Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Leaders ^(A)

15 Some of the teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers from Jerusalem came to Jesus. They asked, ² “Why do Your followers not obey the teaching that was given to them by our fathers? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” ³ Jesus said to them, “Why do you break the Law of God by trying to keep their teaching? ⁴ For God said, ‘Show respect to your father and mother.’ ^(B) And, ‘He who curses his father or mother will be put to death.’ ^{(C) 5} But you say that if a man says to his parents that anything he has, that might have been of help to them, is already given to God, ⁶ he does not have to show respect by helping his father and mother. You are putting aside the Word of God to keep their teaching. ⁷ You who pretend to be someone you are not, Isaiah told about you. He said, ⁸ ’These people show respect to Me with their mouth, but their heart is far from Me. ⁹ Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach what men have made up.’” ^(D)

¹⁰ Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, “Listen and understand this! ¹¹ It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes his mind and heart sinful. It is what comes out of a man’s mouth that makes him sinful.”

¹² His followers came to Him. They said, “Did You know the proud religious law-keepers were ashamed and turned away because of You when they heard this?” ¹³ He said, “Every plant that My Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. If one blind man leads another blind man, they will both fall into a hole.”

¹⁵ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Tell us this picture-story so we can understand it.” ¹⁶ Jesus said, “Do you not understand yet? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But whatever comes from the mouth has come out of the heart. These things make the man unclean inside. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come bad thoughts, killing other people, sex sins of a married person, sex sins of a person not married, stealing, lying, speaking against God. ²⁰ These are the things that make the man unclean inside. It does not make a man sinful to eat with hands that have not been washed.”

Jesus Puts a Demon Out of a Girl ^(E)

²¹ Jesus went from there to the cities of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A woman came from the land of Canaan. She cried out to Jesus and said, “Take pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter has a demon and is much troubled.” ²³ But Jesus did not speak a word to her. His followers kept asking, saying, “Send her away for she keeps calling us.” ²⁴ He said, “I was sent only to the Jewish people who are lost.” ²⁵ Then she came and got down before Jesus and worshiped Him. She said, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ But He said, “It is not right to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces that fall from the table of their owners.” ²⁸ Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have much faith. You will have what you asked for.” Her daughter was healed at that very time.

Jesus Heals All Who Come to Him

²⁹ Jesus went from there and came to the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up the mountain and sat down. ³⁰ Many people came to Him. They brought with them those who were not able to walk. They brought those who were not able to see. They brought those who were not able to hear or speak and many others. Then they put them at the feet of Jesus and He healed them. ³¹ All the people wondered. They saw how those who could not speak were now talking. They saw how those who could not walk were now walking. They saw how those who could not see were now seeing, and they gave thanks to the God of the Jews.

The Feeding of the Four Thousand ^(F)

³² Then Jesus called His followers to Him. He said, “I pity these people because they have been with Me three days and they have no food. I do not want to send them home without food. They might get too weak as they go.” ³³ The followers said to Jesus, “Where can we get enough bread to feed them all in this desert?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They said, “Seven loaves and a few small fish.” ³⁵ He told the people to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks. He broke them and gave them to His followers. The followers gave them to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were filled. They picked up seven baskets full of pieces of bread and fish after the people finished eating. ³⁸ Four thousand men ate. Women and children ate also. ³⁹ After this Jesus sent the people away. Then He got into a boat and came to a place called Magadan.

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Proud Religious Law-Keepers ^(G)

16 The proud religious law-keepers and a religious group of people who believe no one will be raised from the dead came to Jesus. They asked Him to show something special from heaven. They wanted to trap Jesus. ² (*He said to them, “In the evening you say, ‘The weather will be good tomorrow because the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning you say, ‘We will have a storm today because the sky is red and the clouds are low.’ You understand the things you see in the sky, but you cannot understand the special things you see these days!) ⁴ The sinful people of this day go after something special to see. There will be nothing special for them to see but the early preacher Jonah.” Then He went away from them.

Jesus Shows That the Teaching of the Proud Religious Law-Keepers Is Wrong ^(H)

⁵ The followers came to the other side of the lake. They remembered they had forgotten to bring bread. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “See! Have nothing to do with the yeast of the proud religious law-keepers and the religious group of people who believe no one will be raised from the dead.” ⁷ They started to think about it among themselves and said, “He said this because we forgot to bring bread.” ⁸ Jesus knew this and said, “You have very little faith! Why are you talking among yourselves about not bringing bread? ⁹ Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of bread that fed five thousand men? And how many baskets full were gathered up? ¹⁰ Or do you not even remember the seven loaves of bread that fed the four thousand men? And how many baskets full were gathered up? ¹¹ Why is it that you do not see that I was not talking to you about bread? I was talking to you about keeping away from the yeast of the proud religious law-keepers and the religious group of people who believe no one will be raised from the dead.” ¹² Then they understood that it was not the yeast of bread that He was talking about. But He was talking about the teaching of the proud religious law-keepers and of the other religious group of people.

Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ ^(I)

¹³ Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked His followers, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ¹⁴ They said, “Some say You are John the Baptist and some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the early preachers.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of Jonah, you are happy because you did not learn this from man. My Father in heaven has shown you this.

¹⁸ “And I tell you that you are Peter. On this rock I will build My church. The powers of hell will not be able to have power over My church. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the holy nation of heaven. Whatever you do not allow on earth will not have been allowed in heaven. Whatever you allow on earth will have been allowed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then with strong words He told His followers to tell no one that He was the Christ.

Jesus Tells of His Death for the First Time ^(J)

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to tell His followers that He had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. These hard things would come from the leaders and from the head religious leaders of the Jews and from the teachers of the Law. He told them He would be killed and three days later He would be raised from the dead. ²² Peter took Jesus away from the others and spoke sharp words to Him. He said, “Never, Lord! This must not happen to You!” ²³ Then Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are standing in My way. You are not thinking how God thinks. You are thinking how man thinks.”

Giving Up Riches

²⁴ Jesus said to His followers, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must forget about himself. He must take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ If anyone wants to keep his life safe, he will lose it. If anyone gives up his life because of Me, he will save it. ²⁶ For what does a man have if he gets all the world and loses his own soul? What can a man give to buy back his soul? ²⁷ The Son of Man will come in the greatness of His Father with His angels. Then He will give to every man his pay as he has worked. ²⁸ For sure, I tell you, there are some standing here that will not die until they see the Son of Man coming as King.”