Jesus Blesses Little Children

18 ¹⁵ Some people brought their little children for Jesus to bless. But when his disciples saw them doing this, they told the people to stop bothering him. ¹⁶ So Jesus called the children over to him and said, "Let the children come to me! Don’t try to stop them. People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom. ¹⁷ You will never get into God’s kingdom unless you enter it like a child!" A Rich and Important Man (Matthew 19.16–30; Mark 10.17–31) ¹⁸ An important man asked Jesus, "Good Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?" ¹⁹ Jesus said, "Why do you call me good? Only God is good. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. Respect your father and mother.’" ²¹ He told Jesus, "I have obeyed all these commandments since I was a young man." ²² When Jesus heard this, he said, "There is one thing you still need to do. Go and sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower." ²³ When the man heard this, he was sad, because he was very rich. ²⁴ Jesus saw how sad the man was. So he said, "It’s terribly hard for rich people to get into God’s kingdom! ²⁵ In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God’s kingdom." ²⁶ When the crowd heard this, they asked, "How can anyone ever be saved?" ²⁷ Jesus replied, "There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything." ²⁸ Peter said, "Remember, we left everything to be your followers!" ²⁹ Jesus answered, "You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or wife or brothers or family or children because of God’s kingdom ³⁰ will be given much more in this life. And in the future world they will have eternal life." Jesus Again Tells about His Death (Matthew 20.17–19; Mark 10.32–34) ³¹ Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and said: We are now on our way to Jerusalem. Everything that the prophets wrote about the Son of Man will happen there. ³² He will be handed over to foreigners, who will make fun of him, mistreat him, and spit on him. ³³ They will beat him and kill him, but three days later he will rise to life. ³⁴ The apostles did not understand what Jesus was talking about. They could not understand, because the meaning of what he said was hidden from them. Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar (Matthew 20.29–34; Mark 10.46–52) ³⁵ When Jesus was coming close to Jericho, a blind man sat begging beside the road. ³⁶ The man heard the crowd walking by and asked what was happening. ³⁷ Some people told him that Jesus from Nazareth was passing by. ³⁸ So the blind man shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" ³⁹ The people who were going along with Jesus told the man to be quiet. But he shouted even louder, "Son of David, have pity on me!" ⁴⁰ Jesus stopped and told some people to bring the blind man over to him. When the blind man was getting near, Jesus asked, ⁴¹ "What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see!" h  answered. ⁴² Jesus replied, "Look and you will see! Your eyes are healed because of your faith." ⁴³ Right away the man could see, and he went with Jesus and started thanking God. When the crowds saw what happened, they praised God. Zacchaeus 19 ¹ Jesus was going through Jericho, ² where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes and was very rich. ^3-4 Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree. ⁵ When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today." ⁶ Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus. ⁷ Everyone who saw this started grumbling, "This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him."  ⁸ Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated." ⁹ Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. ¹⁰ The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost." A Story about Ten Servants (Matthew 25.14–30) ¹¹ The crowd was still listening to Jesus as he was getting close to Jerusalem. Many of them thought that God’s kingdom would soon appear, ¹² and Jesus told them this story: A prince once went to a foreign country to be crowned king and then to return. ¹³ But before leaving, he called in ten servants and gave each of them some money. He told them, "Use this to earn more money until I get back." ¹⁴ But the people of his country hated him, and they sent messengers to the foreign country to say, "We don’t want this man to be our king." ¹⁵ After the prince had been made king, he returned and called in his servants. He asked them how much they had earned with the money they had been given. ¹⁶ The first servant came and said, "Sir, with the money you gave me I have earned ten times as much." ¹⁷ "That’s fine, my good servant!" the king said. "Since you have shown that you can be trusted with a small amount, you will be given ten cities to rule." ¹⁸ The second one came and said, "Sir, with the money you gave me, I have earned five times as much." ¹⁹ The king said, "You will be given five cities." ²⁰ Another servant came and said, "Sir, here is your money. I kept it safe in a handkerchief. ²¹ You are a hard man, and I was afraid of you. You take what isn’t yours, and you harvest crops you didn’t plant." ²² "You worthless servant!" the king told him. "You have condemned yourself by what you have just said. You knew that I am a hard man, taking what isn’t mine and harvesting what I’ve not planted. ²³ Why didn’t you put my money in the bank? On my return, I could have had the money together with interest." ²⁴ Then he said to some other servants standing there, "Take the money away from him and give it to the servant who earned ten times as much." ²⁵ But they said, "Sir, he already has ten times as much!" ²⁶ The king replied, "Those who have something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have anything. ²⁷ Now bring me the enemies who didn’t want me to be their king. Kill them while I watch!"