Just then, one of those who were with Jesus [i.e., Peter. See John 18:10], reached out with his sword and struck the head priest's servant [with it], shearing off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back in your belt again, for all those who use the sword will die by the sword.

Or, do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and He will immediately send me more than twelve legions of angels [i.e., Jesus could have called about 72,000 angels to minister to Him. See Matt. 4:11]?

[Then] Jesus said to the crowds at that very time, "Have you come out to arrest me with swords and clubs as [you would apprehend] a thief? I sat everyday teaching in the Temple, and you did not [come to] take me.

And those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to the house of Caiaphas, the head priest, where the experts in the law of Moses and the [Jewish] elders were gathered.

But Peter followed Him from a distance [as they were going] to the courtyard of the head priest. He went inside [i.e., eventually. See John 18:15-16] and sat down with the [Jewish] officers to see how things would turn out [i.e., with Jesus' trial].

Now the leading priests and the entire Council [called "the Sanhedrin"] looked for false witnesses [to testify] against Jesus, in order to put Him to death.

and said, "This man [i.e., Jesus] said, 'I can destroy the Temple of God, and [then] rebuild it within three days.'"

But Jesus did not say anything. So, the head priest said to Him, "I command you [to swear] by the living God, [and] to tell us if you are the Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one], the Son of God!"

Jesus replied to him, "You have said so; nevertheless I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of man sitting at the right side of Power [i.e., God Himself], and coming on the clouds of the sky."

saying, "Prophesy to us, you 'Christ.' Tell us who hit you?" [Note: By this time Jesus had been blindfolded. See Mark 14:65].

Now Peter was sitting outside in a courtyard and a servant-girl approached him and said, "You also were with Jesus, the Galilean."

And when he had gone out by the gate, another servant-girl saw him and said to those nearby, "This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth."

And a little later, those standing nearby came to Peter and said, "[We know] for sure, you also are one of them [i.e., Jesus' disciples], because your accent gives you away."

Then Peter remembered the words Jesus had said, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny [knowing] me three times." And he went out and cried bitterly.

Now when morning came, all the leading priests and the elders of the [Jewish] people conferred together against Jesus as to how they might put Him to death.

Then Judas, who had betrayed Him [to the Jewish leaders], when he saw that Jesus had been condemned to die, changed his mind [i.e., about betraying Him] and brought back the thirty silver coins [Note: See Matt. 26:15 for the amount of money involved] to the leading priests and [Jewish] elders,

Now Jesus stood in front of the governor [i.e., Pilate], who asked Him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered him, "You have said so."

Therefore, when the people had gathered together, Pilate asked them, "Whom do you want me to release, Barabbas or Jesus, who is called 'Christ'?"

For he knew that the reason they had turned Jesus over to him was out of envy.

Now the leading priests and [Jewish] elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas [to be released] and for Jesus to be killed.

Pilate replied, "Then what should I do to Jesus, who is called 'Christ'?" They all shouted, "Let him be crucified!"

Then he released Barabbas to them, but he had Jesus flogged and then turned over to be crucified.

Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus to Pilate's headquarters and assembled the entire company [i.e., about men] in front of Him.

As they were leaving [i.e., probably the city of Jerusalem], they met a man from Cyrene [Note: This was a city in the northern African country of Libya]. His name was Simon and they forced him to go with them so he could carry Jesus' cross [i.e., probably only the cross-beam portion].

they offered Jesus wine mixed with a bitter drug [i.e., for the purpose of dulling the pain of crucifixion. Mark 15:23 calls it "myrrh"], but when He tasted it He refused to drink it.

They attached over His head [i.e., to the upright portion of the cross] the charge made against Him, which read, "This is Jesus, the king of the Jews."

Then about three in the afternoon Jesus called out in a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani? [Note: These words were spoken in the commonly used Aramaic language], which mean, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

And immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, soaked it in sour wine and, attaching it to a stick, [lifted it up] and offered Jesus a drink.

Then Jesus called out again with a loud voice and [finally] gave up His spirit [to God. See Luke 23:46].

They came out of their graves after Jesus' resurrection and entered the holy city [i.e., Jerusalem] where they appeared to many people.

Now when the military man in charge, and those with him who were watching Jesus, saw [and felt] the earthquake and the [other] things that happened, they became extremely fearful, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God."

And many women, who had followed Jesus from Galilee and had ministered to His needs, were watching [all this] from a distance.

And when evening had come, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was also one of Jesus' disciples,

went to [governor] Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. So, Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

Mary from Magdala and the other Mary [i.e., probably Jesus' mother. See verse 56], stood near the grave site.

Therefore, give the order to secure the grave site until the third day, so his disciples will not steal his body and then tell the people 'He has risen from the dead.' This last deception would be worse than the first one [i.e., the claim that Jesus rose from the dead would be worse than the claim that he was the Messiah]."

Now as the Sabbath day ended and the first day of the week [i.e., Sunday] approached [Note: See Mark 16:1-2 for the exact timing], Mary from Magdala and the other Mary [i.e., Jesus' mother. See Matt. 27:56] went to look at the grave site.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified.

Suddenly Jesus met them and gave them greetings. They approached Him and took hold of His feet [and knelt] to worship Him.

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers [i.e., the disciples, that you have seen me], so they can head for Galilee where they will see me."

saying, "We want you to say, 'Jesus' disciples came at night and stole his body while we were asleep.'

So, they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story [i.e., that Jesus' body had been stolen by His disciples] was told widely among the Jews, and continues to be told to this day.

But the eleven disciples [i.e., apostles] went to the mountain in Galilee where Jesus had ordered them to go.

Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

This is [how] the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, began.

And it happened at that time that Jesus went from Nazareth, in Galilee [i.e., south to Judea], where He was immersed by John in the Jordan River.

Then right after that the Holy Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert.

Now after John was turned over [i.e., to the authorities and imprisoned] Jesus went [back] to Galilee preaching the good news from God

And while walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw Simon [i.e., Peter] and his brother Andrew casting their net in the lake, for they were fishermen.

And Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishermen for people."

So, they went to Capernaum [Note: This was a city in Galilee that later became Jesus' headquarters while in Galilee. See verse

"What business do we have with you, Jesus from Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are; [you are] God's Holy One."

Jesus spoke sternly to him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him."

and 2:1], and on the [first] Sabbath day Jesus entered the synagogue and taught people.

Now Simon's mother-in-law was sick [in bed] with a fever. Immediately, Jesus was told about her [condition]

When evening came and the sun had set, they brought to Jesus all those who were sick and those dominated by evil spirits.

Very early in the morning, [even] before daylight, Jesus woke up, left Simon's house [verse 29] and went out to a deserted place where He prayed.

He said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns so that I can preach there also, for this was why I came out [i.e., Jesus was sent by God to preach to other towns as well as Capernaum. See Luke 4:43]."

So, Jesus went into the [Jewish] synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching [the good news about the coming kingdom, verses 14-15] and driving out evil spirits.

Then a person with an infectious skin disease came to Jesus and, kneeling down before Him, begged Him, saying, "If you want to, you can heal me." [Note: Throughout this narrative the term "heal/healing" is originally "clean/cleansing" because the Jews viewed a person with such a disease as ceremonially "unclean." See Lev. 13:1-3].

And being moved with deep pity, Jesus reached out His hand, touched him and said, "I do want to; be healed."

Jesus sternly warned him, sending him directly out,

But [instead] the man went out telling everyone about the miracle of healing and spreading the story widely, so that Jesus was not able to enter a town publicly but had to remain outside in deserted places. [So], people went to Him there from all over the region.

After Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, it became known that He was [back] at home [i.e., possibly at the house of Peter and Andrew, where He was staying. See 1:29].

And when they were unable to get near Jesus, because of the [large] crowd, they removed [a section of] the roof [directly above Him]. [Note: The roof was a flat area, where people retired for rest, prayer, etc., and easily accessible from an outside stairway]. And when they had broken open [a sizable hole], they lowered the cot on which the paralyzed man was lying.

When Jesus saw [the evidence of] their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

And immediately Jesus perceived in His spirit what they were reasoning in their minds and said to them, "Why are you reasoning like this in your minds?

