Matthew 15–16

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 leaven of bread, but of the ⁶doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Revelation of the Person of the King

Mark 8:27–30; Luke 9:18–21

¹³When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ^g“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

¹⁴So they said, ^h“Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or ⁱone of the prophets.”

¹⁵He said to them, “But who do ^jyou say that I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered and said, ^k“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, ^lfor flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but ^mMy Father who is in heaven.

Revelation of the Church

¹⁸And I also say to you that ⁿyou are Peter, and ^oon this rock I will build My church, and ^pthe gates of Hades shall not ⁷prevail against it. ^19qAnd I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth ⁸will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

^20rThen He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Revelation of Jesus’ Death

Mark 8:31–33; Luke 9:22

²¹From that time Jesus began ^sto show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

²²Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ⁹“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

²³But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^tSatan! ^uYou are ¹an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Revelation of Jesus’ Reward

Mark 8:34–37; Luke 9:23–25

^24vThen Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and ^wfollow Me. ²⁵For ^xwhoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶For what ^yprofit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or ^zwhat will a man give in exchange for his soul?

The Prophecy of the Second Coming

Mark 8:38–9:1; Luke 9:26, 27

²⁷For ^athe Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father ^bwith His angels, ^cand then He will reward each according to his works. ²⁸Assuredly, I say to you, ^dthere are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”