The chapters in Luke are long and dense, but of course, wonderful. Today we get the story of the nativity, Jesus’ middle years, then his early ministry as he recruits his disciples, heals, and begins teaching his gospel. The gospel. Our gospel.

Remember that ‘gospel’ means ‘good news.’ It isn’t necessarily the news we want to hear, but it is the news we need to hear. Some people receive it as good news. Others, like his audience in Nazareth, receive it very poorly. He tells them, by referencing two incidents in which God showed preference for Gentiles, that he will similarly not play favorites the way that they want him to. They get so angry that they try to throw him off a cliff!

One of the confusions of our era is the mistaken belief that people of the world will always receive the gospel happily. The scriptural witness is rather that people will receive it quite differently from one another. Many will hate you and harm you for uttering the things that Jesus said. He prepares us for these things in his “Sermon on the Plain” in the final chapter today. We should not be surprised when life is difficult, when we are called to be poor, miserable, hungry. We should rather rejoice in living and dying as Christ did, as he is the only way to the Father.

Luke 1

Many have undertaken to compose an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron.

Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.

Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.

And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

“How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

“I am Gabriel,” replied the angel. “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he took so long in the temple.

When he came out and was unable to speak to them, they realized he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept making signs to them but remained speechless.

And when the days of his service were complete, he returned home.

After these days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. She declared,

“The Lord has done this for me. In these days He has shown me favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,

and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”

“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah, where she entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”

Then Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed.

For the Mighty One has done great things for me.

Holy is His name.

His mercy extends to those who fear Him,

from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who are proud

in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

but has exalted the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped His servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful,

as He promised to our fathers,

to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah. But his mother replied, “No! He shall be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who bears this name.” So they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted to name the child.

Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.

Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak, praising God.

All their neighbors were filled with awe, and people throughout the hill country of Judea were talking about these events.

And all who heard this wondered in their hearts and asked, “What then will this child become?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

because He has visited and redeemed His people.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of His servant David,

as He spoke through His holy prophets,

those of ages past,

salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us,

to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember His holy covenant,

the oath He swore to our father Abraham,

to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,

that we may serve Him without fear,

in holiness and righteousness before Him

all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called

a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord

to prepare the way for Him,

to give to His people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,

to shine on those who live in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet

into the path of peace.”

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

Luke 2

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire. This was the first census to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born.

And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

Just then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!

And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men

on whom His favor rests!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.

After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.

When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.

And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”),

and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Led by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what was customary under the Law,

Simeon took Him in his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised,

You now dismiss Your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

which You have prepared in the sight of all people,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to Your people Israel.”

The Child’s father and mother were amazed at what was spoken about Him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary:

“Behold, this Child is appointed to cause

the rise and fall of many in Israel,

and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed—

and a sword will pierce your soul as well.”

There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years,

and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Coming forward at that moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When Jesus’ parents had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Feast.

When those days were over and they were returning home, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware He had stayed.

Assuming He was in their company, they traveled on for a day before they began to look for Him among their relatives and friends.

When they could not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him.

Finally, after three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers.

When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. “Child, why have You done this to us?” His mother asked. “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”

“Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house ?” But they did not understand the statement He was making to them.

Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Luke 3

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for Him.

Every valley shall be filled in,

and every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked ways shall be made straight,

and the rough ways smooth.

And all humanity will see God’s salvation.’ ”

Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”

John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

“Collect no more than you are authorized,” he answered.

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

“Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ.

John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

With these and many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people.

But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened,

and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry.

He was regarded as the son of Joseph,

the son of Heli,

the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi,

the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum,

the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,

the son of Josech, the son of Joda,

the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel,

the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,

the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim,

the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph,

the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha,

the son of Nathan, the son of David,

the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,

the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,

the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni,

the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,

the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg,

the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,

the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared,

the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan,

the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam,

the son of God.

Luke 4

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.

The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

“I will give You authority over all these kingdoms and all their glory,” he said. “For it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. So if You worship me, it will all be Yours.”

But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down from here. For it is written:

‘He will command His angels concerning You

to guard You carefully;

and they will lift You up in their hands,

so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

But Jesus answered, “It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding region. He taught in their synagogues and was glorified by everyone.

Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read,

the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,

because He has anointed Me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him,

and He began by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in Your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.’ ”

Then He added, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.

Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged.

They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.

But Jesus passed through the crowd and went on His way.

Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He began to teach the people. They were astonished at His teaching, because His message had authority.

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon. He cried out in a loud voice,

“Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

But Jesus rebuked the demon. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” At this, the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without harming him.

All the people were overcome with amazement and asked one another, “What is this message? With authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

And the news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding region.

After Jesus had left the synagogue, He went to the home of Simon, whose mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they appealed to Jesus on her behalf,

and He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and began to serve them.

At sunset, all who were ill with various diseases were brought to Jesus, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them.

Demons also came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked the demons and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ.

At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place, and the crowds were looking for Him. They came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving.

But Jesus told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why I was sent.”

And He continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.

Luke 5

On one occasion, while Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret with the crowd pressing in on Him to hear the word of God,

He saw two boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

Jesus got into the boat belonging to Simon and asked him to put out a little from shore. And sitting down, He taught the people from the boat.

When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

“Master,” Simon replied, “we have worked hard all night without catching anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear.

So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”

For he and his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

“Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to Simon. “From now on you will catch men.” And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

“Do not tell anyone,” Jesus instructed him. “But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

But the news about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.

One day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. People had come from Jerusalem and from every village of Galilee and Judea, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick.

Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They tried to bring him inside to set him before Jesus,

but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

But the scribes and Pharisees began thinking to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”

And immediately the man stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.

Everyone was taken with amazement and glorified God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.

Then Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who were eating with them.

But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but Yours keep on eating and drinking.”

Jesus replied, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.

Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

Luke 6

One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.

But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

He entered the house of God, took the consecrated bread and gave it to his companions, and ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat.”

Then Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.

Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.

But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.

When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles:

Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot;

Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon.

They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed.

The entire crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.

Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now,

for you will be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

But woe to you who are rich,

for you have already received your comfort.

Woe to you who are well fed now,

for you will hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.

But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.

Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles.

The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them:

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”

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