The Gospel of Mark is anonymous. Eusebius, the early church historian, writing in AD 326, preserved the words of Papias, an early church father. Papias quoted “the elder,” probably John, as saying that Mark recorded Peter’s preaching about the things Jesus said and did, but not in order. Thus, Mark was considered the author of this Gospel even in the first century.
The Mark who wrote this Gospel was John Mark, the son of a widow named Mary, in whose house the church in Jerusalem sometimes gathered (Ac 12:12-17) and where Jesus possibly ate the Last Supper with his disciples. Mark was the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10), and he accompanied Barnabas and Paul back to Antioch after their famine relief mission to Jerusalem (Ac 12:25). Mark next went with Barnabas and Paul on part of the first missionary journey as an assistant (Ac 13:5), but at Perga, Mark turned back (Ac 13:13).
When the apostle Peter wrote to the churches in Asia Minor shortly before his martyrdom, he sent greetings from Mark, whom he called “my son” (1Pt 5:13). Then shortly before his execution, Paul asked Timothy to “Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry” (2Tm 4:11). After Paul’s execution, Mark is said to have moved to Egypt, established churches, and served them in Alexandria (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., 2:16). Some have suggested the young man in Mark 14:51-52 was Mark himself.
According to the early church fathers, Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome just before or just after Peter’s martyrdom. Further confirmation of the Roman origin of Mark’s Gospel is found in Mark 15:21 where Mark noted that Simon, a Cyrenian who carried Jesus’s cross, was the father of Alexander and Rufus, men apparently known to the believers in Rome.
Because Mark wrote primarily for Roman Gentiles, he explained Jewish customs, translated Aramaic words and phrases into Greek, used Latin terms rather than their Greek equivalents, and rarely quoted from the OT. Most Bible scholars are convinced that Mark was the earliest Gospel and served as one of the sources for Matthew and Luke.
Many concepts of the Messiah existed in Jesus’s day, and several individuals laid claim to the title. What Mark contributes is a clarification of the concept of Messiah and a redefining of the term. Peter’s insightful confession at Caesarea Philippi in 8:29 became the turning point at which Jesus began to explain that the divine conception of the Messiah involved rejection, suffering, death, and then resurrection (8:31). Mark also shows us the human side of Jesus. In fact, more than the other Gospel writers, Mark emphasizes Jesus’s human side and his emotions. Thus Mark gives us a strong picture of both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus.
Mark’s Gospel begins with a Prologue (1:1-13), which is then followed by three major sections. The first (1:14–8:21) tells of Jesus’s Galilean ministry. There Jesus healed and cast out demons and worked miracles. The second section (8:22–10:52) is transitional. Jesus began his journey that would take him to Jerusalem. The final section (11:1–16:8) involves a week in Jerusalem. From the time Jesus entered the city he was at odds with the religious leaders, who quickly brought about his execution. A brief appendix (16:9-20) in which some of Jesus’s appearances, his commissioning of his disciples, and his ascension are recorded is attached to the Gospel.
In Mark’s Gospel, after Jesus endured the wilderness temptations, he commenced his ministry by announcing two leading commands: “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk 1:15). This is the sum and substance of Jesus Christ’s whole teaching—the Alpha and Omega of his entire ministry. And, coming from the lips of such a One, at such a time, with such peculiar power, we are to give heed to his twofold command. To “repent” is more than a mere change of mind. There must be sorrow for sin and hatred of it in true repentance, for the repentance Jesus proclaimed was in keeping with “the good news.” Thus we have the second half of his command: “Believe the good news.” The repentance we ought to proclaim is one connected with faith. Repentance and faith must be proclaimed together, for the repentance Jesus commanded is the result of faith. It is the repentance that ejects sin as an evil tenant and the faith that admits Christ to be the sole Master of one’s heart. This was Jesus’s message, and it should be that of his followers.
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. A 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: B
See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
3A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight! E
4 John came baptizing F in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
7 He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with G water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.
14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news H,I of God: 15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news! ”
16 As he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen. 17 “Follow me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for J people.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
QUOTE 1:17
Our business is not to entice a fish to swallow the bait but to cast the net all around us and lift sinners out of the element in which they lie, into the boat where Christ is.
21 They went into Capernaum, and right away he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. 22 They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.
23 Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, 24 “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God! ”
25 Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him! ” 26 And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.
27 They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other: “What is this? A new teaching with authority! A He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew’s house with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 So he went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, B and she began to serve them.
32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town was assembled at the door, 34 and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying. 36 Simon and his companions searched for him, 37 and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
38 And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”
39 He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. 40 Then a man with leprosy C came to him and, on his knees, D begged him: “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with compassion, E Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 Then he sternly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” A 45 Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.
1:14 “After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news.” The loss of John was the means of bringing out Jesus. When one servant of God is laid aside, it is a call to the rest to be the more earnest.
1:17 “I will make you fish for people.” I have sometimes heard the comparison drawn as though believers had a hook and a line, which they do not. Our business is not to entice a fish to swallow the bait but to cast the net all around us and lift sinners out of the element in which they lie, into the boat where Christ is.
1:24 “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” The lost still cry out these words against the message of the gospel. Whenever believers proclaim the truth of God, this old cry will still be heard.
1:26 “And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions.” If Satan must come out of a person, he will do that person as much mischief as he can before he departs.
1:29 “They went into Simon and Andrew’s house.” Jesus was a house-to-house missionary as well as an open-air preacher and a synagogue preacher. There is much good to be done by those who know how to visit and to look after individual cases.
1:31 “She began to serve them.” I am sure that whenever the Lord helps any of his people out of their temporal or spiritual distresses, they feel at once that they must say, “How can I repay the Lord for all the good he has done for me?” Her serving them proved that the fever was gone—and gone in a way it does not ordinarily go, for fever usually leaves behind it extreme weakness. Jesus’s cures are always complete. If he saves us from the burning fever, he saves us from the weakness that follows it. And when he deals with soul maladies, his cures are equally complete—there are no after-effects to the soul as there are in many diseases that afflict the body. When the great physician restores the soul, he restores it completely.
1:32 “When evening came, after the sun had set.” It was the Sabbath, and they would not bring out their sick until the day of rest was over. The Jewish Sabbath ended at the setting of the sun, so these people were all watching and waiting until the sun dipped below the horizon, and then the whole city was turned into a hospital.
1:35 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.” Jesus’s hard day’s work probably ran on far into the night (vv. 32-34). Yet, “very early in the morning, while it was still dark,” Jesus was up at the sacred work of prayer. The more work we have to do with people for God, the longer we ought to be at work with God for them. If we plead with people, we cannot hope to prevail unless we first plead with God. And, inasmuch as our Lord had great success the day before, it teaches us that the greatest success does not release us from the necessity of still waiting on God in prayer.
