CHAPTER 14

When Jesus returned to Galilee from the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, he withdrew to regions outside of Galilee. Jesus and his disciples left Capernaum and walked northwest of Galilee to the non-Jewish region of Tyre and Sidon. When Jesus arrived, he entered a house and did not want anyone to know that he was there.

But he could not keep it a secret. As soon as a woman from that region heard that Jesus was there, she came to Jesus and fell at his feet cry- ing out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My little daughter is demon-possessed and suffers terribly.” She begged Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter. Jesus did not answer her. So his disciples came to him and told him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” Jesus said, “Yes, I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But then the woman came and fell on her knees before Jesus and said, “Lord, help me!” Jesus said to her, “It is not right to take the bread the children are eating and throw it to the dogs.” The woman said, “This is true, Lord, but even the dogs eat the children’s crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said, “This is a good answer; you have great faith! I will do what you asked me. Go, the demon has left your daughter.” And her daughter was healed immediately. The woman went home and found her daughter lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.

Then Jesus left the region of Tyre and walked north through Sidon, down to Lake Galilee, and then into the region of the Decapolis. The Decapolis was located southeast of Lake Galilee where there were ten Greek cities.

At that time some people brought Jesus a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged him to place his hand on him. After Jesus took the man away from the crowd of people, he put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. Jesus looked up to God in heaven, took a deep sigh, and said to the man, “Be opened!” Immediately the man could hear, his tongue was released, and he began to talk.

Jesus commanded the crowd not to tell anyone about the healing, but the more Jesus told them this, the more they kept talking about it publicly. People were overcome with amazement and said, “Everything Jesus does is good; he even makes deaf people hear and mute people speak.”

News about Jesus spread throughout the region of the Decapolis.

Then Jesus walked along the east coast of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hillside and sat down. Large crowds of people brought the lame, the blind, the crippled, those who could not speak, and many others. They laid them at the feet of Jesus, and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speak, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they all praised the God of Israel.

During those days another large crowd of people gathered around Jesus. Since the people had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion for these people. They have been with me for three days and have had nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry. They will faint walking back to their homes, for some of them have walked a long distance to be with me.” The dis- ciples said to Jesus, “Where in this isolated place could we get enough bread to feed so many people?” Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They said, “We have seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.”

Jesus told the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish. After he had given thanks to God, he broke the bread and fish into pieces and gave them to his disciples, and they distributed them to the people. All the people ate until they were full. Afterward the disciples picked up seven baskets full of bro- ken pieces of bread and fish that were not eaten. There were 4,000 men who ate, not including the women and children.

After Jesus had sent the people away to their homes, he and his disciples got into a fishing boat, crossed Lake Galilee, and landed at Magdala on the west coast of the lake. Magdala was the home town of Mary Magdalene that was located about six miles south of Capernaum on the Plain of Gennesaret. Magdala had a population of about 40,000 and was the center of Galilee’s fish-processing industry. It was one of the most important fishing centers in Galilee.

In Magdala some religious leaders came and began to question Jesus in order to trap him. Confronting Jesus, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven. Jesus said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be good weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning you say, ‘It will be stormy weather today, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the sky’s appearance, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”

Jesus took a deep breath and said, “Why does this wicked generation of Israel demand a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth: I will not show this generation of Israel a sign except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Just as the prophet Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so Jesus would be three days and three nights in a burial tomb before his resurrection.’

Then Jesus left them and walked back into Capernaum.

After Jesus and his disciples left the religious leaders, they once again took a fishing boat from Capernaum and crossed over to Bethsaida on the northeast coast of Lake Galilee.

While Jesus and his disciples were rowing across the northern end of the lake, the disciples noticed that they had forgotten to bring bread. At that time Jesus warned his disciples, “Be careful! Be on your guard against the yeast of the religious leaders. The disciples talked about Jesus’ warning with one another and said, “Jesus knows that we did not bring any bread with us.” Jesus was aware of what his disciples were talking about and said to them, “You have so little faith! Why are you talking about not bringing any bread? Do you not see or understand? Are your hearts so hard? Don’t you remember when we fed 5,000 men with five loaves of bread? How many baskets of bread did you collect?” The disciples said, “We had baskets full of bread. We collected 12 baskets full.”

Then Jesus said, “Don’t you remember when I broke seven loaves of bread and fed 4,000 men. How many baskets full of bread did you collect?” The disciples said, “We collected seven baskets full.” Jesus said, “How can you not understand that I am not talking about bread.” Then the disciples finally understood that Jesus was telling them to be on guard against false teaching of the religious leaders.

