Saturday, September 17, 2016
Mark 11-12
Mark 11
1 As Jesus and his disciples approached
Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of
Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.
2 “Go into that village over there,” he
told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there
that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
3 If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’
just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’”
4 The two disciples left and found the
colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door.
5 As they were untying it, some bystanders
demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”
6 They said what Jesus had told them to
say, and they were permitted to take it.
7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and
threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.
8 Many in the crowd spread their garments
on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the
fields.
9 Jesus was in the center of the
procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God! Blessings
on the one who comes in the name of the LORD !
10 Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our
ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!”
11 So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into
the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it
was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve
disciples.
12 The next morning as they were leaving
Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
13 He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a
little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there
were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit.
14 Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one
ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it.
15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem,
Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling
animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and
the chairs of those selling doves,
16 and he stopped everyone from using the
Temple as a marketplace.
17 He said to them, “The Scriptures
declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you
have turned it into a den of thieves.”
18 When the leading priests and teachers of
religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him.
But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching.
19 That evening Jesus and the disciples
left the city.
20 The next morning as they passed by the
fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots
up.
21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to
the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you
cursed has withered and died!”
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have
faith in God.
23 I tell you the truth, you can say to
this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will
happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your
heart.
24 I tell you, you can pray for anything,
and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
25 But when you are praying, first forgive
anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will
forgive your sins, too. ”
26
27 Again they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus
was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of
religious law, and the elders came up to him.
28 They demanded, “By what authority are
you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?”
29 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do
these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied.
30 “Did John’s authority to baptize come
from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer me!”
31 They talked it over among themselves.
“If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John.
32 But do we dare say it was merely human?”
For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed
that John was a prophet.
33 So they finally replied, “We don’t
know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these
things.”
Mark 12
1 Then Jesus began teaching them with
stories: “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for
pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the
vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.
2 At the time of the grape harvest, he
sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop.
3 But the farmers grabbed the servant,
beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed.
4 The owner then sent another servant, but
they insulted him and beat him over the head.
5 The next servant he sent was killed.
Others he sent were either beaten or killed,
6 until there was only one left—his son
whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will
respect my son.’
7 “But the tenant farmers said to one
another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate
for ourselves!’
8 So they grabbed him and murdered him and
threw his body out of the vineyard.
9 “What do you suppose the owner of the
vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those
farmers and lease the vineyard to others.
10 Didn’t you ever read this in the
Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the
cornerstone.
11 This is the ’s doing, and it is
wonderful to see.’ ”
12 The religious leaders wanted to arrest
Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the
wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went
away.
13 Later the leaders sent some Pharisees
and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could
be arrested.
14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know how
honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way
of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
15 Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?”
Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you trying to trap me?
Show me a Roman coin, and I’ll tell you.”
16 When they handed it to him, he asked,
“Whose picture and title are stamped on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 “Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to
Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” His reply
completely amazed them.
18 Then Jesus was approached by some
Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead.
They posed this question:
19 “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a
man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow
and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.
20 Well, suppose there were seven brothers.
The oldest one married and then died without children.
21 So the second brother married the widow,
but he also died without children. Then the third brother married her.
22 This continued with all seven of them,
and still there were no children. Last of all, the woman also died.
23 So tell us, whose wife will she be in
the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”
24 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you
don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.
25 For when the dead rise, they will
neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the
angels in heaven.
26 “But now, as to whether the dead will be
raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story
of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to
Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
27 So he is the God of the living, not the
dead. You have made a serious error.”
28 One of the teachers of religious law was
standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered
well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 Jesus replied, “The most important
commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The our God is the one and only .
30 And you must love the your God with all
your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’
31 The second is equally important: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
32 The teacher of religious law replied,
“Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one
God and no other.
33 And I know it is important to love him
with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my
neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt
offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
34 Realizing how much the man understood,
Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that,
no one dared to ask him any more questions.
35 Later, as Jesus was teaching the people
in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the teachers of religious law claim that the
Messiah is the son of David?
36 For David himself, speaking under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, ‘The said to my Lord, Sit in the place of
honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’
37 Since David himself called the Messiah
‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” The large crowd listened to him
with great delight.
38 Jesus also taught: “Beware of these
teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and
receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces.
39 And how they love the seats of honor in
the synagogues and the head table at banquets.
40 Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of
their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public.
Because of this, they will be more severely punished.”
41 Jesus sat down near the collection box in
the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people
put in large amounts.
42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in
two small coins.
43 Jesus called his disciples to him and
said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others
who are making contributions.
44 For they gave a tiny part of their
surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”
Friday, September 16, 2016
Mark 10
Jesus' Ministry in Judea and Perea (ch. 10)
- Teaching concerning Divorce (10:1-12)
- Teaching concerning Children (10:13-16)
- The Rich Young Man (10:17-31)
- A Request of Two Brothers (10:32-45)
- Restoration of Bartimaeus's Sight (10:46-52)
Mark 10
1 Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down
to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again
crowds gathered around him, and as usual he was teaching them.
2 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap
him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus answered them with a question:
“What did Moses say in the law about divorce?”