1:40 “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” It is a pity this leper could not go further than to say to Jesus, “If you are willing,” but it is a great mercy that he could go as far as that. So if we cannot pray a prayer that is full of faith, we should pray one that has at least some faith in it. If we cannot go as far as some do, we should go as far as we can.
1:44-45 “See that you say nothing to anyone; . . . He went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news.” This leper was disobedient to Christ—perhaps we might think he was naturally and excusably so—but we must never make excuses for doing what Jesus tells us not to do! Our duty is not to judge whether such and such a course will be profitable or beneficial but to consider whether such and such a course is in accordance with the word of the Lord. This man ought to have held his tongue, for Jesus had told him to do so. I have no doubt that he said within himself, “The more I talk about this miracle, the more good I will do and the more famous Jesus’s name will become.” But he had no business to think that—his business was to obey Jesus’s command. The result of his disobedience was that there were such crowds that Jesus could not work his miracles of healing. The disobedient man hindered Jesus’s work. The best proof of our gratitude is to do exactly as Jesus bids us.
A 1:1 Some mss omit the Son of God
B 1:2 Other mss read in the prophets
C 1:2 Other mss add before you
F 1:4 Or John the Baptist came
H 1:14 Other mss add of the kingdom
J 1:17 Or you to become fishers of
A 1:27 Other mss read ”What is this? What is this new teaching? For with authority
C 1:40 Gk lepros ; a term for various skin diseases, also in v. 42; see Lv 13–14
D 1:40 Other mss omit on his knees
2When he entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them. 3 They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to B Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: 7 “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? ”
8 Right away Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he told the paralytic — 11 “I tell you: get up, take your mat, and go home.”
12 Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this! ”
13 Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 Then, passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the toll booth, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.
15 While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating A with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. 16 When the scribes who were Pharisees B saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat C with tax collectors and sinners? ”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees D were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast? ”
19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the time E will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”
23 On the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? ”
25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry — 26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence — which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests — and also gave some to his companions? ” 27 Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for F man and not man for the Sabbath. 28 So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
2:2 “So many people gathered together that there was no more room, . . . and he was speaking the word to them.” Although human beings in their natural state of heart are opposed to the gospel, yet they are drawn to hear it. Even though they abhor it, yet often they cannot help listening to it.
2:4 “They removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat.” Where there is a will, there is a way; and when there is no way, a resolute will can make one. Better to come to Jesus through the ceiling than not to come at all. Better to be let down to Jesus by a rope than not to be in his presence.
2:5 “Seeing their faith.” We do not read that they had said anything; and, therefore, they had not expressed their faith; yet this bold and adventurous action in breaking up the roof and letting all the dust fall about the Savior’s head, not fearing that they would provoke him but trusting in his gentleness and patience, showed their confidence that they had only to get the man where Jesus could see him and good would come of it. Jesus blessed this man because of the faith of the four who carried him and, possibly, because of his own faith. “Your sins are forgiven.” This was laying the axe at the root because sin is at the bottom of sorrow; and where sin is pardoned, even the effects of sin will be removed.
2:14 “He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the toll booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’” Here is a change in the method of Jesus displaying his power. To the paralytic he said, “Get up, take your mat, and go home.” But to the man engaged in a calling that degraded him, Jesus said, “Follow me,” and “he got up and followed him.”
2:24 “Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” According to some rabbis, someone could pick an ear of wheat on the Sabbath, but if he rubbed it between his hands, they said that was a kind of labor that must not be performed on the Sabbath. These disciples were, therefore, according to them, chargeable with sin because they had plucked ears of grain and had performed the operation of threshing them on the Sabbath. And we have some of that sort of folk living now who take the smallest matter, which is altogether insignificant, and in which there is neither good nor harm, and magnify and distort it—and then make a person a grave offender all for next to nothing.
B 2:4 Other mss read able to get near
B 2:16 Other mss read scribes and Pharisees
C 2:16 Other mss add and drink
D 2:18 Other mss read The disciples of John and of the Pharisees
3Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a shriveled hand. 2 In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill? ” But they were silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.
7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, and a large crowd followed from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing. 9 Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him. 10 Since he had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God! ” 12 And he would strongly warn them not to make him known.
13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, A to be with him, to send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to B drive out demons. 16 He appointed the Twelve: C To Simon, he gave the name Peter; 17 and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, he gave the name “Boanerges” (that is, “Sons of Thunder”); 18 Andrew; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
20 Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. D 21 When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He’s out of his mind.”
22 The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
23 So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” E — 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and told him, “Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters F are outside asking for you.”
33 He replied to them, “Who are my mother and my brothers? ” 34 Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
3:5 “After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’” A man was present in the synagogue who had a shriveled hand. In the same synagogue was the Savior, ready to restore to that hand all its known force. What a fortunate meeting! The Pharisees sat watching Jesus, not to be delighted by an act of his power but to find something for which they might accuse him. When it was all over, the most they would be able to allege would be that Jesus had healed a shriveled hand on the Sabbath. The Savior put plainly before them the question, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil?” The question only allowed one reply. But they declined to answer one of the simplest questions in morals. They had looked on him; now he looked on them. In that look were two things: anger and grief—indignation and inward sorrow. Jesus was angry that they should willingly blind their eyes to a truth so plain. He had put to them a question to which there could only be one answer, and they would not give it. Mingled with his anger was grief. He was heartbroken because of “the hardness of their hearts.” Their blind enmity grieved him because it was securing their own destruction. But his anger ended with that look; he spoke no word of rebuke. Jesus did not speak a word, and yet he said more without words than another person could have said with words. He saved his words for the man with the shriveled hand: “Stretch out your hand.” What a disgrace to our race, for people to be so inhuman as to wish to see a fellow human being remain deformed and to dare to blame the gentle physician who was about to make him perfectly whole! Humans indeed are at enmity with God when they find an argument for hate in a deed of love.
A 3:14 Other mss omit he also named them apostles
B 3:15 Other mss add heal diseases, and to
C 3:16 Other mss omit He appointed the Twelve
D 3:20 Or eat a meal ; lit eat bread
4Again he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore. 2 He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.” 9 Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”
QUOTE 4:5
Persons with shallow characters are often quick in receiving religious impressions, but they also lose them just as quickly. Those who are hasty and impulsive are as easily turned the wrong way as the right way.
10 When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve, asked him about the parables. 11 He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables 12 so that
they may indeed look,
and yet not perceive;
they may indeed listen,
and yet not understand;
otherwise, they might turn back
13 Then he said to them: “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them. C 16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away. 18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness D of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
QUOTE 4:15
We may delay but Satan never does.
21 He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself — first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”
33 He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.
35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die? ”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still! ” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? ”
41 And they were terrified A and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him! ”
4:3 “The sower who went out to sow.” Every true believer should go out with this one design—to scatter the good seed of the kingdom and to try to obtain for it an entrance into the hearts of their hearers.
