Mark 10:13–12:12

Jesus Accepts Children

¹³Some people brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them, but his followers told them to stop. ¹⁴When Jesus saw this, he was upset and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these children. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, you must accept the kingdom of God as if you were a little child, or you will never enter it.” ¹⁶Then Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them.

A Rich Young Man’s Question

¹⁷As Jesus started to leave, a man ran to him and fell on his knees before Jesus. The man asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to have life forever?”

¹⁸Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. ¹⁹You know the commands: ‘You must not murder anyone. You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not steal. You must not tell lies about your neighbor. You must not cheat. Honor your father and mother.’ ” ⁿ

²⁰The man said, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these things since I was a boy.”

²¹Jesus, looking at the man, loved him and said, “There is one more thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²²He was very sad to hear Jesus say this, and he left sorrowfully, because he was rich.

²³Then Jesus looked at his followers and said, “How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴The followers were amazed at what Jesus said. But he said again, “My children, it is very hard ⁿ to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶The followers were even more surprised and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “For people this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

²⁸Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farms for me and for the Good News ³⁰will get more than they left. Here in this world they will have a hundred times more homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields. And with those things, they will also suffer for their belief. But in this age they will have life forever. ³¹Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.”

Jesus Talks About His Death

³²As Jesus and the people with him were on the road to Jerusalem, he was leading the way. His followers were amazed, but others in the crowd who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and began to tell them what was about to happen in Jerusalem. ³³He said, “Look, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law. They will say that he must die, and they will turn him over to the non-Jewish people, ³⁴who will laugh at him and spit on him. They will beat him with whips and crucify him. But on the third day, he will rise to life again.”

Two Followers Ask Jesus a Favor

³⁵Then James and John, sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want to ask you to do something for us.”

³⁶Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³⁷They answered, “Let one of us sit at your right side and one of us sit at your left side in your glory in your kingdom.”

³⁸Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I must drink? And can you be baptized with the same kind of baptism that I must go through?” ⁿ

³⁹They answered, “Yes, we can.”

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the same cup that I will drink, and you will be baptized with the same baptism that I must go through. ⁴⁰But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or my left; those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

⁴¹When the other ten followers heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.

⁴²Jesus called them together and said, “The other nations have rulers. You know that those rulers love to show their power over the people, and their important leaders love to use all their authority. ⁴³But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. ⁴⁴Whoever wants to become the first among you must serve all of you like a slave. ⁴⁵In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

⁴⁶Then they came to the town of Jericho. As Jesus was leaving there with his followers and a great many people, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus from Nazareth was walking by, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸Many people warned the blind man to be quiet, but he shouted even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹Jesus stopped and said, “Tell the man to come here.”

So they called the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Get to your feet. Jesus is calling you.” ⁵⁰The blind man jumped up, left his coat there, and went to Jesus.

⁵¹Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man answered, “Teacher, I want to see.”

⁵²Jesus said, “Go, you are healed because you believed.” At once the man could see, and he followed Jesus on the road.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

11As Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers ²and said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will quickly find a colt tied, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me. ³If anyone asks you why you are doing this, tell him its Master needs the colt, and he will send it at once.”

⁴The followers went into the town, found a colt tied in the street near the door of a house, and untied it. ⁵Some people were standing there and asked, “What are you doing? Why are you untying that colt?” ⁶The followers answered the way Jesus told them to answer, and the people let them take the colt.

⁷They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it, and Jesus sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches in the fields and spread them on the road. ⁹The people were walking ahead of Jesus and behind him, shouting,

“Praise God!

God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord!

¹⁰God bless the kingdom of our father David!

That kingdom is coming!

Praise ⁿ to God in heaven!”

¹¹Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After he had looked at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve apostles.

¹²The next day as Jesus was leaving Bethany, he became hungry. ¹³Seeing a fig tree in leaf from far away, he went to see if it had any figs on it. But he found no figs, only leaves, because it was not the right season for figs. ¹⁴So Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And Jesus’ followers heard him say this.

Jesus Goes to the Temple

¹⁵When Jesus returned to Jerusalem, he went into the Temple and began to throw out those who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of those who were exchanging different kinds of money, and he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹⁶Jesus refused to allow anyone to carry goods through the Temple courts. ¹⁷Then he taught the people, saying, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be called a house for prayer for people from all nations.’ ⁿ But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’ ” ⁿ

¹⁸The leading priests and the teachers of the law heard all this and began trying to find a way to kill Jesus. They were afraid of him, because all the people were amazed at his teaching. ¹⁹That evening, Jesus and his followers ⁿ left the city.

The Power of Faith

²⁰The next morning as Jesus was passing by with his followers, they saw the fig tree dry and dead, even to the roots. ²¹Peter remembered the tree and said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed is dry and dead!”

²²Jesus answered, “Have faith in God. ²³I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. ²⁴So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you. ²⁵When you are praying, if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins. ²⁶But if you don’t forgive other people, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.” ⁿ

Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority

²⁷Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. ²⁸They said to him, “What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ³⁰Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?”

³¹They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³²But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ the crowd will be against us.” (These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed that John was a prophet.)

³³So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”

A Story About God’s Son

12Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers…