Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Sin and Forgiveness(A)
17 Jesus said to his followers, “Things will surely happen that will make people sin. But it will be very bad for anyone who makes this happen. 2 It will be very bad for anyone who makes one of these little children sin. It would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the sea. 3 So be careful!
“If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, warn them. If they are sorry for what they did, forgive them. 4 Even if they do something wrong to you seven times in one day, but they say they are sorry each time, you should forgive them.”
How Big Is Your Faith?
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”
6 The Lord said, “If your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the ocean!’ And the tree will obey you.
Be Good Servants
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant who has been working in the field, plowing or caring for the sheep. When he comes in from work, what would you say to him? Would you say, ‘Come in, sit down and eat’? 8 Of course not! You would say to your servant, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Then get ready and serve me. When I finish eating and drinking, then you can eat.’ 9 The servant should not get any special thanks for doing his job. He is only doing what his master told him to do. 10 It is the same with you. When you finish doing all that you are told to do, you should say, ‘We are not worthy of any special thanks. We have only done the work we should do.’”
Be Thankful
11 Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem. He went from Galilee to Samaria. 12 He came into a small town, and ten men met him there. They did not come close to him, because they all had leprosy. 13 But the men shouted, “Jesus! Master! Please help us!”
14 When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”[a]
While the ten men were going to the priests, they were healed. 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus. He praised God loudly. 16 He bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (He was a Samaritan.) 17 Jesus said, “Ten men were healed; where are the other nine? 18 This man is not even one of our people. Is he the only one who came back to give praise to God?” 19 Then Jesus said to the man, “Stand up! You can go. You were healed because you believed.”
The Coming of God’s Kingdom(B)
20 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will God’s kingdom come?”
Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you can see it. 21 People will not say, ‘Look, God’s kingdom is here!’ or ‘There it is!’ No, God’s kingdom is here with you.[b]”
22 Then Jesus said to his followers, “The time will come when you will want very much to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not be able to. 23 People will say to you, ‘Look, there it is!’ or ‘Look, here it is!’ Stay where you are; don’t go away and search. 24 “When the Son of Man comes again, you will know it. On that day he will shine like lightning flashes across the sky. 25 But first, the Son of Man must suffer many things. The people of today will refuse to accept him.
26 “When the Son of Man comes again, it will be the same as it was when Noah lived. 27 People were eating, drinking, and getting married even on the day when Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and killed them all.
28 “It will be the same as during the time of Lot, when God destroyed Sodom. Those people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building houses for themselves. 29 They were doing these things even on the day when Lot left town. Then fire and sulfur rained down from the sky and killed them all. 30 This is exactly how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.
31 “On that day if a man is on his roof, he will not have time to go inside and get his things. If a man is in the field, he cannot go back home. 32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife[c]!
33 “Whoever tries to keep the life they have will lose it. But whoever gives up their life will save it. 34 That night there may be two people sleeping in one room. One will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There may be two women working together. One will be taken and the other will be left.” 36 [d]
37 The followers asked Jesus, “Where will this be, Lord?”
Jesus answered, “It’s like looking for a dead body—you will find it where the vultures are gathering above.”
God Will Answer His People
18 Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. He used this story to teach them: 2 “Once there was a judge in a town. He did not care about God. He also did not care what people thought about him. 3 In that same town there was a woman whose husband had died. She came many times to this judge and said, ‘There is a man who is doing bad things to me. Give me my rights!’ 4 But the judge did not want to help the woman. After a long time, the judge thought to himself, ‘I don’t care about God. And I don’t care about what people think. 5 But this woman is bothering me. If I give her what she wants, then she will leave me alone. But if I don’t give her what she wants, she will bother me until I am sick.’”
6 The Lord said, “Listen, there is meaning in what the bad judge said. 7 God’s people shout to him night and day, and he will always give them what is right. He will not be slow to answer them. 8 I tell you, God will help his people quickly. But when the Son of Man comes again, will he find people on earth who believe in him?”
Being Right With God
9 There were some people who thought they were very good and looked down on everyone else. Jesus used this story to teach them: 10 “One time there was a Pharisee and a tax collector. One day they both went to the Temple to pray. 11 The Pharisee stood alone, away from the tax collector. When the Pharisee prayed, he said, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not as bad as other people. I am not like men who steal, cheat, or commit adultery. I thank you that I am better than this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of everything I get!’
13 “The tax collector stood alone too. But when he prayed, he would not even look up to heaven. He felt very humble before God. He said, ‘O God, have mercy on me. I am a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, when this man finished his prayer and went home, he was right with God. But the Pharisee, who felt that he was better than others, was not right with God. People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important.”
Jesus Welcomes Children(C)
15 Some people brought their small children to Jesus so that he could lay his hands on them to bless them. But when the followers saw this, they told the people not to do this. 16 But Jesus called the little children to him and said to his followers, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these little children. 17 The truth is, you must accept God’s kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.”
A Rich Man Refuses to Follow Jesus(D)
18 A religious leader asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”
19 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. 20 And you know his commands: ‘You must not commit adultery, you must not murder anyone, you must not steal, you must not tell lies about others, you must respect your father and mother ….’[e]”
21 But the leader said, “I have obeyed all these commands since I was a boy.”
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to the leader, “But there is still one thing you need to do. Sell everything you have and give the money to those who are poor. You will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.” 23 But when the man heard Jesus tell him to give away his money, he was sad. He didn’t want to do this, because he was very rich.
24 When Jesus saw that the man was sad, he said, “It will be very hard for rich people to enter God’s kingdom. 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”
Who Can Be Saved?
26 When the people heard this, they said, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus answered, “God can do things that are not possible for people to do.”
28 Peter said, “Look, we left everything we had and followed you.”
29 Jesus said, “I can promise that everyone who has left their home, wife, brothers, parents, or children for God’s kingdom 30 will get much more than they left. They will get many times more in this life. And in the world that is coming they will get the reward of eternal life.”
Jesus Talks Again About His Death(E)
31 Then Jesus talked to the twelve apostles alone. He said to them, “Listen, we are going to Jerusalem. Everything that God told the prophets to write about the Son of Man will happen. 32 He will be handed over to the foreigners, who will laugh at him, insult him, and spit on him. 33 They will beat him with whips and then kill him. But on the third day after his death, he will rise to life again.” 34 The apostles tried to understand this, but they could not; the meaning was hidden from them.
Jesus Heals a Blind Man(F)
35 Jesus came near the city of Jericho. There was a blind man sitting beside the road. He was begging people for money. 36 When he heard the people coming down the road, he asked, “What is happening?”
37 They told him, “Jesus, the one from Nazareth, is coming here.”
38 The blind man was excited and said, “Jesus, Son of David, please help me!”
39 The people who were in front leading the group criticized the blind man. They told him to be quiet. But he shouted more and more, “Son of David, please help me!”
40 Jesus stopped there and said, “Bring that man to me!” When he came close, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, I want to see again.”
42 Jesus said to him, “You can see now. You are healed because you believed.”
43 Then the man was able to see. He followed Jesus, thanking God. Everyone who saw this praised God for what happened.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International