When the fishing boat landed at the town of Bethsaida some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. Jesus took the hand of the man and led him outside of the town. After Jesus had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on them, he asked the man, “Do you see anything?” The man looked around and said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking around.” Once again, Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were healed, and he could see everything clearly. Jesus sent the man home saying, “Do not go back into town.”

Then Jesus and his disciples left Bethsaida and walked north to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus prayed alone with his disciples. This region was primarily non-Jewish and was located about 25 miles north of Lake Galilee near Mount Hermon.

When Jesus and his disciples came to Ceasarea Philippi, he asked them, “Who do the people say the Son of Man is? Who do the people say that I am?” The disciples said to him, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others say Jeremiah, or one of the other Old Testament prophets who had come back to life.”

Then Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter said to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you Peter because this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. I tell you the truth: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not be strong enough to stop it. I will give you all the knowledge of the kingdom of God.” Then Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

From that time on, Jesus began to teach and explain to his disciples that he—the Son of Man—must travel to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the religious leaders. He told them that he must be put to death, and that he would rise from the dead on the third day. Jesus spoke boldly and clearly about these things.

After Peter heard Jesus tell his disciples about his crucifixion and resurrection, he was offended and pulled Jesus away from the others and rebuked him. He said to Jesus, “Never, Lord! This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned and looked at the other disciples, then he re- buked Peter saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me. You are not thinking about God’s purposes, but only human concerns!”

Then Jesus gathered his disciples and the crowd of people and said to them, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must surrender himself and pick up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever gives up his life for my sake and for the gospel will find it. Tell me, what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet lose his life? What can anyone give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come again in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to how he has lived on earth. If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this sinful generation of Israel, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. I tell you the truth: There are some standing here who will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom, for they will see the kingdom of God come with power.”

About a week later, Jesus led Peter, James, and John up on a mountainside to pray. When they arrived,Jesus and the disciples were alone.

Jesus was praying and his appearance was transformed in front of the disciples’ eyes. The face of Jesus changed and shone as bright as the sun. His clothes became as white as light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them in glorious light and began talking with Jesus. They spoke to him about his coming ascension back to heaven, which he was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem. Peter, James, and John slept, but when they woke up, they saw the glory of Jesus, and Moses and Elijah standing with him.

As Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good for us to be here together. I can put up three tents—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The disciples were terrified, and Peter was confused and did not know what to say. While Peter was still talking, suddenly a bright cloud—the presence of God— appeared and covered them. They shook in fear when the cloud surrounded them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, who I love and have chosen, with him I am very pleased. Be sure to listen to him!”

When the disciples heard the voice from heaven, they fell facedown to the ground because they were so afraid.

The next day, while Jesus, Peter, James, and John were walking down the mountainside, Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” The disciples asked each other, “What does ‘rising from the dead’ mean?” Puzzled, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the law of Moses say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus said, “It is true, Elijah will come first and restore all things. I tell you the truth: Elijah has already come, and the religious leaders did not rec- ognize him, but they mistreated him. Then the disciples understood that Jesus was talking to them about John the Baptist. Jesus said, “In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

When Jesus and his disciples came down from the mountainside, they met the other disciples and a large crowd of people. The crowd was around the disciples, and the religious leaders were arguing with them. As soon as the crowd saw Jesus, they were overcome with won- der and ran to greet him. Jesus asked his disciples, “What are you arguing about?”

But before they could answer, a man suddenly jumped out from the crowd and fell on his knees before Jesus and cried out, “Lord, have mercy on my son! I beg you to help my son, for he is my only child. Teacher, my son is demon-possessed and he can’t speak. The demon attacks him and throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and his body becomes stiff. The demon seizes him and he screams; it causes him to have convulsions. He has seizures and experiences tremendous suffering. The demon seldom leaves him and is destroying his life. I asked your disciples to cast the demon out of my son, but they could not heal him.”

Then Jesus said to the father, “Bring your son to me.” So as the boy was being brought to Jesus, the demon immediately threw the boy to the ground in a severe convulsion. The boy rolled around on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has your son been acting like this?” The father said, “Since he was a child. The demon tries to kill him by throwing him into fire or water. But if you can do anything, please have mercy on us and help us.” Jesus said, “Why do you ask me if I can help you? Everything is possible for a person who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father yelled out, “I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd of people was running toward them, he rebuked the demon saying, “You evil spirit, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!” The demon cried out and shook the boy violently. He was healed immediately. When the demon left, the boy looked like a corpse, so that many people said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took the hand of the boy and lifted him to his feet. When he gave the boy back to his father, all the people were amazed at the majesty of God.

