And it happened when the angels left them and returned to heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem now and see what all happened that the Lord told us about."

And everyone became amazed and began saying to one another, "What is he saying? For he orders the evil spirits with authority and power to come out [of people], and they do."

And it happened on another Sabbath day, when Jesus entered the synagogue to teach, that a man was there whose right hand was deformed.

For I also am a man [who was] placed under the authority [of others], and I have soldiers [who serve] under me. I can say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another one, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."

They are like children sitting in the open shopping market, calling to one another, saying, 'We [pretended we] were making music [at a wedding] but you did not dance; we [pretended we] were wailing [at a funeral] but you did not cry [along with us].'

And it happened soon after this that Jesus went through one town and village after another, preaching and proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God. [Traveling] with Him were the twelve apostles

Then He said to the disciples, "Where is your faith?" They became afraid and were amazed, saying to one another, "Who can this [man] be, that he can even command the winds and the water and they obey him?"

for the Son of man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them"}} So, they went to another village.

And [then] He said to another person, "Become my follower." But he replied, "Lord, allow me to go and bury my father first."

Then another person said [to Jesus], "Lord, I will become your follower, but first let me say goodbye to my family." [Note: There was the likelihood that family members might try to dissuade him from his commitment to follow the Lord].

About this time, while a crowd of many thousands had assembled, [so large that] people were trampling on one another, Jesus first began telling His disciples, "Watch out for the leavening [effect] of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

For from now on there will be a household of five persons divided [against one another], three against two and two against three.

And another person said, 'I just bought five teams of oxen and I need to go and test them out, so please excuse me [from attending the supper].'

Or what king, planning to engage another king in war, will not first sit down and evaluate whether he will be able, with ten thousand [soldiers], to defeat someone who attacks him with twenty thousand [soldiers]?

Then he said to another [customer], 'And how much do you owe [him]?' And he answered, 'One thousand bushels of wheat.' The property manager said to him, 'Take your contract and write eight hundred [bushels].'

"Every person who divorces his wife and marries another woman becomes sexually unfaithful to her [i.e., because he is still regarded by God as married to his first wife. See Matt. 19:9]. And the person who marries someone who has been divorced by her husband commits sexual sin with her [i.e., because she is still rightfully married to her first husband].

And as the crowd listened to these things, Jesus told them another parable, because He was close to Jerusalem and they assumed the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.

Then another slave appeared and said, 'Look, master, here is your sum of money. I kept it [safely] wrapped up in a cloth,

They will throw you and your children, [who are] within your walls, to the ground and they will not allow one stone to remain on top of another in your city because you did not recognize that [God was] visiting you." [Note: This "visitation" refers either to the redemption which they had rejected or to the punishment of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70].

Then Jesus began speaking to the people. [Note: And perhaps to the religious leaders as well. See Mark 11:18 with 12:1]. He told them this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, then leased it out to tenant farmers and went to another country for a long time.

Then he sent out another slave [i.e., to arrange for receiving the crop], but the tenant farmers beat him also, shamefully abused him and sent him away empty handed [as well].

But when the tenant farmers saw him, they began reasoning with one another, saying, 'This is the heir [to the vineyard]; let us kill him so the inheritance will be ours.'

"As for these things you are looking at, the time will come when there will not be one stone left on another here that will not be thrown down."

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Nations will wage war against one another and kingdoms will attack one another.

And in the same way He took [another] cup, after the [Passover] meal, and said, "This cup is [i.e., represents] the New Agreement [i.e., between God and mankind] made by my blood, which is [to be] poured out for you.