Matthew 15-17

Matthew 15

¹Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,

²“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”

³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

⁵But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’

⁶he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:

⁸‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

⁹They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

¹⁰Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand.

¹¹A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”

¹²Then the disciples came to Him and said, “Are You aware that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.

¹⁴Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

¹⁶“Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked.

¹⁷“Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then is eliminated?

¹⁸But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.

¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.

²⁰These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile him.”

²¹Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

²²And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”

²³But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸“O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

²⁹Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain and sat down.

³⁰Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.

³¹The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

³²Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”

³³The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”

³⁴“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.

³⁶Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

³⁷They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

³⁸A total of four thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children.

³⁹After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Matthew 16

¹Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.

²But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’

³and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.

⁴A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.

⁵When they crossed to the other side, the disciples forgot to take bread.

⁶“Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷They discussed this among themselves and concluded, “It is because we did not bring any bread.”

⁸Aware of their conversation, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you debating among yourselves about having no bread?

⁹Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?

¹¹How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

¹²Then they understood that He was not telling them to beware of the leaven used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

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

¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.

¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

²⁰Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

²¹From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²²Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”

²³But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

²⁴Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

²⁶What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

²⁸Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Matthew 17

¹After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

²There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

³Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them, talking with Jesus.

⁴Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, I will put up three shelters —one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.

⁷Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Do not be afraid.”

⁸And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone about this vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

¹⁰The disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹Jesus replied, “Elijah does indeed come, and he will restore all things.

¹²But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”

¹³Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

¹⁴When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him.

¹⁵“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.

¹⁶I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

¹⁷“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.”

¹⁸Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

¹⁹Afterward the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

²²When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.

²³They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised to life.” And the disciples were deeply grieved.

²⁴After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”

²⁵“Yes,” he answered. When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”

²⁶“From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared.

²⁷“But so that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours.”