod is plotting Your murder.

Jesus: ³² You can give that sly fox this message: “Watch as I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I’ll reach My destination. ³³ But for today and tomorrow and the next day, I have to continue My journey, for no prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.”

³⁴ O Jerusalem! O Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and you stone the messengers who are sent to you. How often I wanted to gather in your children as a hen gathers in her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing to come to Me. ³⁵ Look now, your house is abandoned and empty. You won’t see Me until you welcome Me with the words of the psalms, “Anyone who comes in the name of the Eternal One will be blessed!”^[a]

Jesus: Is it permitted by traditions and the Hebrew Scriptures to heal people on the Sabbath, or is it forbidden?

Jesus: ⁵ Would any single one of you leave his son^[b] or even his ox in a well on the Sabbath if he had fallen into it, or would you pull him out immediately?

Jesus: ⁸ Whenever someone invites you to a wedding dinner, don’t sit at the head table. Someone more important than you might also have been invited, ⁹ and your host will have to humiliate you publicly by telling you to give your seat to the other guest and to go find an open seat in the back of the room. ¹⁰ Instead, go and sit in the back of the room. Then your host may find you and say, “My friend! Why are you sitting back here? Come up to this table near the front!” Then you will be publicly honored in front of everyone. ¹¹ Listen, if you lift yourself up, you’ll be put down, but if you humble yourself, you’ll be honored.

Jesus: When you host a dinner or banquet, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors. If you do, they might invite you to a party of their own, and you’ll be repaid for your kindness. ¹³ Instead, invite the poor, the amputees, the cripples, the blind. ¹⁴ Then you’ll be blessed because they can never repay you. Your reward will come from God at the resurrection of the just and good.

Guest: ¹⁵ Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!

Jesus: ¹⁶ A man once hosted a huge banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷ When the time came, he sent his servant to tell the guests who had agreed to come, “We’re ready! Come now!” ¹⁸ But then every single guest began to make excuses. One said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I just bought some land, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.” ¹⁹ Another said, “So sorry. I just bought five pairs of oxen. I need to go check them out. Please excuse me.” ²⁰ Another said, “I just got married, so I can’t come.”

²¹ The servant returned and reported their responses to his master. His master was angry and told the servant, “Go out quickly to the streets and alleys around town and bring the poor, the amputees, the blind, and the cripples.”

²² The servant came back again: “Sir, I’ve done as you said, but there is still more room.” ²³ And the host said, “Well then, go out to the highways and hedges and bring in the complete strangers you find there, until my house is completely full. ²⁴ One thing is for sure, not one single person on the original guest list shall enjoy this banquet.”

Jesus: ²⁶ If any of you come to Me without hating your own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and yes, even your own life, you can’t be My disciple. ²⁷ If you don’t carry your own cross as if to your own execution as you follow Me, you can’t be part of My movement. ²⁸ Just imagine that you want to build a tower. Wouldn’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to be sure you have enough to finish what you start? ²⁹ If you lay the foundation but then can’t afford to finish the tower, everyone will mock you: ³⁰ “Look at that guy who started something that he couldn’t finish!”

³¹ Or imagine a king gearing up to go to war. Wouldn’t he begin by sitting down with his advisors to determine whether his 10,000 troops could defeat the opponent’s 20,000 troops? ³² If not, he’ll send a peace delegation quickly and negotiate a peace treaty. ³³ In the same way, if you want to be My disciple, it will cost you everything. Don’t underestimate that cost!

³⁴ Don’t be like salt that has lost its taste. How can its saltiness be restored? Flavorless salt is absolutely worthless. ³⁵ You can’t even use it as fertilizer, so it’s worth less than manure! Don’t just listen to My words here. Get the deeper meaning.