Now John dressed in clothing made of camel's hair and he wore a leather belt around his waist; he ate grasshoppers and wild honey [i.e., for his regular diet].

"You have heard what was said [Exodus 20:14], 'You must not be sexually unfaithful to your mate.'

But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with an improper sexual desire for her [body], has already been sexually unfaithful to his mate in his heart.

And when He got to the other side [i.e., the east side of the lake], He was in the district of the Gadarenes. There He was met by two men dominated by evil spirits. They came from the graveyard [where they lived] and were so fierce that no one could [safely] travel that road.

Quickly, all the people of the town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw Him, they urged Him to leave the district [i.e., probably because of the loss of livestock].

Also, people do not put freshly squeezed grape juice into bottles made of previously used animal skins. If they did, the [old dried-out] animal skins would break open and the grape juice would [all] leak out, and the animal skins would become useless. But people put freshly squeezed grape juice into newly prepared animal skin bottles. That way both of them will survive."

When Jesus turned and saw her, He said, "Take courage, daughter, your faith has made you well." And the woman was healed that [very] moment.

As they went on their way a deaf-mute, dominated by an evil spirit, was brought to Jesus.

When the evil spirit was driven out [by Jesus] the [former] deaf-mute began to speak, and the crowds marveled, saying, "No one in Israel has ever seen this done before."

or a traveling bag [for personal belongings], or a change of jackets or shoes, or [even] a walking stick [Note: By comparing this and the restriction in Matt. 10:10 with the permission given in Mark 6:8, the harmony seems to be "if you do not already have a walking stick, do not get one"]. For the worker deserves having his food provided.

Therefore, do not be afraid [of these persecutors], for there is nothing [they do that will remain] covered up; it will [all] be exposed. And there is nothing they will do secretly that will not be made known [openly].

[He said] "It will be too bad for you, Chorazin! It will be too bad for you, Bethsaida! For if the powerful miracles had been performed in [the cities of] Tyre and Sidon which were performed in your presence, they would have repented long ago, [demonstrating it] by wearing sackcloth [i.e., a coarse cloth made of goat hair] and throwing ashes [into the air].

Then a person dominated by an evil spirit, who was [also] blind and mute, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he was able [both] to speak and see [again].

But the farmer said, 'No, for while you are gathering up the weeds, you might root up [some of] the wheat with them.

Then He said to them, "Therefore every expert in the law of Moses who has been made a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is similar to a [wealthy] homeowner who brought [both] new and old things out of his supply of goods."

They begged Him that they might only touch the edge of His robe. And all those who got to touch it were made well.

this person does not honor his father [or mother]. You have made God's message useless by [thus enforcing] your traditions.

Large crowds came to Him, bringing crippled, blind, deaf-mute, disabled and many other [sick] people and laid them down at His feet. And He healed [all of] them,

When Jesus and His disciples met the crowd [that was gathered], a man came kneeling down to Jesus and saying to Him,

He said [Gen. 2:24], 'For this reason [i.e., since He made one woman for one man], a man will leave [the home of] his father and mother and will cling to his wife, [so that] the two of them will [then] become one flesh [i.e., united in such a close relationship as to constitute one body]?'

For there are eunuchs [i.e., men who do not have normal sexual activity] who are born that way; then there are eunuchs who were made that way by undergoing a surgical operation; then there are [also] eunuchs who purposely chose to avoid normal sexual activity for the sake of [ministering in] the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept such an arrangement [i.e., of not marrying], should do so."

The young man asked Him, "Which [ones]?" Jesus answered, "You must not murder. You must not be sexually unfaithful to your mate. You must not steal. You must not give false testimony.

[Then] he went out again about noon and again at three o'clock in the afternoon and made the same offer.

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons [i.e., James and John] came to Jesus with her sons and, bowing down in reverence before Him, made a request of Him.

And He said to them, "It is written [Isa. 56:7], 'My house [i.e., the Temple] will be called a house for prayer', but [Jer. 7:11 says], 'You have made it a hideout for thieves.'"

Jesus [then] said to the leading priests and elders of the Jewish people, "Did you not ever read in the Scriptures [Psa. 118:22-23], 'The building block rejected by the builders is the same one that was made the principal stone by which the entire building was aligned. This was planned by the Lord and is a marvelous thing to us'?

When they attempted to arrest Him, [they hesitated because] they feared [what] the crowds [might do], since they considered Jesus a prophet.

But they made fun of it, and went on about their business, one to his farm, another to his store.

But when the king came in [to the dining hall] to meet the guests, he noticed a man who was not wearing a [proper] wedding outfit.

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be similar to ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the [bride and] groom. [Note: The picture here is that of a newly married couple returning from a festive reception to the groom's home where they continued celebrating and were welcomed by a late evening wedding party]

Then at midnight someone shouted, 'Look, the [bride and] groom are here. Come on, let us go out and meet them.'

But the sensible ones answered, 'There might not be enough for us and you, [so] instead, you should go to the store and buy some for yourselves.'

In the same way the one who was given two talents made two more.

They were taking counsel together as to how they might take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.

But they reasoned, "We will not do it during the Festival because it might start a riot among the people."

a woman with an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of very expensive perfume came to Him and poured it on His head as He reclined at the dinner table. [Note: See Matt. 23:6]

And the disciples did [just] as Jesus had asked them, and they made preparations for the Passover meal.

And He took a cup [i.e., probably wine made from fresh or possibly preserved grape juice], gave thanks to God, then passed it to them, saying, "All of you, drink from it;

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]?

The head priest stood up and said to Him, "Have you nothing to answer? What about this charge being made against you by these people?"

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,

When He was accused by the leading priests and the [Jewish] elders, He made no reply.

But He [again] made no reply, not even to a single charge, which caused the governor to be greatly amazed.

Then they made a wreath out of thorns and placed it on His head and put a stick in His right hand. They knelt down in front of Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hey, king of the Jews!"

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 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."

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.

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

And when they met Him [there], they [knelt down] to worship Him; but some [still] had doubts [i.e., about His resurrection. See John 20:25].