Then Jesus went out again, walking along the shore of the lake, and [when] all the crowd came out to Him, He taught them.

And it happened that Jesus was having a meal at Levi's house and many tax collectors and worldly people sat down with Him and His disciples, for many [of these kinds of people] became His followers.

And when the experts in the law of Moses, being Pharisees [i.e., a strict sect of the Jewish religion], saw that He was eating with tax collectors and worldly people, they said to His disciples, "Why does Jesus eat and drink with tax collectors and worldly people?"

When Jesus heard [about] this, He said to them, "People who are healthy do not need a doctor, but [only] sick people do. I did not come to call those who do right, but sinners [instead]."

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, [i.e., going without food and/or drink for religious reasons]. Some people came and asked Jesus, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples do not?"

Jesus answered them, "Can the companions of the groom fast while the groom is still with them? As long as they have the groom with them they cannot fast.

And it happened that Jesus was walking through the grainfields on the Sabbath day and His disciples began picking off heads of grain [to eat] as they traveled along. [Note: It was an accepted custom for people in that day to be permitted to do this as they walked along the paths bordering a grainfield].

And the Pharisees asked Him, "Look, why are they [i.e., Jesus' disciples] doing what is against the law of Moses on the Sabbath day?"

And Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath day was made for man's [benefit], and not man for the Sabbath [day's benefit].

And Jesus entered the synagogue again and there He met a man with a deformed hand.

And the Pharisees immediately went out and conferred with the Herodians against Jesus, plotting how they could kill Him. [Note: These Herodians were members of a political party favoring King Herod]

[Then] Jesus withdrew [from there] with His disciples and went to the lake [i.e., Lake of Galilee], being followed by a large crowd from Galilee. Also, a large crowd from Judea,

and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. Then Jesus went into a house.

And the experts in the law of Moses who had come down from Jerusalem were saying [Note: This followed the incident of Jesus healing a man with an evil spirit. See Matt. 12:22-28], "He has Beelzebub [in him]," and "He is driving out evil spirits by [the power of] the chief of evil spirits."

Jesus said all this because these experts in the law of Moses had been saying, "He has an evil spirit in him."

Then Jesus' mother and [half-] brothers came and stood outside [i.e., of a large house. See Matt. 12:46-13:1]. They sent a message to Him, asking Him to come out to them.

Jesus again began teaching along the shore of the lake [of Galilee]. A huge crowd gathered around Him so that He had to sit in a boat out in the lake [to speak to them], while all the crowd stood on the shore.

And Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear with ought to listen [to this] carefully."

And Jesus continued to speak to them, "Do you not know what this parable means? Then how can you understand any of the other parables?

And Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is like a farmer who scattered seed on the ground,

Jesus was sleeping on a pillow in the stern of the boat. They awakened Him, shouting, "Teacher, do you not care that we are sinking?"

Then Jesus and His disciples [finally] arrived on the other side of the lake [i.e., the east side] in the district of Geresa [Note: Matt. 8:28 says 'Gadara.' Geresa and Gadara were two towns

When Jesus left the boat, immediately a man with an evil spirit came from the graveyard to meet Him.

When he saw Jesus from far away he ran to Him and worshiped Him.

And shouting with a loud voice, he said, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, in God's name, do not torture me."

For Jesus was saying to [the evil spirit in] him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit."

Then the spirits begged Jesus earnestly not to send them away out of the region.

And when people came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been dominated by 5,000 to 6,000 evil spirits sitting down with his clothes on and perfectly sane, and they were afraid.

So, they began begging Jesus to leave that region.

But Jesus would not allow him, saying to the man, "Go home to your friends [and family?] and tell them about the great things the Lord has done for you and how He had pity on you."

But the man went away and began telling people throughout Decapolis about all of the great things Jesus had done for him. [Note: "Decapolis" means "ten cities" and was a region located east of the Jordan River].

When Jesus had crossed over again in a boat to the other side [i.e., to the northwest shore of the lake, probably in the vicinity of Capernaum], a large crowd gathered around Him along the shore of the lake.