Helpfinder Sampler - Flipbook - Page 21
MAR K 1
Jesus Casts Out an Evil Spirit
21 Jesus and his companions went to the town
of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he
went into the synagogue and began to teach.
22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for
he taught with real authority—quite unlike the
teachers of religious law.
23 Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was
possessed by an evil* spirit cried out, 24 “Why
• Prayer
MARK 1 :3 5
Inserted almost incidentally into a busy
Gospel narrative about teaching, healing,
and travel, this one small verse contains
some of the Bible’s most powerful teaching on prayer. Why would Jesus, the
incarnate Son of God, with only three
years to fulfill his mission, take time to go
off alone for prayer? Jesus would invest
such precious time only if, in some mysterious way, even he needed time with
his Father to know his will, assurances,
and resources. Through prayer, he sought
guidance and strength for the day’s
ministry. If Jesus needed to seek God in
prayer, how much more do we need to do
the same!
• Compassion
MARK 1 :4 1
Leprosy was the most terrible and tragic
of diseases in Jesus’ day. It deformed
people, twisting their bodies into grotesque shapes and leaving them covered
with ugly open sores. Because it was
incurable and contagious, it also isolated
lepers from friends and family, their only
means of love and support. When Jesus
saw this leper, he wasn’t repulsed; he
was moved with pity. Compassion was
burning in his heart.
Can you still be moved? When you
see someone in need, hear of a tragic
death, sing a great hymn, hold a newborn
baby—can you still be moved? Do you
still have a well of compassion in your
soul that longs to reach out to the needs
of others? Or is your well dry? Have you
become so callous that the needs and
even the joys of life no longer stir you?
If you feel little compassion, ask God to
stir up this gift in you. And act on Jesus’
example rather than wait for an emotional
urge to be compassionate.
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are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us? I know who you
are—the Holy One of God!”
25 But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet!
Come out of the man,” he ordered. 26 At that,
the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a
convulsion, and then came out of him.
27 Amazement gripped the audience, and they
began to discuss what had happened. “What
sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits
obey his orders!” 28 The news about Jesus spread
quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 After Jesus left the synagogue with James and
John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home.
30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed
with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right
away. 31 So he went to her bedside, took her by
the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever
left her, and she prepared a meal for them.
32 That evening after sunset, many sick and
demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus.
33 The whole town gathered at the door to watch.
34 So Jesus healed many people who were sick
with various diseases, and he cast out many
demons. But because the demons knew who he
was, he did not allow them to speak.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
35 Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got
up and went out to an isolated place to pray.
36 Later Simon and the others went out to find
him. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
38 But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other
towns as well, and I will preach to them, too.
That is why I came.” 39 So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.
Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy
40 A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of
Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing,
you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.
41 Moved with compassion,* Jesus reached
out and touched him. “I am willing,” he
said. “Be healed!” 42 Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. 43 Then
Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: 44 “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead,
go to the priest and let him examine you. Take
along the offering required in the law of Moses
for those who have been healed of leprosy.*
This will be a public testimony that you have
been cleansed.”
45 But the man went and spread the word,
proclaiming to everyone what had happened.
As a result, large crowds soon surrounded
1:23 Greek unclean; also in 1:26, 27. 1:41 Some manuscripts
read Moved with anger. 1:44 See Lev 14:2-32.
MARK 3
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Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town
anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded
places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
When Jesus returned to Capernaum several
days later, the news spread quickly that he
was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was
staying was so packed with visitors that there
was no more room, even outside the door. While
he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four
men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a
mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because
of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof
above his head. Then they lowered the man on
his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing
their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My
child, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But some of the teachers of religious law
who were sitting there thought to themselves,
7 “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only
God can forgive sins!”
8 Jesus knew immediately what they were
thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to
the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or
‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 So I
will prove to you that the Son of Man* has the
authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus
turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand
up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat,
and walked out through the stunned onlookers.
They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this
before!”
2
Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew)
13 Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again
and taught the crowds that were coming to
him. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of
Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth.
“Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to
him. So Levi got up and followed him.
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples
to his home as dinner guests, along with many
tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.
(There were many people of this kind among
Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of
religious law who were Pharisees* saw him
eating with tax collectors and other sinners,
they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with
such scum?*”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them,
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick
people do. I have come to call not those who
think they are righteous, but those who know
they are sinners.”
2:10 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. 2:16a Greek
the scribes of the Pharisees. 2:16b Greek with tax collectors
and sinners?
A Discussion about Fasting
18 Once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees
were fasting, some people came to Jesus and
asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s
disciples and the Pharisees do?”
19 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests fast
while celebrating with the groom? Of course
not. They can’t fast while the groom is with
them. 20 But someday the groom will be taken
away from them, and then they will fast.
21 “Besides, who would patch old clothing
with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink
and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even
bigger tear than before.
22 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins,
and the wine and the skins would both be lost.
New wine calls for new wineskins.”
A Discussion about the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through
some grainfields, his disciples began breaking
off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees
said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the
law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read
in the Scriptures what David did when he
and his companions were hungry? 26 He went
into the house of God (during the days when
Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by
eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the
priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to
his companions.”
27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath
was made to meet the needs of people, and not
people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the
Sabbath!”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
Jesus went into the synagogue again and
noticed a man with a deformed hand.
2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies
3
• Reputation
M ARK 2: 15-17
As a tax collector, Levi (Matthew) was
considered to be a cheat and a traitor to
his own people. Yet Jesus looked at his
future instead of his past, and at his heart
rather than at his present reputation. Levi
responded to Jesus’ call and was transformed from Levi, the disreputable tax
collector, into Matthew, the disciple of
Christ. Regardless of your reputation,
Christ can move you beyond it to
become what God meant for you to be.
