Mark's Story (23 page)

A House Divided Cannot Stand

²⁰
Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
²¹
But when His own people heard
about this,
they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

²²
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

²³
So He called them to
Himself
and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?
²⁴
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
²⁵
And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
²⁶
And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.
²⁷
No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

²⁸
“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;
²⁹
but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”—
³⁰
because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him

³¹
Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.
³²
And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers
^a
are outside seeking You.”

³³
But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”
³⁴
And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!
³⁵
For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

The Parable of the Sower

4
And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat
in it
on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.
²
Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:

³
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
⁴
And it happened, as he sowed,
that
some
seed
fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air
^a
came and devoured it.
⁵
Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
⁶
But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
⁷
And some
seed
fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
⁸
But other
seed
fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

⁹
And He said to them,
^a
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Purpose of Parables

¹⁰
But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.
¹¹
And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
¹²
so that

‘Seeing they may see and not perceive,

And hearing they may hear and not understand;

Lest they should turn,

And
their
sins be forgiven them.’
”
^a

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹³
And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
¹⁴
The sower sows the word.
¹⁵
And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
¹⁶
These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
¹⁷
and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
¹⁸
Now these are the ones sown among thorns;
they are
the ones who hear the word,
¹⁹
and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
²⁰
But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept
it,
and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Light Under a Basket

²¹
Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?
²²
For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.
²³
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

²⁴
Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.
²⁵
For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶
And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,
²⁷
and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.
²⁸
For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.
²⁹
But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰
Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?
³¹
It is
like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth;
³²
but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”

Jesus’ Use of Parables

³³
And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear
it.
³⁴
But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus

³⁵
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”
³⁶
Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.
³⁷
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.
³⁸
But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

³⁹
Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
⁴⁰
But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How
is it
that you have no faith?”
^a
41
And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

A Demon-Possessed Man Healed

5
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.
^a
2
And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
³
who had
his
dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him,
^a
not even with chains,
⁴
because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.
⁵
And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

⁶
When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.
⁷
And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”

⁸
For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!”
⁹
Then He asked him, “What
is
your name?”

And he answered, saying, “My name
is
Legion; for we are many.”
¹⁰
Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.

¹¹
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.
¹²
So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.”
¹³
And at once Jesus
^a
gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴
So those who fed the swine fled, and they told
it
in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened.
¹⁵
Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one
who had been
demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
¹⁶
And those who saw it told them how it happened to him
who had been
demon-possessed, and about the swine.
¹⁷
Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.

¹⁸
And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.
¹⁹
However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”
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And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

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Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.
²²
And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet
²³
and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.”
²⁴
So
Jesus
went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.

²⁵
Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,
²⁶
and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
²⁷
When she heard about Jesus, she came behind
Him
in the crowd and touched His garment.
²⁸
For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”

²⁹
Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in
her
body that she was healed of the affliction.
³⁰
And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”

³¹
But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”

³²
And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
³³
But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
³⁴
And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

³⁵
While He was still speaking,
some
came from the ruler of the synagogue’s
house
who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”

³⁶
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.”
³⁷
And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
³⁸
Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.
³⁹
When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”