Advanced Lesson 2 -
The Wisdom of Jesus

This reading exercise is the second part of Advanced Lesson 2, The Wisdom of Jesus. You can also do it as an individual reading exercise.

Answers to the Listening Questions

First, here are the answers to the Listening questions for this lesson.

1.  Why shouldn’t you condemn others?
If you condemn others, God will condemn you. God will treat you the way you treat others.

2.  What happens when you ask, search, and knock?
Your questions will be answered, you will find what you are looking for, and the door will be opened for you.

3.  What is the difference between the narrow gate and the wide gate?
The narrow gate leads to life, but it is hard. Only a few people find it. The wide gate is easy to follow, but it leads to destruction. Many people go through the wide gate.

4.  How can you tell who the false prophets are?
You can tell who the false prophets are by the way they act, not by what they say.

5.  List at least three lessons from the verses.

• Treat others as you want them to treat you. (Don’t condemn others. Don’t point out others’ faults or  imperfections.)
• If you seek God, you will be answered. God is ready to give good things to those who seek Him.
• Go in through the narrow gate. In other words, don’t take the easy route.
• Watch out for false prophets.

Reading Text – The Wisdom of Jesus

Here is the text for this parable. Read it several times. Try not to run to a dictionary and look up all the words you don’t know. You can do that after you have read the text a few times. For now, just try and understand what the word means by understanding the context of the sentence. (When you are ready to look up new words, try WordReference.com. It’s a treasure trove of definitions and related expressions that may keep you clicking for a long time!)

When you have finished reading, download the PDF. This way, you can read the passage and listen at the same time. Read and listen together a few more times.

The Wisdom of Jesus

Matthew 7:1-20 CEV

Don’t condemn others, and God won’t condemn you. God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.

You can see the speck in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the log in your own eye. How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don’t see the log in your own eye? You’re nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend’s eye.

Don’t give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don’t throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.

Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.

Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.

Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets are all about.

Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.

Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree producing bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.

Or, click here to go back to the Listening Exercise.