Thursday, November 7, 2024 | Luke 15:1-10

Jesus told his disciples a parableabout the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain townwho neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering meI shall deliver a just decision for herlest she finally come and strike me.’” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen oneswho call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus said to his disciples:“As it was in the days of Noah,so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;they were eating and drinking,marrying and giving in marriage up to the daythat Noah entered the ark,and the flood came and destroyed them all.Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:they were eating, drinking, buying,selling, planting, building;on the day when Lot left Sodom,fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.On that day, someone who is on the housetopand whose belongings are in the housemust not go down to get them,and likewise one in the fieldmust not return to what was left behind.Remember the wife of Lot.Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,but whoever loses it will save it.I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;one will be taken, the other left.And there will be two women grinding meal together;one will be taken, the other left.” They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”He said to them, “Where the body is,there also the vultures will gather.”

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,Jesus said in reply,“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” Then he said to his disciples,“The days will come when you will long to seeone of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.There will be those who will say to you,‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.For just as lightning flashesand lights up the sky from one side to the other,so will the Son of Man be in his day.But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”And when he saw them, he said,“Go show yourselves to the priests.”As they were going they were cleansed.And one of them, realizing he had been healed,returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.He was a Samaritan.Jesus said in reply,“Ten were cleansed, were they not?Where are the other nine?Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;your faith has saved you.”

Jesus said to the Apostles:“Who among you would say to your servantwho has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?Would he not rather say to him,‘Prepare something for me to eat.Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.You may eat and drink when I am finished’?Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?So should it be with you.When you have done all you have been commanded, say,‘We are unprofitable servants;we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

Jesus said to his disciples,"Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,but woe to the one through whom they occur.It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neckand he be thrown into the seathan for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.Be on your guard!If your brother sins, rebuke him;and if he repents, forgive him.And if he wrongs you seven times in one dayand returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,'you should forgive him."And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,you would say to this mulberry tree,'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds,"Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robesand accept greetings in the marketplaces,seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretextrecite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation." He sat down opposite the treasuryand observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in morethan all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,her whole livelihood."

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,Jesus went up to Jerusalem.He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,as well as the money-changers seated there.He made a whip out of cordsand drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,and spilled the coins of the money-changersand overturned their tables,and to those who sold doves he said,"Take these out of here,and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,Zeal for your house will consume me.At this the Jews answered and said to him,"What sign can you show us for doing this?"Jesus answered and said to them,"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."The Jews said,"This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,and you will raise it up in three days?"But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,his disciples remembered that he had said this,and they came to believe the Scriptureand the word Jesus had spoken.

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a stewardwho was reported to him for squandering his property.He summoned him and said,‘What is this I hear about you?Prepare a full account of your stewardship,because you can no longer be my steward.’The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.I know what I shall do so that,when I am removed from the stewardship,they may welcome me into their homes.’He called in his master’s debtors one by one.To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’  He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;write one for eighty.’And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.For the children of this worldare more prudent in dealing with their own generationthan the children of light.”

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus addressed this parable to them.“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of themwould not leave the ninety-nine in the desertand go after the lost one until he finds it?And when he does find it,he sets it on his shoulders with great joyand, upon his arrival home,he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same waythere will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repentsthan over ninety-nine righteous peoplewho have no need of repentance. “Or what woman having ten coins and losing onewould not light a lamp and sweep the house,searching carefully until she finds it?And when she does find it,she calls together her friends and neighborsand says to them,‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you,there will be rejoicing among the angels of Godover one sinner who repents.”