Matthew 14–28

Present Response to Jesus

Mark 6:14–16; Luke 9:7–9

14At that time ^aHerod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus ²and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.”

Recount of the Murder of John the Baptist

Mark 6:17–29

^3bFor Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. ⁴Because John had said to him, ^c“It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, ^dbecause they counted him as a prophet.

⁶But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. ⁷Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

⁸So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”

⁹And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. ¹⁰So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. ¹¹And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹²Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds 5,000

Mark 6:31–44; Luke 9:11–17; John 6:1–13

^13eWhen Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He ^fwas moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. ^15gWhen it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

¹⁶But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

¹⁸He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, ^hHe blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. ²⁰So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. ²¹Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on Water

Mark 6:45–52; John 6:14–21

²²Immediately Jesus ¹made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. ²³ⁱAnd when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. ^jNow when evening came, He was alone there. ²⁴But the boat was now ²in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

²⁵Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶And when the disciples saw Him ^kwalking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ³“Be of good ^lcheer! ⁴It is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw ⁵that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

³¹And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of ^mlittle faith, why did you doubt?” ³²And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³Then those who were in the boat ⁶came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly ⁿYou are the Son of God.”

Jesus Heals Many

Mark 6:53–56

^34oWhen they had crossed over, they came ⁷to the land of Gennesaret. ³⁵And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, ³⁶and begged Him that they might only ^ptouch the hem of His garment. And ^qas many as touched it were made perfectly well.

Debate Over Tradition

Mark 7:1–23

15Then ^athe scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ^2b“Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

³He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴For God commanded, saying, ^c‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^d‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ ⁵But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, ^e“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—⁶then he need not honor his father ¹or mother.’ Thus you have made the ²commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. ^7fHypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

⁸‘These ^gpeople ³draw near to Me with their mouth,

And honor Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.

⁹And in vain they worship Me,

^hTeaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

¹⁰ⁱWhen He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: ^11jNot what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

¹²Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

¹³But He answered and said, ^k“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone. ^lThey are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

^15mThen Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

¹⁶So Jesus said, ⁿ“Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not yet understand that ^owhatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸But ^pthose things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ^19qFor out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Jesus Heals the Gentile Woman’s Daughter

Mark 7:24–30

^21rThen Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, ^sSon of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

²³But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

²⁴But He answered and said, ^t“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little ^udogs.”

²⁷And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, ^vgreat is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus Heals Many

Mark 7:31–37

^29wJesus departed from there, ^xskirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. ^30yThen great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, ⁴maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ ^zfeet, and He healed them. ³¹So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the ⁵maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^aglorified the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds 4,000

Mark 8:1–10

^32bNow Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

^33cThen His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”

³⁴Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”

And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”

³⁵So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. ³⁶And ^dHe took the seven loaves and the fish and ^egave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. ³⁷So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. ³⁸Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. ^39fAnd He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of ⁶Magdala.

Debate Over a Sign from Heaven

Mark 8:11, 12

16Then the ^aPharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. ²He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; ³and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ¹Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. ^4bA wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of ²the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

Withdrawal of Jesus

Mark 8:13–21

⁵Now ^cwhen His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. ⁶Then Jesus said to them, ^d“Take heed and beware of the ³leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

⁷And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”

⁸But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you ⁴have brought no bread? ^9eDo you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? ^10fNor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? ¹¹How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the ⁵leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹²Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the…