Chronological NT Plan

¹⁵One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him.

¹⁶Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.

¹⁷I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

¹⁸Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good.

²⁰But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’ ”

²¹The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

²²When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²³But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.

²⁴When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!

²⁵In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

²⁶Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?”

²⁷He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.”

²⁸Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to follow you.”

²⁹“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God,

³⁰will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.”

³¹Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true.

³²He will be handed over to the Romans, and he will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon.

³³They will flog him with a whip and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.”

³⁴But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.

³⁵As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road.

³⁶When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening.

³⁷They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by.

³⁸So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹“Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him,

⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”

⁴²And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.”

⁴³Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.

¹Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town.

²There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.

³He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd.

⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

⁵When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

⁶Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.

⁷But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.

⁸Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

⁹Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.

¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

¹¹The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.

¹²He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return.

¹³Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’

¹⁴But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’

¹⁵“After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were.

¹⁶The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’

¹⁷“‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’

¹⁸“The next servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’

¹⁹“‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will be governor over five cities.’

²⁰“But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe.

²¹I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’

²²“‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant,

²³why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

²⁴“Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’

²⁵“‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’

²⁶“‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

²⁷And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king — bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.’”

²⁸After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples.

²⁹As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead.

³⁰“Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

³¹If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³²So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said.

³³And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”

³⁴And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.”

³⁵So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.

³⁶As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him.

³⁷When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

³⁸“Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”

³⁹But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”

⁴⁰He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

⁴¹But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep.

⁴²“How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.

⁴³Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side.

⁴⁴They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you. ”

⁴⁵Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices.

⁴⁶He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

⁴⁷After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him.

⁴⁸But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.