Jesus: Boss of the Sabbath
1Jesus and his disciples took a walk through grainfields one Sabbath Saturday. [1] The disciples were hungry. So as they walked, they snapped off a few heads of grain and ate the kernels.2Pharisees saw it. They confronted Jesus and said, “Would you look at that! Your disciples are breaking the Law by doing something that’s not allowed on the Sabbath.” [2]
3Jesus said, “Really? Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry? 4He went right into the sanctuary of God and ate the holy bread that only priests were allowed to eat. [3] The people with David ate it too.
5“And haven’t you read in the Law that priests break the Sabbath every week? They do it when they work in the Temple. But no one says they’re guilty. 6I’m telling you, there’s something here that’s more important than the Temple.
7“It’s too bad you don’t have any idea what the Scripture means when it says, ‘I don’t want your sacrifice. I want you to show some mercy.’ [4] If you knew what that meant, you wouldn’t be bad-mouthing innocent people. 8The Son of Humans is the boss of the Sabbath.”
Practicing Medicine on the Sabbath
9Jesus left and went into the local synagogue. 10Inside he saw a man with a hand all shriveled up.Pharisees wanted to charge Jesus with the crime of breaking the Sabbath, so they asked him, “Is it legal to heal on the Sabbath?”
11Jesus answered, “Let’s say you had only one sheep, and it fell into a deep hole on the Sabbath. Look around. Do you see anyone here who wouldn’t lift that sheep out? 12Let me tell you, a human is a lot more important than a sheep. So, is it legal to do something good on the Sabbath?”
13Jesus told the man, “Stick out your hand.” When the man stretched out his hand, it wasn’t shriveled anymore. It became as healthy as his other hand. 14That was all the Pharisees could take. They started talking strategies for executing Jesus.
Jesus the Gentle Servant
15Jesus knew what they were planning, so he left the area. A massive crowd of people followed him, and he healed all of them who were sick. 16In a stern warning, Jesus told the people not to spread the word yet about who he was. 17He said he needed time to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: 18“Take a good look. This is my Servant, the Messiah. [5]I love him, and I couldn’t be more pleased with him.
I’m going to give him my Spirit.
He’s going to teach people from many nations about justice.
19He’s not going to fight with anyone or walk around screaming at people.
He’s not going to be one of those voices we hear preaching in the streets.
20He’s not going to throw away someone who’s hurt and damaged
like he’s snapping off a dying branch.
He’s not going to treat the needy
like he’s snuffing out a fading flame.
He’s going to let them experience
the victory of justice.
21Even non-Jews, Gentiles, throughout the world will trust him.” [6]
Jesus Accused of Colluding with Satan
22One day someone brought to Jesus a man who was blind, couldn’t speak, and was demon-possessed. Jesus healed him. The man could see and speak. 23The crowd watching this miracle was astonished. Some of the people started wondering, “Could this possibly be the Son of David?” [7]24When the Pharisees heard about this healing, they said, “This guy can drive out demons because he gets his power from the Prince of Demons.” [8]
25Jesus knew what they were thinking; and he told them, “A nation split in two won’t survive. The same is true of a city or a household. 26So you tell me, if Satan drives demons out of people, how can he possibly keep his kingdom from collapsing?
27“Oh, and by the way, if the Prince of Demons gives me the power to drive out demons, who gives your people power to do the same thing? Gents, your own people are going to condemn you for what you just said.
28“But if I drive out demons because I’ve been given power from the Spirit of God, then you can count on this: The kingdom of God has come to you—and it’s here now. 29How can a burglar walk into a strong man’s house and steal whatever he wants unless he ties up that strong man first? He can’t ransack the place until he does that.
An Unforgivable Sin
30“You’re either for me or against me. You’re either helping me gather the sheep or you’re scattering them. 31So I’m telling you this right now. You can get forgiveness for any sin or any blasphemous bad-mouthing of God. But if you bad-mouth [9] the Holy Spirit, you’re not going to get forgiven. 32You can slander the Son of Humans and still get forgiven. But if you slander the Holy Spirit, you will not get forgiven. Ever. Not in this lifetime or the next.How to Spot a Bad Person
33“You can tell a lot about a fruit tree by the fruit it produces. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces good-for-nothing fruit. 34You sons of dirt-sucking vipers. You’re evil. How can anything good come out of your mouth? What’s in your heart eventually overflows. It pours out of your mouth in the words you speak.35“Good folks have a wonderful treasure hidden inside them. We catch a glimpse of it in the good things those people do. Bad folks amass an evil treasure inside. We see some of it in the bad things they do in life. 36I’m telling you, come Judgment Day, people are going to have to own every nasty word they spoke. 37You can be justified in what you said. If not, you’re going to be condemned for what you said. Your words will do that to you.”
Three Days in Earth’s Belly
38Some scholars known as scribes, along with the Pharisees, replied, “Teacher, we would like to see you show us some kind of miraculous sign of God’s power.”39Jesus gave this answer: “This is an awful generation with zero devotion to God. So there will be zero signs given, other than the one from Jonah, the prophet. 40Jonah was in the belly of a big fish for three days and three nights. Well, the Son of Humans will spend three days and three nights buried in the earth. 41On Judgment Day, the people of Nineveh will stand up and condemn all of you people in this generation. They’ll do it because they had the sense to repent and turn away from their sins after they heard the preaching of Jonah. Now look, something greater than Jonah is standing here in front of you!
42“The queen of the southern kingdom will stand up on Judgment Day, and she’ll condemn you too. She came a good long way from a distant land to find out for herself if King Solomon was as wise as people claimed. [10] Look, people, I’m telling you that something greater than Solomon is here!
43“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert looking for a place to rest. It doesn’t find any. 44So it says to itself, ‘Evil spirit, let’s go back to where we came from.’ When the demon gets there, it finds the house is cleaned up, everything is nicely organized, and nobody else is living there. 45When the demon moves back in, it takes seven other roommates with it. They all settle in, and suddenly the human is worse off than before the exorcism.”
Jesus Adopts the Disciples as His Family
46Jesus was still talking when his mother and brothers showed up outside. They wanted to talk with him. [11] 47Someone told Jesus, “Look over there. Your mother and brothers are standing outside waiting to talk with you.”48But Jesus said, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49He answered his own question by stretching his hand out toward his disciples. He said, “Look over there. Here are my mother and my brothers. 50Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven, that person is my brother and my sister and my mother.”