4:4 “Some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.” The sower could not help that. It was not his fault but the fault of the hard path and of the birds. So when the word of God is denied entrance into people’s hearts, the witness will not be blamed by his or her Master; the fault lies between the hard heart that will not let the seed enter in and Satan who came and took it away.
4:5 “It grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep.” Persons with shallow characters are often quick in receiving religious impressions, but they also lose them just as quickly. Those who are hasty and impulsive are as easily turned the wrong way as the right way.
4:8 “Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit.” There were three failures but one success, or perhaps we might more correctly say three successes. Three sorts of ground yielded nothing, but at last the sower came to a piece of soil that had been well prepared and, therefore, was good ground that yielded fruit, though the quantity varied even there—“thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.”
4:15 “When they hear, immediately Satan comes.” Satan is prompt. We may delay but Satan never does.
4:17 “They are short-lived.” The sower in the parable is not blamed because his work was lacking. As the soil was so shallow, the apparent result was quick, and the disappointment was equally quick. I do trust that we will never be satisfied with temporary godliness, with slight impressions soon received and soon lost.
4:19 “Other things enter in and choke the word.” How can there be room for Christ in the inn when it is crowded with other guests?
4:25 “Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Some have been made worse by the preaching of that word that ought to have made them better.
4:39 “There was a great calm.” Have any of us ever felt “a great calm”? It is much more than ordinary peace of mind—it is to one’s heart as if there were no further possibilities of fear. One’s troubles have so completely gone that such a person can scarcely remember them. There is no one but the Lord himself who can speak so to produce “a great calm.”
4:41 “They were terrified.” They went from one fear to another, but this time it was the fear of awe—a hallowed dread of what might happen to a ship that had such a mysterious person on board. It seemed to them a fearsome thing to be in the presence of One who had such power over the raging elements.
5They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. A 2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore — not even with a chain — 4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me! ” 8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit! ”
9 “What is your name? ” he asked him.
“My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.
11 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons B begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.
QUOTE 5:13
The devil cannot enter even a pig without Christ’s permission. So he cannot tempt us without our Lord’s permission. We may rest assured that even this great monster of evil is under Christ’s control. He cannot bother us unless Jesus gives him permission.
14 The men who tended them C ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. 17 Then they began to beg him to leave their region.
18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. 19 Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.
21 When Jesus had crossed over again by boat A to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the sea. 22 One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and begged him earnestly, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she can get well B and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against him.
25 Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years 26 had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. 27 Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. 28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.” 29 Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
30 At once Jesus realized in himself that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes? ”
31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me? ’ ”
32 But he was looking around to see who had done this. 33 The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”
35 While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore? ”
36 When Jesus overheard C what was said, he told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” 37 He did not let anyone accompany him except Peter, James, and John, James’s brother. 38 They came to the leader’s house, and he saw a commotion — people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 They laughed at him, but he put them all outside. He took the child’s father, mother, and those who were with him, and entered the place where the child was. 41 Then he took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum” A (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up”). 42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (She was twelve years old.) At this they were utterly astounded. 43 Then he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and told them to give her something to eat.
5:2 “A man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs.” Those ancient graveyards were in remote places, for the people were too wise to bury their dead inside their cities. Often the tombs were hewn in caverns in the sides of hills and rocks where the dead were laid. Every person who touched a tomb was thereby ceremonially defiled, so the tombs were fit places for an unclean person possessed by an unclean spirit.
5:3-4 “No one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain. . . . No one was strong enough to subdue him.” See how the world deals with furiously guilty people. It tries to fetter them or to tame them, to keep them in check by fear of punishment or to subdue them to a gentleness of morality. Christ neither binds nor tames; he changes and renews.
5:12 “The demons begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs.’” It is clear from this narrative that the demons knew Jesus was the Son of the Most High God and that he had absolute power to do with them whatever he pleased. It is also clear that they believed in prayer and that they were all agreed in what they asked of him—and it is significant that Jesus granted their request.
5:13 “So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs.” The devil cannot enter even a pig without Christ’s permission. So he cannot tempt us without our Lord’s permission. We may rest assured that even this great monster of evil is under Christ’s control. He cannot bother us unless Jesus gives him permission.
5:17 “Then they began to beg him to leave their region.” Here is a second prayer in which many united—a foolish and wicked prayer—yet the Savior did as these people wished. He would not force his company on those who wanted him to go, so he at once turned his face to the boat that he might leave their region.
5:18-19 “The man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him.” This is the third prayer in this chapter. Not like the two previous ones, it was the passionate request of one who was so grateful for what Jesus had done for him that he longed to be always with him. Yet it was not granted because Jesus saw that the man could serve him better by bearing testimony to the great things the Lord had done for him among those who knew him. “And how he has had mercy on you.” That is one of the chief points on which we ought always to speak—not only to tell of the greatness of the change that the grace of God has worked in us but especially to testify to the mercy of God toward us.
5:22 “One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.” It was an unusual thing for a ruler of the synagogue to be at Jesus’s feet, yet that is the best place for us all. If God has placed any of us in an eminent position, it will do us well to fall at Jesus’s feet as Jairus did. What brought Jairus there? It was his great need, and that is what will bring us there.
5:23 “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she can get well and live.” Oh, that we all prayed thus for our little daughters and our little sons! There is sin in them, and sin means spiritual death.
5:25-28 “A woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years . . . came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. For she said, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.’” The child of Jairus had been twelve years living, and this woman had been twelve years dying, so if Christ could heal the woman who had been twelve years dying, he could raise the child who had been twelve years living. Although Jairus seemed strong in faith, he was not really so. He put the best side of his faith forward, while this woman, who was strong in faith, yet coming behind Christ and touching him, as it were, by stealth, put the worst side of her faith forward. We have known this to be the case in others—some who seem to be strong in faith are none too strong. And some who seem to be weak in faith are much stronger than they seem.
5:35 “People came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, ‘Your daughter is dead.’” This ruler of the synagogue was on the brink of getting the blessing he sought, and then the worst news came to him. It may be that just now some of us have seemed to receive the sentence of death to all our hopes, yet we are on the verge of getting the blessing.
5:40 “He put them all outside.” That was the best way to answer the scorners. It is no good arguing with people who can cry or laugh to order or on command.
5:43 “Give her something to eat.” When life is given or restored, the next thing needed is nourishment. When anyone is made spiritually alive, he or she should be sure to attend a soul-feeding ministry—and diligently read the Word of God—that he may get all necessary nourishment for his soul out of it.
A 5:1 Some mss read Gadarenes ; other mss read Gergesenes
B 5:12 Other mss read All the demons
6He left there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things? ” they said. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are these miracles performed by his hands? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us? ” So they were offended by him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.” 5 He was not able to do a miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. He was going around the villages teaching.
