Saturday Scripture: Mark 5-8

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Here is Pastor Gabe reading from the book of Mark. Mark chapter 5.

They came to the other side of the sea into the country of the Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one was able to bind him any more even with a chain, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

Constantly night and day he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.

Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before him, and shouting with a loud voice, he said,

What business do we have with each other, Jesus, son of the Most High God? I implore you by God, do not torment me.

For he had been saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And he was asking him,

What is your name? And he said to him, My name is Legion, for we are many. And he began to implore him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored him, saying,

Send us into the swine so that we may enter them. Jesus gave them permission.

And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them, and they were drowned in the sea.

The herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country, and the people came to see what it was that had happened.

They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon -possessed, sitting down, clothed, and in his right mind, the very man who had had the

Legion, and they became frightened. Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon -possessed man and all about the swine, and they began to implore him to leave their region.

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon -possessed was imploring him that he might accompany him.

And he did not let him, but he said to him, Go home to your people and report to them what great things the

Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you. And he went away and began to proclaim in the

Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.

When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and so he stayed by the seashore.

One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing him fell at his feet, and implored him earnestly, saying,

My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.

And he went off with him, and a large crowd was following him and pressing in on him. A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse, after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind him and touched his cloak.

For she thought, If I just touch his garments, I will get well. Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

Immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power proceeding from him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said,

Who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing in on you, and you say,

Who touched me? And he looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.

While he was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, Your daughter has died, why trouble the teacher any more?

But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.

And he allowed no one to accompany him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

They came to the house of the synagogue official, and he saw a commotion and people loudly weeping and wailing.

And entering in, he said to them, Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.

They began laughing at him, but putting them all out, he took along the child's father and mother and his own companions and entered the room where the child was.

Taking the child by the hand, he said to her, Talitha kum, which translated means,

Little girl, I say to you, get up. Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old, and immediately they were completely astounded.

And he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and he said that something should be given her to eat.

Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown, and his disciples followed him.

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and the many listeners were astonished, saying,

Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to him? And such miracles as these performed by his hands?

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?

Are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them,

A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his own relatives and in his own household.

And he could do no miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he wandered at their unbelief, and he was going around the villages teaching.

And he summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

And he instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey except a mere staff, no bread, no bag, no money in their belt, but to wear sandals.

And he added, Do not put on two tunics. And he said to them, Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.

Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.

They went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons, and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

And King Herod heard of it, for his name had become well known. And people were saying, John the

Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.

But others were saying, He is Elijah. And others were saying, He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.

But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, John whom I beheaded has risen. For Herod himself had sent and had

John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.

For John had been saying to Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.

Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so. For Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe.

And when he heard him, he was very perplexed, but he used to enjoy listening to him. A strategic day came when

Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

And the king said to the girl, Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.

And he swore to her, Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to half of my kingdom.

And she went out and said to her mother, What shall I ask for? And she said,

The head of John the Baptist. Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying,

I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.

Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison, and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl.

And the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

The apostles gathered together with Jesus, and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.

And He said to them, Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.

For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

The people saw them going, and many recognized them, and ran there together on foot from all the cities and got there ahead of them.

When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

And He began to teach them many things. When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said,

This place is desolate, and it is already quite late. Send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.

But He answered them, You give them something to eat. And they said to Him, Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?

And He said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go look. And when they found out, they said,

Five and two fish. And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.

They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fish.

And looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves, and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them.

And He divided up the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied.

And they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces and also of the fish. There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.

After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.

Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night

He came to them, walking on the sea, and He intended to pass by them. But when they saw

Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw

Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, Take courage, it is

I, do not be afraid. Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped, and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

Mark chapter 7 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.

For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders.

And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves, and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.

The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?

And He said to them, Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.

Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men. He was also saying to them,

You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.

For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and he who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.

But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, Whatever I have that would help you is

Corban, that is to say, given to God, you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother, thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down, and you do many things such as that.

After he had called the crowd to him again, he began saying to them, Listen to me, all of you, and understand.

There is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him, but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.

If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples questioned him about the parable, and he said to them,

Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and is eliminated?

Thus he declared all foods clean. And he was saying, That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.

All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man. Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyree.

And when he had entered a house, he wanted no one to know of it, yet he could not escape notice. But after hearing of him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at his feet.

Now the woman was a Gentile of the Seraphim race, and she kept asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

And he was saying to her, Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

But she answered and said to him, Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs.

And he said to her, Because of this answer, the demon has gone out of your daughter.

And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.

Again he went out from the region of Tyree and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee within the region of the

Decapolis. There they brought to him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored him to lay his hand on him.

Jesus took him aside from the crowd by himself and put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting, he touched his tongue with the saliva.

And looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, he said to him, Ephaphatha, that is,

Be opened. And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.

And he gave them orders not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

They were utterly astonished, saying, He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.

Mark chapter 8 In those days when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat,

Jesus called his disciples and said to them, I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from a great distance.

And his disciples answered him, Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?

And he was asking them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven. And he directed the people to sit down on the ground.

And taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks and broke them and started giving them to his disciples to serve to them.

And they served them to the people. They also had a few small fish. And after he had blessed them, he ordered these to be served as well.

And they ate and were satisfied. And they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

About four thousand were there, and he sent them away. And immediately he entered the boat with his disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.

The Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.

Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, Why does this generation seek for a sign?

Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. Leaving them, he again embarked and went away to the other side.

And they had forgotten to take bread and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them.

And he was giving orders to them, saying, Watch out. Beware of the leaven of the

Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.

And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread?

Do you not see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see?

And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand?

How many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up? They said to him, Twelve. When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?

And they said to him, Seven. And he was saying to them, Do you not yet understand?

And they came to Bethsaida, and they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored him to touch him.

Taking the blind man by the hand, he brought him out of the village, and after spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him,

Do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see men, for I see them like trees walking around.

Then again he laid his hands on his eyes, and he looked intently and was restored and began to see everything clearly.

And he sent him to his home, saying, Do not even enter the village. Jesus went out along with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.

And on the way he questioned his disciples, saying to them, Who do people say that I am?

They told him, saying, John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others one of the prophets.

And he continued by questioning them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said to him,

You are the Christ. And he warned them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.

And he was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But turning around and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me,

Satan, for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's. And he summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,

If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels.