Healing on a Sabbath
10 Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
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A woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn't stand up straight.
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When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and said, "
Woman, you are set free from your sickness."
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He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once and praised God.
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The synagogue leader, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded, "There are six days during which work is permitted. Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath day."
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The Lord replied, "
Hypocrites! Don't each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it out to get a drink?
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Then isn't it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?"
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When he said these things, all his opponents were put to shame, but all those in the crowd rejoiced at all the extraordinary things he was doing.
Growth of God’s kingdom
18 Jesus asked, "
What is God's kingdom like? To what can I compare it?
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It's like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in a garden. It grew and developed into a tree and the birds in the sky nested in its branches."
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Again he said, "
To what can I compare God's kingdom?
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It's like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the yeast had worked its way through the whole."
Who will be saved?
22 Jesus traveled through cities and villages, teaching and making his way to Jerusalem.
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Someone said to him, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" Jesus said to them,
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"
Make every effort to enter through the narrow gate. Many, I tell you, will try to enter and won't be able to.
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Once the owner of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.' He will reply, ‘I don't know you or where you are from.'
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Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'
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He will respond, ‘I don't know you or where you are from. Go away from me, all you evildoers!'
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There will be weeping and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God's kingdom, but you yourselves will be thrown out.
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People will come from east and west, north and south, and sit down to eat in God's kingdom.
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Look! Those who are last will be first and those who are first will be last."