4 “Well, he permitted it,” they replied.
“He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her
away.”
5 But Jesus responded, “He wrote this
commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts.
6 But ‘God made them male and female’ from
the beginning of creation.
7 ‘This explains why a man leaves his
father and mother and is joined to his wife,
8 and the two are united into one.’ Since
they are no longer two but one,
9 let no one split apart what God has
joined together.”
10 Later, when he was alone with his
disciples in the house, they brought up the subject again.
11 He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife
and marries someone else commits adultery against her.
12 And if a woman divorces her husband and
marries someone else, she commits adultery.”
13 One day some parents brought their
children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded
the parents for bothering him.
14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he
was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me.
Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these
children.
15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t
receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
16 Then he took the children in his arms
and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.
17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to
Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked.
“Only God is truly good.
19 But to answer your question, you know
the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must
not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your
father and mother.’ ”
20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed
all these commandments since I was young.”
21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine
love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and
sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went
away sad, for he had many possessions.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his
disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!”
24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again,
“Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God.
25 In 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!”
26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who
in the world can be saved?” they asked.
27 Jesus looked at them intently and said,
“Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible
with God.”
28 Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve
given up everything to follow you,” he said.
29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you
that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father
or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News,
30 will receive now in return a hundred
times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along
with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.
31 But many who are the greatest now will
be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the
greatest then. ”
32 They were now on the way up to
Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with
awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the
twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was
about to happen to him.
33 “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to
Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the
teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to
the Romans.
34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog
him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.”
35 Then James and John, the sons of
Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do
us a favor.”
36 “What is your request?” he asked.
37 They replied, “When you sit on your
glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your
right and the other on your left.”
38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know
what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I
am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I
must be baptized with?”
39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized
with my baptism of suffering.
40 But I have no right to say who will sit
on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has
chosen.”
41 When the ten other disciples heard what
James and John had asked, they were indignant.
42 So Jesus called them together and said,
“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and
officials flaunt their authority over those under them.
43 But among you it will be different.
Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,
44 and whoever wants to be first among you
must be the slave of everyone else.
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus
and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named
Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road.
47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of
Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at
him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and
said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they
said. “Come on, he’s calling you!”
50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped
up, and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?”
Jesus asked. “My Rabbi, ” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your
faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down
the road.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Mark 9:30-50
- Final Ministry in Galilee (9:30-50)
Mark 9
30 Leaving that region, they traveled
through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there,
31 for he wanted to spend more time with
his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be
betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later
he will rise from the dead.”
32 They didn’t understand what he was
saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
33 After they arrived at Capernaum and
settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on
the road?”
34 But they didn’t answer, because they had
been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
35 He sat down, called the twelve disciples
over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be
the servant of everyone else.”
36 Then he put a little child among them.
Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,
37 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like
this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me
but also my Father who sent me.”
38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw
someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he
wasn’t in our group.”
39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one
who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me.
40 Anyone who is not against us is for us.
41 If anyone gives you even a cup of water
because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will
surely be rewarded.
42 “But if you cause one of these little
ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown
into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck.
43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it
off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the
unquenchable fires of hell with two hands.
44 and 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it
off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown
into hell with two feet.
46 and 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge
it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have
two eyes and be thrown into hell,
48 ‘where the maggots never die and the
fire never goes out.’
49 “For everyone will be tested with fire.
50 Salt is good for seasoning. But if it
loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities
of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Mark 6:30 to 9:29
Strategic Withdrawals from Galilee (6:30;9:29)
- To the Eastern Shore of the Sea of Galilee (6:30-52)
- To the Western Shore of the Sea (6:53;7:23)
- To Syrian Phoenicia (7:24-30)
- To the Region of the Decapolis (7:31;8:10)
- To the Vicinity of Caesarea Philippi (8:11-30)
- To the Mount of Transfiguration (8:31;9:29)
Mark 6
30 The apostles returned to Jesus from
their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught.
31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by
ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so
many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time
to eat.
32 So they left by boat for a quiet place,
where they could be alone.
33 But many people recognized them and saw
them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got
there ahead of them.
34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped
from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep
without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came
to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late.
36 Send the crowds away so they can go to
the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”
37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With
what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy
food for all these people!”
38 “How much bread do you have?” he asked.
“Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread
and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus told the disciples to have
the people sit down in groups on the green grass.
40 So they sat down in groups of fifty or a
hundred.
41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish,
looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into
pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it
to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share.
42 They all ate as much as they wanted,
43 and afterward, the disciples picked up
twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.
44 A total of 5,000 men and their families
were fed.
45 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted
that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to
Bethsaida, while he sent the people home.
46 After telling everyone good-bye, he went
up into the hills by himself to pray.
47 Late that night, the disciples were in
their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land.
48 He saw that they were in serious
trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three
o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He
intended to go past them,
49 but when they saw him walking on the
water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost.
50 They were all terrified when they saw
him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take
courage! I am here! ”
51 Then he climbed into the boat, and the
wind stopped. They were totally amazed,
52 for they still didn’t understand the
significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take
it in.