7 He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a staff — no bread, no traveling bag, no money in their belts, 9 but to wear sandals and not put on an extra shirt. 10 He said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. 11 If any place does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” B 12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
14 King Herod heard about it, because Jesus’s name had become well known. Some C said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He’s Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet, like one of the prophets from long ago.”
16 When Herod heard of it, he said, “John, the one I beheaded, has been raised! ”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed, D and yet he liked to listen to him.
21 An opportune time came on his birthday, when Herod gave a banquet for his nobles, military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When Herodias’s own daughter A came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 He promised her with an oath: “Whatever you ask me I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for? ”
“John the Baptist’s head,” she said.
25 At once she hurried to the king and said, “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head on a platter immediately.” 26 Although the king was deeply distressed, because of his oaths and the guests B he did not want to refuse her. 27 The king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring John’s head. So he went and beheaded him in prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When John’s disciples heard about it, they came and removed his corpse and placed it in a tomb.
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
32 So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, 33 but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. C
34 When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.
35 When it grew late, his disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late. 36 Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”
37 “You give them something to eat,” he responded.
They said to him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii D worth of bread and give them something to eat? ”
38 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 Everyone ate and was satisfied. 43 They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish. 44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men.
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain to pray. 47 Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 He saw them straining at the oars, A because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning B he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them. 49 When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded, 52 because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.
53 When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret and anchored there.
54 As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him. 55 They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end of his robe. And everyone who touched it was healed.
6:20 “Herod feared John and protected him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.” Herod was a great monarch; John was only a poor preacher whose garment and diet were of the coarsest kind. But “Herod feared John.” Observe the good things said about Herod. First, Herod protected John. Herodias wanted to kill John (v. 19). Second, Herod respected righteousness and holiness. Herod respected virtue even if he, himself, did not have it. Third, Herod also admired the specific person in whom he saw righteousness and holiness. This is a step further, for one may admire an abstract virtue, and yet, when one actually sees it embodied in a person, he may hate him. A fourth good point about Herod was that he listened to John—in fact, “he liked to listen to him.”
But Herod had serious flaws. First, even though he liked to listen to John’s preaching, “When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed.” He could not go the whole length John would have him go. He halted between two opinions. He hesitated. He wavered. Second, though he feared John, he never looked to John’s Master. It is easy to hear and admire the preacher while the preacher’s Master remains unknown. Third, even though Herod admired goodness in another, there was none of it in himself. Herod was a fox of a man—selfish, full of tricks, and cruel. Another flaw in Herod’s character was that he never loved the word of God as God’s word. He admired John, but he never said to himself, “God sent John. God speaks to me through John.” He did not receive the testimony of John as the word of God. Finally, it is not said that Herod feared God but that he “feared John.” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of true wisdom.
Herod ended most wretchedly. He murdered the preacher whom he once respected. After a time people dislike being rebuked, and they proceed in their dislike until they scoff at the things they once reverenced. Herod feared John and yet he beheaded him. This Herod Antipas was the man who afterwards mocked the Savior. In the end Herod was recalled in disgrace by the Roman emperor. Such was the end of Herod who listened to John but did not heed his words.
B 6:11 Other mss add Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom or Gomorrah on judgment day than for that town.
D 6:20 Other mss read When he heard him, he did many things
A 6:22 Other mss read When his daughter Herodias
B 6:26 Lit and those reclining at the table
C 6:33 Other mss add and gathered around him
D 6:37 A denarius = one day’s wage
A 6:48 Or them being battered as they rowed
B 6:48 Lit Around the fourth watch of the night = 3 to 6 a.m.
7The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him. 2 They observed that some of his disciples were eating bread with unclean — that is, unwashed — hands. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches. C) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ceremonially unclean D hands? ”
6 He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
7They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines human commands. E
8 Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.” F 9 He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up G your tradition! 10 For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; H and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. I 11 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is corban’ ” (that is, an offering devoted to God), 12 “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”
14 Summoning the crowd again, he told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” A
17 When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean B). 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, C slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”
24 He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre. D He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Instead, immediately after hearing about him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Gentile, E a Syrophoenician by birth, and she was asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
28 But she replied to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” 30 When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
31 Again, leaving the region of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through F the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. 33 So he took him away from the crowd in private. After putting his fingers in the man’s ears and spitting, he touched his tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha! ” A (that is, “Be opened! ”). 35 Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. 36 He ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.
37 They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
7:27-28 “‘It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ But she replied to him, ‘Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’” This Syrophoenician was a woman of amazing faith. She could not be put off from pleading for her little daughter because she believed Jesus was able to heal all manner of diseases, and she meant to beg him until he yielded to her importunity. Her faith was not hindered by an exclusive doctrine that appeared to confine the blessing to the children of Israel. She might have thought, “Then he is not sent to me. Vainly do I seek for that which he reserves for the Jews.” Her faith was not even hindered by a sense of admitted unworthiness. Jesus spoke of dogs—he meant that the Gentiles were to Israel as dogs—she did not at all dispute it but yielded the point. She felt she was only worthy to be compared to a dog! She did not expect to win the blessing she sought on account of any merit of her own—she depended on the goodness of Jesus’s heart, not on her goodness. Her faith was not hindered by the tone of Jesus’s reply, which for many would have depressed their hope and restrained their prayer. “It isn’t right,” said Jesus, “it is not becoming, it is not proper, it is hardly lawful to take children’s bread and throw it to dogs.” His words were enough to pour cold water on the flames of her hope, yet her faith was not quenched. It was a faith of that immortal kind that nothing can kill. Further, her faith assented to all Jesus said. He said, “Let the children be fed first,” and she does not dispute that. She entered into no argument against its being improper to take the bread from the children, the Jews, and give it to the uncircumcised heathen. She never wished Israel to be robbed for her. Dog as she was, she would not have any purpose of God or any propriety of the divine household shifted and changed for her. That is the faith that saves the soul, that agrees with the mind of God, even if it seemed adverse to herself—the faith that believes the revealed declarations of God whether they appear to be pleasant or terrible—the faith that assents to God’s word, whether it is like a balm to its wound or like a sword to cut and slay. Not only did she assent to all Jesus said, but she acknowledged him as “Lord.” Further, she does not say, “Put me among the children,” but she only asks to be treated as a dog is—“The dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” This woman’s argument was based on Jesus’s own premises. She does not proceed to lay down new premises or dispute the old ones. She accepts his statement and uses it to vanquish him. All she needed, all she desired, was the crumbs, not the children’s bread, only the dog’s crumbs. Finally, her faith won her cause; she gained her desire. Jesus was so delighted with the wise, prudent, humble, but courageous manner in which she answered that he said, “You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
C 7:4 Other mss omit and dining couches
D 7:5 Other mss read with unwashed
F 7:8 Other mss add The washing of jugs, and cups, and many other similar things you practice.
A 7:15 Some mss include v. 16: “If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.”
B 7:19 Other mss read is eliminated, making all foods clean”
8In those days there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat. He called the disciples and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed these people? ”
5 “How many loaves do you have? ” he asked them.
“Seven,” they said. 6 He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. So they served them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few small fish, and after he had blessed them, he said these were to be served as well. 8 They ate and were satisfied. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces. 9 About four thousand were there. He dismissed them. 10 And he immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side.
14 The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then he gave them strict orders: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven B of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. 17 Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts? 18 Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? C And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect? ”
“Twelve,” they told him.
20 “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect? ”
“Seven,” they said.
21 And he said to them, “Don’t you understand yet? ”
22 They came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything? ”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people — they look like trees walking.”
25 Again Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes. The man looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. 26 Then he sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.” A
27 Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am? ”
28 They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am? ”
Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” 30 And he strictly warned them to tell no one about him.
31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns B but human concerns.”
34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? 37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
8:4 “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed these people?” Why did they not ask their Master what he could do in such an emergency as that? After so much experience of his power as they had already had, it is amazing that they did not refer the matter to him. But they did not act wisely. Instead, they began questioning about ways and means.
8:8 “Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces.” Jesus is the great master of the art of multiplication. However small is the amount with which we begin, we have only to dedicate it all to him, and he will multiply and increase it until it will go far beyond our utmost expectations, and there will be more left over than there was before it began. Let us bring our small talents. For when we bring the little grace we have to Jesus, he can so increase it that we will never know any lack.
8:14-21 “The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat.” When there were only a few disciples on board the boat, why did they begin to distrust the Lord because they had only one loaf when he had made enough food for five thousand and for four thousand out of a few scanty loaves? Can we not learn from past experience? If the Lord has helped us before, is he not equally ready to help us again?
8:27 “Who do people say that I am?” It was Jesus’s usual way, when he took a walk with his disciples, to spend the time in holy conversation. It would be well if we always did the same. We might do much good, and we might get much good if we made our Lord Jesus the theme of our talks.
8:29 “‘But you,’ he asked them, ‘who do you say that I am?’” That is the main point. It matters little what others say about Jesus—whether they are right or wrong—but what is your opinion? “Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’” We know from Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus said his Father in heaven had revealed this to Peter.
9Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let us set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — 6 because he did not know what to say, since they were terrified.
7 A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him! ”
8 Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant.
11 Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? ”
12 “Elijah does come first and restores all things,” he replied. “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written about him.”
14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them. 15 When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him. 16 He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about? ”
17 Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”
19 He replied to them, “You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” 20 So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 “How long has this been happening to him? ” Jesus asked his father.
“From childhood,” he said. 22 “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’? A Everything is possible for the one who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief! ”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him A into terrible convulsions. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.
28 After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out? ”
29 And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.” B
30 Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it. 31 For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed C into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.” 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way? ” 34 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.” 36 He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes D one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone E driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”
39 “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ — truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.
42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
43 “And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire. A 45 And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. B 47 And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. C 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. D,E 50 Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
9:5 “It’s good for us to be here.” Peter had enough wit left to wish to stay where he was; and, sometimes, when we are with our Lord “in the mount” we can only say the same.
9:8 “They no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.” Moses is gone and Elijah is gone, but Jesus remains. And it is much the same with us now, and we are content that all others should go that we may have only Jesus.
9:9 “He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen.” All this glory and only three men to see it, and these three must be silent about it “until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”
9:12 “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things?” Notice that even when our Savior was answering his disciples’ question about Elijah and John the Baptist, he introduced into that answer something about his own death. That subject was always before his eyes—he never forgot it.
9:15 “When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him.” I think there must be some truth in the common tradition that the face of our Lord Jesus still shone with the light of the transfiguration. Surely it was not an amazement at the mere fact of seeing him whom they had so often seen. But his face, I don’t doubt, glowed as the face of Moses did when he came down from the mount. There is an attractive glory about Christ.
9:17 “I brought my son to you.” There is no case so bad that if we bring it to Jesus, he cannot meet it.
9:19 “You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you?” I suppose our Lord’s rebuke was meant especially for his disciples. Christ does not speak as if he were tired of his life and wished to get away from his disciples, but this is his way of saying how disappointed he is that these learners have learned so little. Unbelief is a great trouble to Christ. I never read that he said to the poor or to the sick, “How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?” I never read that he expressed any weariness of human ignorance, or scarcely even of human sin, but when it is a matter of unbelief, then it stings him, and he cries, “You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you?” Often he must derive more pain than pleasure from communion with many of his people. How grieved he must often be to see their slowness to learn, their readiness to forget, and the difficulty with which they can be brought to live the lessons he so carefully imparts to them.
9:22 “Have compassion on us and help us.” The father identified himself with his child. When fathers and mothers pray, they should use the plural, as this man did. That is the way to pray for every sinner we bring before Christ. We must join ourselves to the poor soul for whom we are pleading.
9:23 “Everything is possible for the one who believes.” In verse 22 the man said, “If you can do anything.” Even though it was almost covered up, the Savior still fastened on that one utterance of unbelief. Jesus replies in verse 23, “If you can?” Jesus said to him, “Everything is possible for the one who believes.” It is not “if I can” but “if you can.”
9:24 “The father of the boy cried out, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief!’” Here was faith, even though it was mixed with unbelief. It was a faith that made him pray, and the Lord Jesus Christ found that faith.
9:26 “Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him into terrible convulsions.” The devil knew he had to go out, so like a bad tenant, he did all the mischief he could before he left. Satan often acts in this fashion—just when Christ has come to cast him out, he drives the poor soul into deeper despair and, perhaps, into greater sin than he ever fell into in all his life.
9:28 “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Faith alone will not accomplish everything. Faith must be accompanied by prayer, and prayer must be, at least sometimes in special cases, attended with fasting.
9:34 “They had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.” It was a dreadful descent from communing with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration to meeting the furious demon at the foot of the hill—but this looks like a far greater descent—from the self-sacrifice of the divine Master to the petty jealousies and self-seeking of his chosen servants! Oh, sometimes it makes our hearts sick when we have been almost lost in rapturous meditation, when we have been taken up near to heaven in communion with the Lord—and then we have had to attend to some paltry squabble between two brothers or two sisters. It does seem such a terrible come-down.
9:38 “John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him.’” John did it, I daresay, in love to his Master, but not in the love of his Master. He did it, no doubt, with the desire to honor his Master, but he did not honor his Master by what he did.
