NIV LIVE: 30 Day Audio Bible ChallengeSample

Chapter 14

At a Pharisee’s home Jesus healed on the Sabbath, having challenged those attending as to whether it was lawful or not to do so. He told a parable to illustrate the virtue of humility and another one to encourage hospitality to the poor. He told a third parable showing that the Jews would be passed by for passing on the kingdom of God. Jesus also warned the large crowds that followed Him that the cost of being His disciple were very great and should be carefully considered first.

Chapter 15

Jesus told three parables to illustrate the joy in heaven of recovering the lost ones of Israel. The first was about a sheep that had gone astray, which the shepherd leaves the flock to find. The second tells of a woman who had lost a silver coin, and she swept the house until she found it. The final story relates the splurging of a young son’s wealth on wild living, his humiliation of trying to survive during an ensuing famine, and his return to his father, who was filled with joy to see him.

Chapter 16

Jesus told His disciples a parable about a rich man’s shrewd steward to show that worldly wealth should be used to gain friends. Good stewardship of worldly things makes one trustworthy for receiving heavenly riches. Jesus then rebuked the Pharisees nearby because they loved money, and He proclaimed that the Law would not pass away and that divorce was like adultery. Next He told of a certain rich man who enjoyed the good life but suffered for eternity and of a poor man, who lived at the rich man’s gates, who suffered during his life but was comforted in the afterlife.

Chapter 17

Jesus warned His disciples not to cause another to sin but to forgive anyone who sins against them but repents. He reminded them of a servant’s attitude of humility. On His journey to Jerusalem, He healed ten lepers, but only one returned to give Him thanks, and that a Samaritan. On a different occasion, He told His disciples about His second coming, comparing it to the days of Noah and the days of Lot. On that day, no one should hold on to the world as Lot’s wife did, for two may be together and one will be taken, the other left behind.

Chapter 18

Jesus told His disciples a parable about a woman who persistently pleaded for justice until she received it to illustrate the virtue of persistence in prayer. He told a parable to those who proudly thought they were righteous, saying that humility justifies a man before God. He also showed His disciples how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, because they are even more unwilling to give up the world for eternal life. Jesus explained to His disciples that they were going up to Jerusalem to fulfill His death and resurrection according to the prophets. When they neared Jericho on this journey, Jesus stopped to heal a blind beggar.