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Jesus Is Tested in the Desert and Will Not Trade Worship for Power (Matthew 4:1-11)

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. 3 The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” 4 He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” 8 Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, 9 and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you wil...

Jesus Calls Levi Who Leaves Everything and Follows Him (Luke 5:27-32)

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. 29 Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. 32 I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” At the beginning of Lent, the Church gives this reading because Lent is a season of conversion, and Levi’s response shows what conversion looks like: he leaves what he must leave behind and follows Jesus. Jesus sees “ a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post ” and says, “ Follow me ” (v. 27). Tax collectors were widely despised, because they worked within the system of Roman rule...

There Is a Time for Joy, and a Time for Fasting (Matthew 9:14-15)

Then the disciples of John approached him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. Jesus is speaking in a setting that already carries the theme of joy. He has just called Matthew and shared a meal with “ tax collectors and sinners ” (Mt 9:9-13). Into that setting, the disciples of John raise a question about fasting, and they include the Pharisees as a point of comparison (v. 14). In Israel, fasting was often connected to mourning and sorrow, and it could also be practiced as a voluntary discipline beyond what the law required. In that religious world, a serious teacher and his followers might be expected to fast frequently. Jesus answers by putting their question into the image of a wedding (v. 15). Wedding guests do not act as mourners while the bridegroom is ...

The Cost of Following Jesus Is the Cross (Luke 9:22-25)

He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” 23 Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself? Jesus begins by telling his disciples what must happen to him. He calls himself “ the Son of Man ” and says that he “ must suffer greatly ” and be rejected by Israel’s recognized leaders: “ the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes ” (Lk. 9:22). The word “ must ” signals that this is not an accident or a tragic turn of events. Jesus is describing the road his mission will take. Rejection and death are not the end of the sentence. He adds, “ and on the third day be raised ” (Lk. 9:22). Luke places suffering, dea...

Give, Pray, and Fast Without Seeking to Be Seen (Matthew 6:1-8; 16-18)

[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. 2 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 4 so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 5 “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 7 In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them. Your F...

The Disciples Misunderstand Jesus’ Warning About the Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod (Mark 8:14-21)

They had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 He enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread. 17 When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” 20 “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered [him], “Seven.” 21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” They are crossing the lake by boat, leaving the Pharisees behind, and heading toward the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The disciples have only one loaf...

The Pharisees Test Jesus by Demanding a Sign from Heaven (Mark 8:11-13)

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore. The Pharisees come forward and argue with Jesus. They are not asking him to teach or explain. They are “ seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him ” (v. 11). In Mark’s Gospel, that word “ test ” matters. Earlier, Mark uses the same idea when Jesus is tested in the wilderness (Mk 1:13). Here, the testing comes through a demand: prove yourself in the way we require. Mark has just shown Jesus feeding a great crowd (Mk 8:1-10), and he places the Pharisees’ demand immediately afterward. They are not asking for another work like that. They demand “ a sign from heaven ”—a public, heaven-sent proof that would validate Jesus in the way they require. This i...

Jesus Fulfills the Law and Calls for a Deeper Righteousness (Matthew 5:17-37)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehen...

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand With Seven Loaves and a Few Fish (Mark 8:1-10)

In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he summoned the disciples and said, 2 “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” 4 His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” 5 Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied. 6 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. 8 They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets. 9 There were about four thousand people. He dismissed them 10 and got into the boat wi...

Jesus Opens the Ears of a Deaf Man and Removes His Speech Impediment (Mark 7:31-37)

Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) 35 And [immediately] the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and [the] mute speak.” Jesus is still moving through predominantly Gentile territory as he comes into the region of the Decapolis, a group of ten cities east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee with a strongly Greek and Roman character. ...

A Gentile Mother’s Plea, a Humble Reply, and a Distant Healing (Mark 7:24-30)

From that place he went off to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 28 She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. Jesus leaves Galilee and goes into Gentile territory, to the district of Tyre. He enters a house and tries to remain unknown, but Mark says “ he could not escape notice ” (v. 24). The movement of the story matters. Mark is placing this encou...

Moral Defilement Comes from the Heart (Mark 7:14-23)

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. 15 Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” [16] 17 When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19 since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 “But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. 21 From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. 23 All these evils come from within and they defile.” After Jesus has challenged the way purity is being discussed, he turns back to the crowd and calls everyone to listen and understand. He sta...

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