9:39 “‘Don’t stop him,’ said Jesus.” Thus, after having conversed with Moses and Elijah, the Master had to talk with these childish men who had fallen out among themselves and fallen out with other people.
B 9:29 Other mss add and fasting
E 9:38 Other mss add who didn’t go along with us
A 9:43 Some mss include v. 44: Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
B 9:45 Some mss include v. 46: Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
D 9:49 Other mss add and every sacrifice will be salted with salt
10He set out from there and went to the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Then crowds converged on him again, and as was his custom he taught them again.
2 Some Pharisees came to test him, asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? ”
3 He replied to them, “What did Moses command you? ”
4 They said, “Moses permitted us to write divorce papers and send her away.”
5 But Jesus told them, “He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts. 6 But from the beginning of creation God F made them male and female. G 7 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother H 8 and the two will become one flesh. I So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples questioned him about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 Also, if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive J the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ”
18 “Why do you call me good? ” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.” K
20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”
21 Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, L follow me.” 22 But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! ”
24 The disciples were astonished at his words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is A to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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 They were even more astonished, saying to one another, “Then who can be saved? ”
27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”
28 Peter began to tell him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father B or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundred times more, now at this time — houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions — and eternal life in the age to come. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were astonished, but those who followed him were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that would happen to him. 33 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 and they will mock him, spit on him, flog C him, and kill him, and he will rise after three days.”
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”
QUOTE 10:35
The genuine spirit of a Christian is not to ask that something should be done for him but to ask his Master what he could do for him.
36 “What do you want me to do for you? ” he asked them.
37 They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”
38 Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? ”
39 “We are able,” they told him.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. 40 But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41 When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” A
46 They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! ” 48 Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, Son of David! ”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; he’s calling for you.” 50 He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want me to do for you? ”
“Rabboni,” B the blind man said to him, “I want to see.”
52 Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.
10:15 “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Instead of growing wiser, in order to be fit for Christ, we must be more conscious of ignorance, more trustful toward him, more dependent on him, more childlike.
10:28-31 “We have left everything and followed you.” In the final account it will be found that no person has been a loser through giving up anything for the Lord Jesus Christ, though he has his own method of deciding who will be first and who will be last.
10:32-34 “Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that would happen to him.” From the number of these sentences, it is clear that our Savior entered into a detailed account of his sufferings, dwelling on each particular that he plainly foresaw. He does not describe them in general terms. He knew not only that he must die, but he knew all the circumstances of pain and shame with which that death should be attended. They would condemn him, hand him over to the Gentiles, mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. I think, too, that as our Lord thus dwells on each point, he means for us also to dwell on the details of his redeeming griefs. He would not himself thus have divided it out and laid it out piece by piece if he had not intended for us to do so with it. We should not be strangers at the foot of the cross, nor in Gethsemane, but should hear each one of these notes ring out its sorrowful yet joyful music. But what a glad note that concluding one is, “He will rise after three days.”
10:35 “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.” The genuine spirit of a Christian is not to ask that something should be done for him but to ask his Master what he could do for him.
10:36 “What do you want me to do for you?” Our Savior’s question suggests to us the prudent lesson to never promise in the dark. If anyone says, “Promise that you will do whatever I ask,” follow Christ’s example and first ask, “What do you want me to do for you?” If we do not do this, we may entangle ourselves with our own words.
10:37 “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.” Much was wrong about this request, and most have often heard that view, so I will call our attention to what was right about it. These disciples showed their faith that this same Jesus who was to be mocked, flogged, spit on, and killed, would yet reign! And I think it was wonderful faith that, after they had heard from his own lips in sorrowful detail the description of how he would die, yet nevertheless they so fully believed in his kingdom that they asked to have a share in its honors. They were ambitious, but their ambition was to be near the Savior.
10:41 “When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John.” How sad the contrast is—the Master’s thoughts all taken up with his death for others—and their thoughts occupied with little petty jealousies as to who should be the greatest. Why were they indignant? Because they were of the same spirit as James and John. They wanted those places themselves.
10:47 “He began to cry out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’” The blind man had advanced much further than the mass of the people. To him it was not merely “Jesus of Nazareth” but “Jesus, Son of David.”
10:51 “Jesus answered him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’” Notice here a sort of gentle rebuke the Savior gives to James and John. Read again the words of verse 36 and then those of this verse.
H 10:7 Some mss add and be joined to his wife
K 10:19 Ex 20:12-16; Dt 5:16-20
L 10:21 Other mss add taking up the cross, and
A 10:24 Other mss add for those trusting in wealth
A 10:45 Or in the place of many ; Is 53:10-12
11When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this? ’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’ ”
4 So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, 5 and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt? ” 6 They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go.
7 They brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. C 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted:
Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord! D
10Blessed is the coming kingdom
of our father David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!
11 He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
12 The next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again! ” And his disciples heard it.
15 They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. 17 He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? A But you have made it a den of thieves! ” B
18 The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.
19 Whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.
20 Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
22 Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for — believe that you have received C it and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.” D
27 They came again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came 28 and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things? ”
29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was John’s baptism from heaven or of human origin? Answer me.”
31 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him? ’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ ” — they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was truly a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
11:24 “Everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” This text shows us four essential qualities necessary to any great success and prevalence in prayer. First, according to our Savior’s description of prayer, there should always be some definite objectives for which we should plead. Jesus spoke of things—“Everything you pray and ask for.” He did not seem to think that God’s children would go to him in prayer when they had nothing to pray for! A second essential qualification of prayer is earnest desire, for the Master supposes that when we pray we have something we “ask for.” Observe, third, that faith is an essential quality of successful prayer—“Believe that you have received it.” We cannot pray so as to be heard in heaven and answered to our soul’s satisfaction unless we believe God really hears and will answer us. A fourth qualification is that an expectation should always go with a firm faith—“believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” Not merely believe that “you will” but believe that “you have” received it—count it as if it already were received, and act as if it already were received.
C 11:8 Other mss read others were cutting leafy branches from the trees and spreading them on the road
C 11:24 Some mss read you receive ; other mss read you will receive
D 11:25 Some mss include v. 26: “But if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing.”
12He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from them. 3 But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent another servant to them, and they A hit him on the head and treated him shamefully. B 5 Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6 He still had one to send, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner C of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this Scripture:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
11This came about from the Lord
and is wonderful in our eyes? ” D
12 They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.
13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to Jesus to trap him in his words. 14 When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know you are truthful and don’t care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partiality but teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we? ”
15 But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius E to look at.” 16 They brought a coin. “Whose image and inscription is this? ” he asked them.
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him.
18 Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and questioned him: 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife behind but no child, that man should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother. F 20 There were seven brothers. The first married a woman, and dying, left no offspring. 21 The second also took her, and he died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 None of the seven G left offspring. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise, H whose wife will she be, since the seven had married her? ”
24 Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised — haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? A 27 He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”
28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all? ”
29 Jesus answered, “The most important B is Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. C 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. D,E 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. F There is no other command greater than these.”
