Jesus Gives Pharisees What For
1Some Pharisees and Jewish scholars called scribes came from Jerusalem to question Jesus. They said, 2“Why don’t your disciples follow the tradition of our ancestors and wash their hands before they eat bread?”3Jesus answered, “Why do you ignore the laws God wrote so you can obey the laws that you and your ancestors wrote? 4God said, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ [1] and, ‘Whoever says something wicked about their father or mother should die.’ [2]
5“But you created a loophole for people, so they don’t have to respect their parents. You teach that people can get out of helping their parents by saying this: ‘Whatever I have that could have helped you out is no longer available. I’ve dedicated it to God.’ [3] 6You had the nerve to create a law that overrules the word of God. You did it for the sake of your own laws.
7“You’re a bunch of hypocrites! Isaiah perfectly describes you in a prophecy when he said, 8“‘When they open their mouth,
they show me respect.
But when they open their heart,
I’m not there.
9They worship me.
But there’s no point to it.
All they do is teach
the rules they wrote themselves.’” [4] 10Jesus called together the crowd that had been watching. He said, “All of you, listen to me. I want you to understand what I’m about to say. 11Nothing that goes into your mouth will make you impure and unfit to worship God. [5] It’s what comes out of your mouth that can make you impure.”
12The disciples pulled Jesus aside and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you said?”
13Jesus said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant is going to get pulled up by the roots. 14Just leave them alone. They’re nothing but blind guides. If blind people follow them, they’re all going to end up walking themselves right into a big hole in the ground.”
15Peter asked Jesus, “Would you explain that parable to us?”
16Jesus said, “You still don’t get it? 17Don’t you realize that everything that goes into the mouth and through the stomach ends up in the toilet? 18But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that’s what has the potential to make a person impure. 19It’s the heart that can generate evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sex sins, stealing, lying, and slander. 20That’s the kind of stuff that can make someone impure. Eating food with hands that haven’t been ritually cleansed in a handwashing ceremony—that’s not what makes someone impure.”
Jesus Performs Exorcism at a Distance
21Jesus left the area and traveled over to the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A local Canaanite woman who wasn’t a Jew came outside and started yelling, “Please help me, Lord, Son of David. My daughter is demon-possessed, and it’s horrifying.”23Jesus didn’t answer. Not a single word. So his disciples offered a suggestion. “Send her on her way. She keeps yelling at us.”
24Jesus answered them by saying, “I was sent for the lost sheep of Israel. They are why I’m here.”
25The woman came over and kneeled in front of Jesus and said, “Lord!”
26Jesus told the woman, “It’s not right to take the children’s food and toss it to the dogs.”
27“That’s true, Lord,” she said. “But even dogs get a few crumbs that fall off the table.”
28Jesus told the woman, “Dear woman, you have remarkable faith. What you want is going to be done for you.” Her daughter was healed that same hour.
Jesus on a Healing Spree
29Jesus left the area and returned to the Sea of Galilee. When he got there, he went up on a hillside and sat down. 30A huge crowd of people emerged. Among them were people who were injured, blind, crippled, unable to speak, and who had many other physical problems. The people took their problems to Jesus and set them at his feet. He healed each one of those people.31When the crowd saw mute people talking, crippled people walking, injured people healed, and blind people able to see, they were so absolutely amazed that they started celebrating the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds a Crowd of 4,000 Plus
32Jesus called his disciples over and said, “Listen, I feel for these people. They’ve stayed with me for three days and now they’re out of food. I don’t want to send them away hungry because they might run out of energy along the way.”33His disciples said, “Where are we going to get enough bread to feed so many people? We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”
34Jesus asked, “Well, how many loaves do you have?”
They said, “Seven. And we have a few little fish.”
35Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36He took the seven loaves of bread and fish and gave thanks for them. Then he broke them into small pieces and divided them among the disciples, who distributed them to the crowd.
37Everyone ate as much as they wanted. And when they picked up the leftovers, there were seven large baskets full. 38There were 4,000 men who ate that food. And that doesn’t even count the women and children who were there.
39Jesus sent the crowd on its way. Then he got into the boat and sailed off to the area of Magadan. [6]
