by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“… Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. … The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request, ‘I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.’ …”
“Jesus said: ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. … Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! …”
“Jesus said to the crowds and to His Disciples: ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter. …'”
“… Jesus … said … ‘… The Words I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life. …’ … Simon Peter [said] … ‘Master, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of Eternal Life. …'”
“Jesus told His Disciples this parable: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. … he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. … ‘ … the last will be first, and the first will be last.'”
[Jesus answered,] ‘… If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments. … You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. … If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’ …”
“Jesus said to the crowds: ‘I AM the Living Bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this Bread will live forever; and the Bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world.’ … Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has Eternal Life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. …”
“Peter approached Jesus and asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. …'”
“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah … When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? …’ … Mary said: ‘”My soul proclaims the Greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior …’ …”
“… a woman from the crowd called out … ‘Blessed is the womb that carried You and the breasts at which You nursed.’ [Jesus] replied, ‘Rather, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe It.'”