Advertise on podcast: Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church

1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he began to speak and taught them, saying: 3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,  for they will be filled. 7"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

34 When the Pharisees heard that [Jesus] had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and  one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. 36 "Teacher, which commandment in  the law is the greatest?" 37 He said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with  all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like  it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the  Prophets."  41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42 "What do you  think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." 43 He said to them, "How is  it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,  44 'The Lord said to my Lord,  "Sit at my right hand,  until I put your enemies under your feet" '?  45 "If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" 46 No one was able to give him an answer, nor  from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

15 The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap [Jesus] in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him,  along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in  accordance with truth, and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell  us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice,  said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax." And they  brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, "Whose head is this and whose title?" 21 They answered,  "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the  things that are God's." 22 When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

1Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a  king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to  the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, 'Tell those who have  been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and  everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his  farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The  king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to  his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets,  and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and  gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.  11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a  wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was  speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer  darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 For many are called, but few are  chosen.

[Jesus said:] 33 "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence  around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went  away. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But  the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other  slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. 37 Then he sent his son to them,  saying, 'They will respect my son.' 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is  the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the  vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those  tenants?" 41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to  other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time."  42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures:  'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;  this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?  43 "Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that  produces its fruits. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on  whom it falls."  45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking  about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a  prophet.

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have  prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered  him, "Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented.  16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were  opened to him and he saw God's Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from  the heavens said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."  1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days  and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let  anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said,  'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water'.

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from  you." 39 But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be  given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the  belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the  earth.

1Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and  said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these  signs that you do unless God is with that person." 3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can  see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be  born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus  answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and  Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that  I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound  of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the  Spirit." 9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you the  teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?  11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not  receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you  believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who  descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so  must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not  perish but may have eternal life.

21 From that time on, [after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah,] Jesus began to show his  disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief  priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to  rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." 23 But he turned and said to  Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine  things but on human things."  24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up  their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life  for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or  what will they give in return for their life?  27 "For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay  everyone for what has been done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death  before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people  say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others  Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the  Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and  blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this  rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of  the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose  on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was  the Messiah.

10 [Jesus] called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand:11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles." 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?" 13 He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit." 15 But Peter said to him, "Explain this parable to us." 16 Then he said, "Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile."   21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26 He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that moment.

13 Now when Jesus heard [about the beheading of John the Baptist,] he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." 16 Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." 17 They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." 18 And he said, "Bring them here to me." 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

31 [Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."    33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."    44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.    45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.    47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.    51 "Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." 52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

24 [Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field,25 but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' 28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he replied, 'No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.' "      36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"