Mark 6:45–8:26

Jesus Walks on the Sea—Matthew 14:22–36; John 6:15–21

⁴⁵Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him while he sent the people away. ⁴⁶After saying goodbye to them, he went up a mountain to pray. ⁴⁷When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. 

⁴⁸Jesus saw that they were in a lot of trouble as they rowed, because they were going against the wind. Between three and six o’clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. He wanted to pass by them. ⁴⁹When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought, “It’s a ghost!” and they began to scream. ⁵⁰All of them saw him and were terrified. 

Immediately, he said, “Calm down! It’s me. Don’t be afraid!” ⁵¹He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples were astounded. ⁵²(They didn’t understand what had happened with the loaves of bread. Instead, their minds were closed.) 

⁵³They crossed the sea, came to shore at Gennesaret, and anchored there. 

⁵⁴As soon as they stepped out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵They ran all over the countryside and began to carry the sick on cots to any place where they heard he was. ⁵⁶Whenever he would go into villages, cities, or farms, people would put their sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well. 

7TH CHAPTER

Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions—Matthew 15:1–20

¹The Pharisees and some experts in Moses’ Teachings who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. ²They saw that some of his disciples were unclean^abecause they ate without washing their hands. 

³(The Pharisees, like all other Jewish people, don’t eat unless they have properly washed their hands. They follow the traditions of their ancestors. ⁴When they come from the marketplace, they don’t eat unless they have washed first. They have been taught to follow many other rules. For example, they must also wash their cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.^b) 

⁵The Pharisees and the experts in Moses’ Teachings asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow the traditions taught by our ancestors? They are unclean because they don’t wash their hands before they eat!” 

⁶Jesus told them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites in Scripture: 

‘These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me. 

⁷Their worship of me is pointless, 

because their teachings are rules made by humans.’ 

⁸“You abandon the commandments of God to follow human traditions.” ⁹He added, “You have no trouble rejecting the commandments of God in order to keep your own traditions! ¹⁰For example, Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹¹But you say, ‘If a person tells his father or mother that whatever he might have used to help them is corban (that is, an offering to God), ¹²he no longer has to do anything for his father or mother.’ ¹³Because of your traditions you have destroyed the authority of God’s word. And you do many other things like that.” 

¹⁴Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand! ¹⁵Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It’s what comes out of a person that makes him unclean. ¹⁶Let the person who has ears listen!”^c

¹⁷When he had left the people and gone home, his disciples asked him about this illustration. 

¹⁸Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand? Don’t you know that whatever goes into a person from the outside can’t make him unclean? ¹⁹It doesn’t go into his thoughts but into his stomach and then into a toilet.” (By saying this, Jesus declared all foods acceptable.) ²⁰He continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes him unclean. ²¹Evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, ²²adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, cursing, arrogance, and foolishness come from within a person. ²³All these evils come from within and make a person unclean.” 

The Faith of a Greek Woman—Matthew 15:21–31

²⁴Jesus left that place and went to the territory of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he was staying in a house there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret. 

²⁵A woman whose little daughter had an evil spirit heard about Jesus. She went to him and bowed down. ²⁶The woman happened to be Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She asked him to force the demon out of her daughter. 

²⁷Jesus said to her, “First, let the children eat all they want. It’s not right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 

²⁸She answered him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat some of the children’s scraps.” 

²⁹Jesus said to her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” 

³⁰The woman went home and found the little child lying on her bed, and the demon was gone. 

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man

³¹Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre. He went through Sidon and the territory of the Ten Cities^dto the Sea of Galilee. 

³²Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and who also had a speech defect. They begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. ³³Jesus took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. He put his fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting, he touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and said to the man, “Ephphatha!” which means, “Be opened!” ³⁵At once the man could hear and talk normally. 

³⁶Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them, the more they spread the news. ³⁷Jesus completely amazed the people. They said, “He has done everything well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute talk.” 

8TH CHAPTER

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand—Matthew 15:32–39

¹About that time there was once again a large crowd with nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and said to them, ²“I feel sorry for the people. They have been with me three days now and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home before they’ve eaten, they will become exhausted on the road. Some of them have come a long distance.” 

⁴His disciples asked him, “Where could anyone get enough bread to feed these people in this place where no one lives?” 

⁵Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” 

They answered, “Seven.” 

⁶He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and gave thanks to God. Then he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples to serve to the people. ⁷They also had a few small fish. He blessed them and said that the fish should also be served to the people. ⁸The people ate as much as they wanted. The disciples picked up the leftover pieces and filled seven large baskets. ⁹About four thousand people were there. Then he sent the people on their way. 

¹⁰After that, Jesus and his disciples got into a boat and went into the region of Dalmanutha. 

The Pharisees Ask for a Sign from Heaven—Matthew 16:1–4

¹¹The Pharisees went to Jesus and began to argue with him. They tested him by demanding that he perform a miraculous sign from heaven. 

¹²With a deep sigh he asked, “Why do these people demand a sign? I can guarantee this truth: If these people are given a sign, it will be far different than what they want!” 

¹³Then he left them there. 

The Yeast of the Pharisees—Matthew 16:5–12

He got into a boat again and crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. ¹⁴The disciples had forgotten to take any bread along and had only one loaf with them in the boat. 

¹⁵Jesus warned them, “Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!” 

¹⁶They had been discussing with one another that they didn’t have any bread. 

¹⁷Jesus knew what they were saying and asked them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you catch on? Are your minds closed? ¹⁸Are you blind and deaf? Don’t you remember? ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets did you fill with leftover pieces?” 

They told him, “Twelve.” 

²⁰“When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many large baskets did you fill with leftover pieces?” 

They answered him, “Seven.” 

²¹He asked them, “Don’t you catch on yet?” 

Jesus Gives Sight to a Blind Man

²²As they came to Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus. They begged Jesus to touch him. ²³Jesus took the blind man’s hand and led him out of the village. He spit into the man’s eyes and placed his hands on him. Jesus asked him, “Can you see anything?” 

²⁴The man looked up and said, “I see people. They look like trees walking around.” 

²⁵Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes a second time, and the man saw clearly. His sight was normal again. He could see everything clearly even at a distance. ²⁶Jesus told him when he sent him home, “Don’t go into the village.”