53 After they had crossed the lake, they
landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore
54 and climbed out. The people recognized
Jesus at once,
55 and they ran throughout the whole area,
carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was.
56 Wherever he went—in villages, cities, or
the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him
to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him
were healed.
Mark 7
1 One day some Pharisees and teachers of
religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.
2 They noticed that some of his disciples
failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.
3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do
not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by
their ancient traditions.
4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from
the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many
traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups,
pitchers, and kettles. )
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of
religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old
tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah
was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me
with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship is a farce, for they teach
man-made ideas as commands from God.’
8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute
your own tradition.”
9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep
God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.
10 For instance, Moses gave you this law
from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks
disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’
11 But you say it is all right for people
to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to
God what I would have given to you.’
12 In this way, you let them disregard
their needy parents.
13 And so you cancel the word of God in
order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many
others.”
14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come
and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand.
15 It’s not what goes into your body that
defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart. ”
16
17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away
from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had
just used.
18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked.
“Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?
19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but
only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this,
he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)
20 And then he added, “It is what comes
from inside that defiles you.
21 For from within, out of a person’s
heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit,
lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
23 All these vile things come from within;
they are what defile you.”
24 Then Jesus left Galilee and went north
to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying
in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret.
25 Right away a woman who had heard about
him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit,
26 and she begged him to cast out the demon
from her daughter. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia,
27 Jesus told her, “First I should feed the
children—my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
28 She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but
even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s
plates.”
29 “Good answer!” he said. “Now go home,
for the demon has left your daughter.”
30 And when she arrived home, she found her
little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.
31 Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon
before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.
32 A deaf man with a speech impediment was
brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal
him.
33 Jesus led him away from the crowd so
they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on
his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.
34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed and
said, which means, “Be opened!”
35 Instantly the man could hear perfectly,
and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!
36 Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone,
but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news.
37 They were completely amazed and said
again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to
hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”
Mark 8
1 About this time another large crowd had
gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and
told them,
2 “I feel sorry for these people. They
have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat.
3 If I send them home hungry, they will faint
along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples replied, “How are we
supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”
5 Jesus asked, “How much bread do you
have?” “Seven loaves,” they replied.
6 So Jesus told all the people to sit down
on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke
them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to
the crowd.
7 A few small fish were found, too, so
Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.
8 They ate as much as they wanted.
Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.
9 There were about 4,000 people in the
crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten.
10 Immediately after this, he got into a
boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had
arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded
that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
12 When he heard this, he sighed deeply in
his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I
tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.”
13 So he got back into the boat and left
them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.
14 But the disciples had forgotten to bring
any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat.
15 As they were crossing the lake, Jesus
warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
16 At this they began to argue with each
other because they hadn’t brought any bread.
17 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he
said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand
even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in?
18 ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have
ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all?
19 When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of
bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?” “Twelve,” they
said.
20 “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven
loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?” “Seven,” they
said.
21 “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked
them.
22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some
people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and
heal him.
23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and
led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands
on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”
24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said,
“I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking
around.”
25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s
eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he
could see everything clearly.
26 Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go
back into the village on your way home.”
27 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and
went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he
asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the
Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”
29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say
I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah. ”
30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone
about him.
31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the
Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the
leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but
three days later he would rise from the dead.
32 As he talked about this openly with his
disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such
things.
33 Jesus turned around and looked at his
disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are
seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
34 Then, calling the crowd to join his
disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from
your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.
35 If you try to hang on to your life, you
will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the
Good News, you will save it.
36 And what do you benefit if you gain the
whole world but lose your own soul?
37 Is anything worth more than your soul?
38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my
message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of
that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 9
1 Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the
truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of
God arrive in great power!”
2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James,
and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched,
Jesus’ appearance was transformed,
3 and his clothes became dazzling white,
far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them.
4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began
talking with Jesus.
5 Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful
for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials —one for you, one for
Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6 He said this because he didn’t really
know what else to say, for they were all terrified.
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a
voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses
and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.
9 As they went back down the mountain, he
told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen
from the dead.
10 So they kept it to themselves, but they
often asked each other what he meant by “rising from the dead.”
11 Then they asked him, “Why do the
teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah
comes? ”
12 Jesus responded, “Elijah is indeed
coming first to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the
Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt?
13 But I tell you, Elijah has already come,
and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted.”
14 When they returned to the other disciples,
they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law
were arguing with them.
15 When the crowd saw Jesus, they were
overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him.
16 “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus
asked.
17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and
said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an
evil spirit that won’t let him talk.
18 And whenever this spirit seizes him, it
throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his
teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit,
but they couldn’t do it.”
19 Jesus said to them, “You faithless
people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the
boy to me.”
20 So they brought the boy. But when the
evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he
fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.
21 “How long has this been happening?”
Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy.
22 The spirit often throws him into the
fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you
can.”
23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus
asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
24 The father instantly cried out, “I do
believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the crowd of
onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that
makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out
of this child and never enter him again!”
26 Then the spirit screamed and threw the
boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead.
A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and
helped him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the
house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil
spirit?”
29 Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast
out only by prayer. ”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)