32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. 33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, G and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.
35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself says by the Holy Spirit:
The Lord declared to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet.’ H
37 David himself calls him ‘Lord’; how then can he be his son? ” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
38 He also said in his teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who want greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”
QUOTE 12:38-40
Were Jesus here today, he would not be the soft-shelled creature some people want us to be. He had a backbone and a conscience—and a heavy right hand—and he brought that hand down like a sledgehammer on hypocrisy and error. And if we would be like Christ, we must be bold and outspoken.
41 Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. 43 Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had — all she had to live on.”
12:13-14 “They sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to Jesus to trap him in his words. . . . They said to him, ‘Teacher, we know you are truthful and don’t care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partiality but teach the way of God truthfully.’” They meant “to trap him in his words,” if they could, so they baited their trap with flattery. Any time a person begins to flatter us, we should be on our guard. If someone tries to commence a conversation by uttering words of excessive admiration, depend on it that that person admires something we have more than he admires us! And, therefore, we should be on the watch against him.
12:37 “David himself calls him ‘Lord’ how then can he be his son?” They could not answer that riddle, but we can. We know Jesus is both David’s son and David’s Lord.
12:38-40 “Beware of the scribes.” We often hear foolish people say, “You must always preach in love and not say anything against anybody. Jesus did not denounce anybody.” Then what about this denunciation of the scribes? Were Jesus here today, he would not be the soft-shelled creature some people want us to be. He had a backbone and a conscience—and a heavy right hand—and he brought that hand down like a sledgehammer on hypocrisy and error. And if we would be like Christ, we must be bold and outspoken. They tell us this in order that we may easily glide through the world and that all may speak well of us. But so did their fathers to the false prophets. Are we to suppose that those of us who preach God’s Word are going to keep back any part of our testimony because it will bring us into ill repute with the ungodly? God forbid! We live for something higher and nobler than being fed on the breath of evil persons. If there is error in high places, if there is vice anywhere, it is the duty of the servant of Christ, in his Master’s name, to attack it with all his might. The truth of God must still be spoken, whoever may be offended by it.
12:43 “This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.” Christ measures what we give by what we have left—by the proportion it bears to what we possess.
A 12:4 Other mss add threw stones and
B 12:4 Other mss add and sent him off
E 12:15 A denarius = one day’s wage
G 12:22 Other mss add had taken her and
H 12:23 Other mss omit when they rise
B 12:29 Other mss add of all the commands
C 12:29 Or the Lord our God is Lord alone.
D 12:30 Other mss add This is the first commandment.
13As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings! ”
2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another — all will be thrown down.”
3 While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? ”
5 Jesus told them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. 8 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. A These are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to local courts, B and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. 10 And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations. 11 So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 13 You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.
14 “When you see the abomination of desolation C standing where it should not be” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 A man on the housetop must not come down or go in to get anything out of his house, 16 and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat. 17 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days!
18 “Pray it D won’t happen in winter. 19 For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again. 20 If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.
21 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘See, here is the Messiah! See, there! ’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance.
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; 25 the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 “Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize A that he B is near — at the door.
30 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 “Now concerning that day or hour no one knows — neither the angels in heaven nor the Son — but only the Father.
33 “Watch! Be alert! C For you don’t know when the time is coming.
34 “It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his servants, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert. 35 Therefore be alert, since you don’t know when the master of the house is coming — whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning. 36 Otherwise, when he comes suddenly he might find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert! ”
14It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a cunning way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2 “Not during the festival,” they said, “so that there won’t be a riot among the people.”
3 While he was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, D as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head. 4 But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii E and given to the poor.” And they began to scold her.
6 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing for me. 7 You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body in advance for burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money. So he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.
12 On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrifice the Passover lamb, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare the Passover so that you may eat it? ”
13 So he sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? ” ’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” 16 So the disciples went out, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
17 When evening came, he arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me — one who is eating with me.”
19 They began to be distressed and to say to him one by one, “Surely not I? ”
20 He said to them, “It is one of the Twelve — the one who is dipping bread in the bowl with me. 21 For the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”
22 As they were eating, he took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, A which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new B in the kingdom of God.”
26 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
27 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will fall away, C because it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered. D
28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
29 Peter told him, “Even if everyone falls away, I will not.”
30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
31 But he kept insisting, “If I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” And they all said the same thing.
32 Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 He said to them, “I am deeply grieved E to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.” 35 He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, F Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” 37 Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? 38 Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation. A The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 Once again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him. 41 Then he came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up; let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.”
43 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.” 45 So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi! ” and kissed him. 46 They took hold of him and arrested him. 47 One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.
48 Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, B to capture me? 49 Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
50 Then they all deserted him and ran away. 51 Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him, 52 but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.
53 They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes assembled. 54 Peter followed him at a distance, right into the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the servants, C warming himself by the fire.
55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they could not find any. 56 For many were giving false testimony against him, and the testimonies did not agree. 57 Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, stating, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.’ ” 59 Yet their testimony did not agree even on this.
60 Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, “Don’t you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you? ” 61 But he kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? ”
62 “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” D
63 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy. What is your decision? ” They all condemned him as deserving death.
65 Then some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to beat him, saying, “Prophesy! ” The temple servants also took him and slapped him.
66 While Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the high priest’s maidservants came. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”
68 But he denied it: “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about.” Then he went out to the entryway, E and a rooster crowed. F
69 When the maidservant saw him again, she began to tell those standing nearby, “This man is one of them.”
70 But again he denied it. After a little while those standing there said to Peter again, “You certainly are one of them, since you’re also a Galilean.” A
71 Then he started to curse and swear, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about! ”
72 Immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
14:29 “Peter told him, ‘Even if everyone falls away, I will not.’” There was love in that utterance, and so far it was commendable. But there was also much self-trust in it. And there was great presumption, for Peter dared even to contradict his Master to his face; and, at the same time, he contradicted the inspired Scripture, for Jesus had told the disciples that it was written that the sheep would be scattered. Yet Peter boldly denied both what God had written and what Christ had said. God save us from such a proud self-confident spirit as that!
14:31 “And they all said the same thing.” Peter was not alone in his intense, though rash, expression of attachment. All of them did intend to stand with their Master and die with him, as we too mean to do. But do we think we will carry it out any better than they? Not if our resolve, like theirs, is made in our own strength. Further, whenever a person who is called to be a leader goes astray, others are pretty sure to follow. It was so on this occasion, for when Peter made his boastful speech, all the rest of his brothers chimed in and so shared in his sin. But Peter was chief in the wrongdoing, for he led them all.
