Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Jesus Challenges the Tradition of the Elders(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat.”[a]
3 But he answered them, “Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 Because God said,[b] ‘You are to honor your father and your mother,’[c] and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.’[d] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or his mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,”[e] 6 does not have to honor his father.’[f] Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded[g] the authority of God’s word.[h] 7 You hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,
8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship of me is empty,
because they teach human rules as doctrines.’”[i]
10 Then calling out to the crowd, he addressed them, “Listen and understand! 11 It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.”
12 Then the disciples came and asked him, “Do you realize that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind.[j] If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 Then Peter told him, “Explain to us this[k] parable.”
16 Jesus[l] said, “Are you still so ignorant? 17 Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is those things that make a person unclean. 19 It is out of the heart that evil thoughts come, as well as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, false testimony, and slander.[m] 20 These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith(B)
21 Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!” 23 But he didn’t answer her at all.[n]
Then his disciples came up and kept urging him, “Send her away, because she keeps on screaming as she follows[o] us.”
24 But he replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation[p] of Israel.”
25 Then she came and fell down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
26 He replied, “It’s not right[q] to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
27 She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ tables.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “Lady,[r] your faith is great! What you want is granted.” That very hour her daughter was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a hillside and sat down. 30 Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to talk, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed to see those who were unable to talk speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds More than Four Thousand People(C)
32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away without food, or they may faint on the road.”
33 The disciples asked him, “Where in the wilderness are we to get enough bread to feed such a crowd?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 Ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them[s] to the crowds. 37 All of them ate until they were filled, then the disciples[t] picked up what was left of the broken pieces—seven baskets full. 38 Now those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After he sent the crowds away, he got into a boat and went to the region of Magadan.[u]
Interpreting the Time(D)
16 When the Pharisees and Sadducees arrived, in order to test Jesus[v] they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He replied to them, “You say,
‘Red sky at night,
what a delight!
3 Red sky in the morning,
cloudy and storming.’
You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, yet you can’t interpret the signs of the times?[w] 4 An evil and adulterous generation craves 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(E)
5 When his disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to take any bread along. 6 Jesus told them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”
7 As they began to discuss this among themselves, they kept saying, “We didn’t bring along any bread.”
8 Knowing this, Jesus asked them, “You who have little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you don’t have any bread? 9 Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected, 10 or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many baskets you collected? 11 How can you fail to understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”
12 Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the yeast used in bread,[x] but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter Declares His Faith in Jesus(F)
13 When Jesus had come to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They said, “Some say[y] John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,[z] the Son of the living God!”
17 Then Jesus told him, “How blessed you are, Simon son of Jonah,[aa] since flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, though my Father in heaven has. 18 I tell you that you are Peter,[ab] and it is on this rock[ac] that I will build my congregation,[ad] and the powers of hell[ae] will not conquer it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom from[af] heaven. Whatever you prohibit on earth will have been prohibited[ag] in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will have been permitted[ah] in heaven.”
20 Then he strictly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.[ai]
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection(G)
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he would have to go to Jerusalem and suffer a great deal because of the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God be merciful to you, Lord! This must never happen to you!”
23 But Jesus[aj] turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense[ak] to me, because you are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts!”
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continuously. 25 Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it, 26 because what profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life? 27 The Son of Man is going to come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to what he has done. 28 I tell all of you[al] with certainty, some people standing here will not experience[am] death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
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