Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Commandments and Traditions
15 Then the Pharisees and experts in the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[a] and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother should be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if someone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might have received from me has been dedicated as a gift to God,’[c] 6 that man does not need to honor his father or his mother.[d] And so you set aside the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
9 They worship me in vain, teaching human rules as if they are doctrines.”[e]
10 Then he summoned the crowd and said to them, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into the mouth does not make a person unclean, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”
12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this saying?”
13 He answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Let them go. They are blind guides of the blind.[f] And if the blind are guiding the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter replied and said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 Jesus said, “Do you still not understand? 17 Do you not understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated into the latrine? 18 But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. That is what defiles a person. 19 To be sure, out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and blasphemies. 20 These are the things that defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Jesus left that place and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 There a Canaanite woman from that territory came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! A demon is severely tormenting my daughter!”
23 But he did not answer her a word.
His disciples came and pleaded, “Send her away, because she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 But she came and knelt in front of him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
26 He answered her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to their little dogs.”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet their little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! It will be done for you, just as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very hour.
29 Jesus moved on from there and went along the Sea of Galilee. He went up onto the mountain and sat there. 30 Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them down at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds More Than Four Thousand
32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with me already three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they might faint on the way.”
33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get so many loaves in the wilderness to satisfy such a large crowd?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and broke them. He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 They all ate and were filled. They picked up seven basketfuls of the broken pieces that were left over. 38 Those who ate numbered four thousand men, without counting the women and children. 39 After Jesus sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
A Sign From Heaven
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and, as a test, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But he answered them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red.’ 3 In the morning you say, ‘It will be stormy weather today because 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 generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” He left them and went away.
Watch Out for the Teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees
5 When his disciples came to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread along. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch out and be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They were discussing this among themselves and said, “It is because we did not bring any bread.”
8 Since Jesus knew what they were saying, he said, “You of little faith! Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you brought no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many basketfuls you picked up? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many basketfuls you picked up? 11 How is it that you do not understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12 Then they understood that he was not warning them about the yeast in bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Jesus Is the Christ
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell[g] will not overpower it.[h] 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be[i] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he commanded the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection
21 From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “May you receive mercy, Lord! This will never happen to you.”
23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a snare[j] to me because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of men.”
Take Up the Cross
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 In fact whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 After all, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father together with his angels, and then he will repay everyone according to his actions. 28 Amen I tell you: Some who are standing here will certainly not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.