Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Chapter 15
Traditions That Falsify the Law of God. 1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 [a]“Why do your disciples ignore the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before eating.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “Anything I might have used for your support is dedicated to God,” 6 then he is excused from his duty to honor his father or mother.’ To uphold your tradition you have made God’s word null and void. 7 You hypocrites! How rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said:
8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
10 Clean and Unclean.[b] Then he called the people to him and said to them, “Listen and understand. 11 It is not what goes into one’s mouth that defiles a person; what comes out of the mouth is what defiles him.”
12 The disciples approached and said to him, “Do you realize that the Pharisees were greatly offended when they heard what you said?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides. And if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said to him, “Explain that parable to us.” 16 Jesus replied, “Are even you still without understanding? 17 Do you not realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and is discharged into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth originates in the heart, and this is what defiles a person. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not make anyone unclean.”
21 The Faith of a Pagan Woman.[c] Jesus then left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.[d] 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out to meet him and cried out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David. My daughter is sorely tormented by a demon.” 23 But he did not say a word to her in reply.
So his disciples came and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt at his feet, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She replied, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, you have great faith. Let it be done for you as you wish.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.
29 Jesus Heals Many People.[e]After leaving that region, Jesus walked along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and going up onto the mountain, he sat down. 30 Large crowds flocked to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. 31 The crowds were amazed when they observed the mute speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind with their sight restored, and they gave praise to the God of Israel.
32 Jesus Feeds Four Thousand Men. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I am moved with compassion for these people, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to feed such a great crowd?” 34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward, they picked up seven baskets full of what remained. 38 Those who had eaten numbered four thousand men, not counting women and children. 39 And when he had sent away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Chapter 16
The Demand for a Sign.[f] 1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to put him to the test they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘Tomorrow there will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning you say, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous[g] generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.[h] 5 In crossing to the other side of the lake, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Be careful, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They talked about this among themselves and concluded: “It is because we brought no bread.”
8 Aware of what they were saying, Jesus said, “O you of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and the number of baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How could you fail to see that I was not speaking about bread when I said, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees’?” 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast used in bread but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 Peter’s Confession of Christ’s Divinity.[i]When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,[j] he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the Prophets.” 15 “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[k]
17 Then Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood[l] has not revealed this to you but my heavenly Father. 18 And I say to you: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church,[m] and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”[n] 20 Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell[o] anyone that he was the Christ.
21 Jesus Predicts His Passion. From then onward Jesus made it clear to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and endure great suffering at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be put to death, and be raised on the third day.[p]
22 [q]Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid, Lord. Such a fate must never happen to you.” 23 He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as men do.”
24 The Conditions of Discipleship. Jesus then said to his disciples, “Anyone who wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.[r] 26 What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his very life? Or what can he give in exchange for his life?
27 “For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone according to what has been done. 28 Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”[s]
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.