14:37 “He said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you sleeping?’” Mark tells us here that Jesus especially said that to Peter. Mark is the Gospel of Peter, and Mark wrote his Gospel from Peter’s point of view. So Peter, in the Gospel of Mark, records the worst things about himself, for only here is it recorded that the Master said these words to him and not to all three disciples.
D 14:3 Gk lepros ; a term for various skin diseases; see Lv 13–14
E 14:5 A denarius = one day’s wage
A 14:24 Other mss read the new covenant
B 14:25 Or drink new wine ; lit drink it new
C 14:27 Other mss add because of me this night
E 14:34 Or “My soul is swallowed up in sorrow
A 14:38 Or won’t be put to the test
C 14:54 Or temple police, or officers, also in v. 65
15As soon as it was morning, having held a meeting with the elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin, the chief priests tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
2 So Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews? ”
He answered him, “You say so.”
3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Pilate questioned him again, “Aren’t you going to answer? Look how many things they are accusing you of! ” 5 But Jesus still did not answer, and so Pilate was amazed.
6 At the festival Pilate used to release for the people a prisoner whom they requested. 7 There was one named Barabbas, who was in prison with rebels who had committed murder during the rebellion. 8 The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them as was his custom. 9 Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you? ” 10 For he knew it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead. 12 Pilate asked them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call the King of the Jews? ”
13 Again they shouted, “Crucify him! ”
14 Pilate said to them, “Why? What has he done wrong? ”
But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him! ”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them; and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.
16 The soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called the whole company together. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews! ” 19 They were hitting him on the head with a stick and spitting on him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying him homage. 20 After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him.
They led him out to crucify him. 21 They forced a man coming in from the country, who was passing by, to carry Jesus’s cross. He was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull). 23 They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
24 Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get. 25 Now it was nine in the morning A when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge written against him was: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 They crucified two criminals B with him, one on his right and one on his left. C
29 Those who passed by were yelling insults at D him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself by coming down from the cross! ” 31 In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.
QUOTE 15:32
Christ off the cross is admired by people of the world, but Christ on the cross is the hope and stay of believers.
33 When it was noon, E darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. F 34 And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni? ” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ” G
35 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “See, he’s calling for Elijah.”
36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, fixed it on a stick, offered him a drink, and said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
37 Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way he H breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God! ” I
40 There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women followed him and took care of him. Many other women had come up with him to Jerusalem.
42 When it was already evening, because it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. 44 Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had already died. 45 When he found out from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph. 46 After he bought some linen cloth, Joseph took him down and wrapped him in the linen. Then he laid him in a tomb cut out of the rock and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where he was laid.
15:1 “The whole Sanhedrin.” That “the whole Sanhedrin” could be there so early in the morning shows that wicked people are diligent in carrying out their sinful schemes. How much more diligent ought the followers of Christ be to give him their devoted service! Let these wicked men who were so early in the morning seeking to secure the death of Christ make us ashamed that we are not more diligent in his blessed service.
15:4-5 “But Jesus still did not answer.” We often will find that our highest wisdom, when we are slandered, will lie in the imitation of our Lord and Master. If we live a blameless life, it will be the best reply to the false charges of the wicked.
15:20 “They led him out to crucify him.” It seems as if Christ had to lean on those who led him. The word “led” almost signifies as much. At least it was the word employed concerning anyone leading a child or a sick person who needed support. The Savior’s weakness must have been apparent by that time. After the agony and bloody sweat in Gethsemane and the night and morning trials, being flogged and mocked, and the awful strain on his mind and heart as the sacrifice for sin, no wonder that he was weak.
15:32 “So that we may see and believe.” That is the world’s way. But Christ’s way is, “Believe and you will see.” Christ off the cross is admired by people of the world, but Christ on the cross is the hope and stay of believers.
15:38 “Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Even as the flesh of Christ, which is the curtain of the incarnate God, was torn, so now was the curtain of mystery taken away. The temple’s curtain was torn. The old ceremonial law passed away with the tearing of the curtain. It was a strong—I might say, a massive curtain—it could not have been torn by any ordinary means, but when the hand of God takes hold on the curtain, it readily tears and into the innermost mystery of the holy of holies we may gaze, yes, and through it we may enter.
15:43 “Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin.” I have no doubt that Pilate was surprised that a member of the Sanhedrin should come and ask for the body of Jesus, when a little while before he had put Jesus to death by the mandate of that very body!
A 15:25 Lit was the third hour
C 15:27 Some mss include v. 28: So the Scripture was fulfilled that says: And he was counted among criminals.
D 15:29 Or passed by blasphemed
F 15:33 Lit the ninth hour, also in v. 34
16When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they could go and anoint him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us? ” 4 Looking up, they noticed that the stone — which was very large — had been rolled away.
5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.’ ”
8 They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid.
[Some of the earliest mss conclude with 16:8.] A
[9 Early on the first day of the week, after he had risen, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and reported to those who had been with him, as they were mourning and weeping. 11 Yet, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.
12 After this, he appeared in a different form to two of them walking on their way into the country. 13 And they went and reported it to the rest, who did not believe them either.
14 Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen. 15 Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; A 18 they will pick up snakes; B if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
19 So the Lord Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs.]
16:3 “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” We often trouble ourselves about difficulties that do not exist.
16:4 “Looking up, they noticed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away.” Anyone who is seeking to serve the Lord, take comfort from this verse. There surely will be stones in one’s way, and some of them may be large, but they will be rolled away in the Lord’s good time. If the effort needs the strength of an angel, then an angel will be sent from heaven for the purpose. There might have been no angel if there had been no stone—and we might have no revelation of the power of heaven to help us if we had not first had a revelation of our own weakness and inability to roll away the stone.
16:6 “He has risen! He is not here.” That is the epitaph inscribed on Christ’s tomb. On other people’s graves it is written, “Here lies so-and-so,” but on Christ’s tomb it is recorded, “He is not here.”
16:7 “Go, tell his disciples and Peter.” Peter—the one who denied that he was Jesus’s disciple—tell him, Jesus said—if you omit anybody else, do not forget Peter. “He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.” That last clause has something of affection and rebuke in it—“just as he told you.” It was a reminder that Christ’s words are always fulfilled. “Did he not tell you that he would rise from the dead? Did he not say that he would meet you in Galilee?” It will always be so. Just as he says, so it will be in our spiritual experience. Jesus will do what he says.
16:8 “They said nothing to anyone.” There was no reason in Christ’s resurrection for anything but delight, yet these dear women were overwhelmed, silenced, struck dumb by what made the angels sing.
A 16:8 Other mss include vv. 9-20 as a longer ending. The following shorter ending is found in some mss between v. 8 and v. 9 and in one ms after v. 8 (each of which omits vv. 9-20): And all that had been commanded to them they quickly reported to those around Peter. After these things, Jesus himself sent out through them from east to west, the holy and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.