Controversy Over Sabbath-Labor

Mark 2:23–28; Luke 6:1–5

12 At that time aJesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to bpluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

3 But He said to them, “Have you not read cwhat David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate dthe showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, ebut only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the flaw that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple 1profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is gOne greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, h‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord 2even of the Sabbath.”

Controversy Over Sabbath-Healing

Mark 3:1–5; Luke 6:6–10

9 iNow when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, j“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.

Pharisees Plan to Destroy Christ

Mark 3:6–12; Luke 6:11

14 Then kthe Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

15 But when Jesus knew it, lHe withdrew from there. mAnd great 3multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He nwarned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

18 “Behold! oMy Servant whom I have chosen,

My Beloved pin whom My soul is well pleased!

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

19 He will not quarrel nor cry out,

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

20 A bruised reed He will not break,

And smoking flax He will not quench,

Till He sends forth justice to victory;

21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

Pharisees Blaspheme the Holy Spirit

Mark 3:22–27; Luke 11:17–23

22 qThen one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the 4blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the rSon of David?”

24 sNow when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by 5Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

25 But Jesus tknew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, usurely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 vOr how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

Pharisees Commit the Unpardonable Sin

Mark 3:28, 29

31 “Therefore I say to you, wevery sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, xbut the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who yspeaks a word against the Son of Man, zit will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

33 “Either make the tree good and aits fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 bBrood 6of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? cFor out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure 7of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Pharisees Demand a Sign

Luke 11:24–26, 29–32

38 dThen some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and e adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 fFor as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 gThe men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and hcondemn it, ibecause they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 jThe queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

43 k“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, lhe goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; mand the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

Jesus and the True Brethren

Mark 3:31–35

46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, nbehold, His mother and obrothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. 47 Then one said to Him, “Look, pYour mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My qbrothers! 50 For rwhoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Parable of the Soils

Mark 4:1–20; Luke 8:4–15

13 On the same day Jesus went out of the house aand sat by the sea. 2 bAnd great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that cHe got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: d“Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some ea hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 fHe who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered and said to them, “Because git has been given to you to know the 1mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 hFor whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

i‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,

And seeing you will see and not jperceive;

15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Their ears kare hard of hearing,

And their eyes they have lclosed,

Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I 2should mheal them.’

16 But nblessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you othat many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

18 p“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word qof the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately rreceives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when stribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately the stumbles. 22 Now uhe who received seed vamong the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears wfruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Parable of the Wheat and Tares

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of …