Jesus encourages persistence in prayer by telling a story of a man who goes to a friend's house at midnight to ask for bread and keeps knocking until his friend finally gets up and gives him what he needs.
Jesus encourages his followers to ask, seek, and knock in prayer, and assures them that if they ask their Heavenly Father for good things in righteousness, He will bless them with what they need.
Jesus uses the story of a Samaritan who shows compassion and mercy to a man who had been beaten and left for dead to illustrate the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus identifies himself as the good shepherd who cares for and protects his sheep, and contrasts himself with hired hands who abandon the sheep in times of danger.
Jesus explains that it is not what goes into a person's mouth that defiles them, but rather what comes out of their heart and proceeds from within that defiles them.
Jesus laments over Jerusalem and compares himself to a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings but is rejected by her chicks, who are left vulnerable and exposed to danger.
Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a landowner who hires laborers to work in his vineyard and pays all of them the same wage, regardless of the length of time they worked.
