On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, “Let us cross to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. 38 Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” 41 They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” After a full day of teaching, Jesus tells the disciples to cross to the other side as evening is coming. The crowd is left behind. Jesus is taken “ in the boat just as he was ,” and Mark adds a small detail that makes the scene feel crowded and real: “ other boats were with him .” ...

He said, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land 27 and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. 28 Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” 30 He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 32 But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. 34 Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private. God’s Kingdom does not arrive the way people o...

He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. 23 Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” 24 He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. 25 To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Jesus continues His teaching with three short sayings that belong together. He speaks about light, about what is hidden, and about hearing. Each saying presses the same point: what God is doing in and through Jesus is not meant to remain covered up, and the way a person receives His word will shape what follows. Jesus begins with a plain picture. A lamp is brought in so it can do what a lamp is for. It is not meant to be tucked away under something that blocks its ...

On another occasion he began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. 2 And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 3 “Hear this! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. 8 And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.” 10 And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. 11 He answered them, “The mystery of th...

His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. 32 A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers [and your sisters] are outside asking for you.” 33 But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and [my] brothers?” 34 And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 35 [For] whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus is teaching inside a house when his mother and his brothers arrive. They remain “outside,” send word in, and call for him. The crowd is “ seated around him ,” and they relay the message, adding the detail found in some ancient witnesses, “ and your sisters .” Mark then places Jesus’ response at the center: he answers the message with a saying that redefines kinship. He looks around at those seated “ in the circle ” and identifies them as his mother and his brothers, and then he states the criterion plainly: “ whoever does the will o...

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” 23 Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive 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 will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. 28 Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” 30 For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.” The scribes come from Jerusalem to where Jesus is teaching in Galilee. They make a serious charge: they say Jesus is “ posses...

When he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.” 17 From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” When Jesus hears that John has been arrested, he “ withdrew to Galilee .” The movement matters because Matthew has already used “ withdrew ” language when danger rises and God’s plan continues by another path. John’s arrest is not an incidental detail. It signals that opposition has begun, and it foreshadows what will later happen to Jesus as well. Mark describes the same sequence in brief: after John is arrested, Jesus...

He came home. Again [the] crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. 21 When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” Mark brings Jesus back “ home ,” and the crowd gathers again. The pressure is so constant that “ it [is] impossible for them even to eat .” Mark is showing the unrelenting demand around Jesus. The house is not a private refuge. It becomes the place where the public presses in. This is also Mark’s way of showing momentum. The earlier conflicts did not cool down. The healings, the teaching, and the gathering of disciples have made Jesus a public figure whom people will not leave alone. The house is packed, the day is crowded, and even basic human needs are crowded out. Mark wants the reader to feel how exposed Jesus and his close followers now are. When word of this reaches Jesus’ relatives, they “ set out to seize him .” Mark gives the reason in the form of a report: “ for they said, ‘He is out of his ...

He went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve [whom he also named apostles] that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons: 16 [he appointed the twelve:] Simon, whom he named Peter; 17 James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, 19 and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. Jesus goes up the mountain and then acts with purpose. In Mark, a mountain often signals a solemn, decisive moment—an act that discloses Jesus’ authority and sets the direction of his mission. Here it frames the appointment of the Twelve as foundational, echoing Israel’s defining moments on the mountain, but now with the disciples drawn close to Jesus. He summons “ those whom he wanted ,” and they come. Mark’s first emphasis is that this ...

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people [followed] from Galilee and from Judea. 8 Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. 9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. 10 He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. 11 And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” 12 He warned them sternly not to make him known. Jesus has just faced open hostility, and Mark now shows the public response to His works. Jesus withdraws “ toward the sea ” with His disciples. Mark presents this as a deliberate move from the synagogue setting to the shoreline, where the crowd can gather and where His disciples can manage what is happening. The scale is striking. People come not ...

Again he entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. 5 Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. Mark places this scene in the synagogue, where worship and the listening to God’s word should form the heart. Into that setting comes a man “ who had a withered hand ” (v. 1). Mark gives no details about how it happened or how long he has lived with it. The point is not curiosity about the condition. The point is what ...

As he was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. 24 At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” 25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? 26 How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” 27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. 28 That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” Mark places this scene on the Sabbath as Jesus and his disciples walk through a grainfield. The disciples “ began to make a path while picking the heads of grain ” (v. 23). The action itself was not theft. Israel’s law allowed a traveler to pluck grain by hand to satisfy immediate hunger (cf. Deut. 23:25). The objection is about timing and i...

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to him and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. 22 Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.” Jesus’ disciples are questioned because John’s disciples fast, and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, so people expect Jesus’ disciples to do the same. In that setting, fasting often expressed repentance,...

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” 37 The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. 40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). John the Baptist is standing with two of his disciples when Jesus walks by. John does not try to hold them to himse...