After Jesus had entered a house nearby, his disciples were troubled and came to him in private and asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon from the boy?” Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth: If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from this place to another place.’ And it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. For this kind of demon can only be cast out by prayer and fasting.”

While everyone was still in awe at all that Jesus had done, Jesus and his disciples left the region of Caesarea Philippi and walked through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, for he was teaching his disciples. Jesus gathered his disciples and said, “Listen carefully to me! I tell you the truth: The Son of Man will soon be delivered over to the custody of men. They will kill him, but on the third day he will be raised to life.”

The disciples were very afraid to ask him what he meant.

When Jesus and his disciples arrived back in Capernaum, collectors of the annual temple tax worth about two days’ wages came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” Peter said, “Yes, he does.” When Peter went into his house, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? From whom do the kings of the earth col- lect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” Peter said, “From others.” So Jesus said, “Then their children do not pay taxes. But so that we will not offend anyone, go to the lake and throw out your fishing line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a coin in its mouth. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Once again, the disciples began arguing among themselves about which one of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of God. After they went into Peter’s house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about?” Embarrassed, his disciples did not say anything.

Then Jesus sat down, called them together, and had a young child stand beside him. He then took him in his arms and said to his disciples: “I tell you the truth: Unless you change and become like a young child, you will not enter the kingdom of God. Therefore, whoever humbles him- self like this child will be the greatest in the kingdom of God. Whoever wants to be first must be the last, and the servant of all. For it is the one who is least among you who is the greatest. Whoever receives and welcomes a young child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives the one who sent me into the world. If anyone causes one of these little children—who believe in me—to sin, it would be much better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be thrown into the deep sea to drown. Make sure that you do not mistreat one of these little children. For I tell you the truth: Their angels always see the face of my Father in heaven.

Then Jesus told them this story of lost sheep, “Tell me what you think: If a man owns 100 sheep, and one of them wanders away and gets lost, will he not leave the 99 sheep on the hill grazing and go to search for the one that is lost? I tell you the truth: When he finds the lost sheep, he is happier for that one sheep than for the 99 that were not lost. In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want one of these little children to be lost.”

Jesus looked into the eyes of his disciples and said, “How terrible for the world because of the temptations that cause people to sin! If your hand causes you to sin, you should cut it off. It is much better for you to enter eternal life with one hand than to be thrown into the eter- nal fire of hell with two hands. For in hell the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, you should cut it off. It is much better for you to enter eternal life with one foot than to be thrown into the eternal fire of hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. For it is much better for you to enter eternal life with one eye than be thrown into the fire of hell with two eyes. Be warned, in hell the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire does not go out.”

Then the apostle John abruptly said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw a man casting demons out of people in your name. We told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against us is for us.” For no one who does a miracle in my name can then speak evil about me.”

Jesus continued to teach saying, “If your brothers or sisters sin against you, go in private and tell them their sin against you. If they listen to you, you have restored your relationship with them. But if they refuse to listen to you, take one or two other believers along with you, for as it is written in Deuteronomy 19:15, ‘Let every matter be set- tled by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen to the church, treat them as you would a religious pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth: When two believers on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three believers gather in my name, there I am with them!”

Looking puzzled, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must I forgive a fellow believer who sins against me? Do I have to forgive him up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth: No, you must never stop forgiving a fellow believer.”

Then Jesus told them the story of the unforgiving servant: “The kingdom of God is like a king who told his servants to pay back all the money they owed him.

As he began to settle his accounts, a servant who owed the king about 20 years’ wages was brought to him. Because the servant was not able to pay his debt, the king ordered that he and his family and all that he owned be sold to repay his debt. After hear- ing this, the servant fell on his knees before him begging, ‘Please be patient with me, and I will pay you back everything I owe you.’ The king showed mercy toward the servant and forgave him his entire debt and let him go.

But when the forgiven servant left, he found a fellow servant who owed him about a day’s wages. He grabbed him and began to choke him demanding, ‘Pay me back all that you owe me!’ The fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Please be patient with me, and I will pay you back everything I owe you.’ But the servant refused to forgive his fellow servant his debt. Instead, he had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his entire debt.

When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very angry and went and told their king everything. Then the king called the forgiven servant in and said, ‘You are a wicked servant! I forgave you of all your debt because you begged me. You should have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you.’ In his anger the king handed him over to the jailers to be punished, until he paid back all he owed.”