Helpfinder Sampler - Flipbook - Page 25
MAR K 8
8 They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. 9 There were about 4,000
men in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them
home after they had eaten. 10 Immediately after
this, he got into a boat with his disciples and
crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.
Pharisees Demand a Miraculous Sign
11 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had
arrived, they came and started to argue with
him. Testing him, they demanded that he show
them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove
his authority.
12 When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his
spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth,
I will not give this generation any such sign.”
13 So he got back into the boat and left them, and
he crossed to the other side of the lake.
Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
14 But the disciples had forgotten to bring any
food. They had only one loaf of bread with them
in the boat. 15 As they were crossing the lake,
Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the
yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
16 At this they began to argue with each other
because they hadn’t brought any bread. 17 Jesus
knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why
are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t
you know or understand even yet? Are your
hearts too hard to take it in? 18 ‘You have eyes—
can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’*
Don’t you remember anything at all? 19 When I fed
the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many
baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”
“Twelve,” they said.
20 “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven
loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did
you pick up?”
“Seven,” they said.
21 “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.
• Money
MARK 8 :3 6
Jesus is saying that when we pursue
selfish ambitions, we may get what we
want—at least temporarily—but lose
everything important in the process.
Many of our selfish ambitions are related
to the pursuit of money and possessions.
How ironic that we use money—a gift
from God—to buy things that separate
us from him. People who pursue money’s
empty promises one day discover that
they have become spiritually bankrupt.
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Jesus Heals a Blind Man
22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people
brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged
him to touch the man and heal him. 23 Jesus took
the blind man by the hand and led him out of
the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he
laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see
anything now?”
24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said,
“I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly.
They look like trees walking around.”
25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s
eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His
sight was completely restored, and he could
see everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him away,
saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your
way home.”
Peter’s Declaration about Jesus
27 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went
up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As
they were walking along, he asked them, “Who
do people say I am?”
28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the
Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are
one of the other prophets.”
29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say
I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.*”
30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone
about him.
Jesus Predicts His Death
31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son
of Man* must suffer many terrible things and
be rejected by the elders, the leading priests,
and the teachers of religious law. He would be
killed, but three days later he would rise from
the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with
his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to
reprimand him for saying such things.*
33 Jesus turned around and looked at his
disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away
from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing
things merely from a human point of view, not
from God’s.”
34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my
follower, you must give up your own way, take
up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to
hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you
give up your life for my sake and for the sake
of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what
do you benefit if you gain the whole world but
lose your own soul?* 37 Is anything worth more
than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me
and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of
8:18 Jer 5:21. 8:29 Or the Christ. Messiah (a Hebrew term) and
Christ (a Greek term) both mean “anointed one.” 8:31 “Son
of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. 8:32 Or began to
correct him. 8:36 Or your self? also in 8:37.
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that person when he returns in the glory of his
Father with the holy angels.”
9
Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth,
some standing here right now will not die
before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in
great power!”
The Transfiguration
2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and
John, and led them up a high mountain to be
alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance
was transformed, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach
could ever make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses
appeared and began talking with Jesus.
5 Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for
us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials*—one for you, one for Moses, and one
for Elijah.” 6 He said this because he didn’t really
know what else to say, for they were all terrified.
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and
a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly
loved Son. Listen to him.” 8 Suddenly, when they
looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone,
and they saw only Jesus with them.
9 As they went back down the mountain, he
told them not to tell anyone what they had seen
until the Son of Man* had risen from the dead.
10 So they kept it to themselves, but they often
asked each other what he meant by “rising from
the dead.”
11 Then they asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return
before the Messiah comes?*”
12 Jesus responded, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. Yet why do the
Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer
greatly and be treated with utter contempt?
13 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and
they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures
predicted.”
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
14 When they returned to the other disciples,
they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and
some teachers of religious law were arguing
with them. 15 When the crowd saw Jesus, they
were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to
greet him.
16 “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus
asked.
17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up
and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you
could heal him. He is possessed by an evil
spirit that won’t let him talk. 18 And whenever
this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to
the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and
9:5 Greek three tabernacles. 9:9 “Son of Man” is a title
Jesus used for himself. 9:11 Greek that Elijah must come
first? 9:18 Or becomes weak. 9:19 Or said to his disciples.
9:25 Greek unclean. 9:29 Some manuscripts read by prayer
and fasting.
MARK 9
grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.* So I asked
your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they
couldn’t do it.”
19 Jesus said to them,* “You faithless people!
How long must I be with you? How long must I
put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil
spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent
convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing
and foaming at the mouth.
21 “How long has this been happening?” Jesus
asked the boy’s father.
He replied, “Since he was a little boy. 22 The
spirit often throws him into the fire or into
water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and
help us, if you can.”
23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked.
“Anything is possible if a person believes.”
24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe,
but help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil*
spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy
unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command
you to come out of this child and never enter
him again!”
26 Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy
into another violent convulsion and left him.
The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran
through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped
him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the
house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why
couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”
29 Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out
only by prayer.*”
Jesus Again Predicts His Death
30 Leaving that region, they traveled through
Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he
was there, 31 for he wanted to spend more time
with his disciples and teach them. He said to
them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed
into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed,
but three days later he will rise from the dead.”
32 They didn’t understand what he was saying,
however, and they were afraid to ask him what
he meant.
The Greatest in the Kingdom
33 After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in
a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were
you discussing out on the road?” 34 But they
didn’t answer, because they had been arguing
about which of them was the greatest. 35 He sat
down, called the twelve disciples over to him,
and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take
last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
36 Then he put a little child among them.
Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,
