He [then] went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if this [cup of suffering] cannot pass away unless I drink it [i.e., experience the suffering], [then] let what You want be done."

And Jesus said to him, "[My] friend, [go ahead], do what you came to do." Then the Jewish officers came and arrested Jesus and began taking Him away.

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.

How [else] then should the Scriptures be fulfilled that this must happen [than what is taking place]?"

[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.

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].

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

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?"

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."

Then the head priest tore at his clothing [i.e., as an expression of frustration], saying, "He has spoken against God [i.e., by claiming Deity for Himself]. What additional need do we have for witnesses? Look, you [yourselves] have now heard him speaking against God.

What do you people think [i.e., about such statements]?" They answered, "He deserves to die."

But he denied [it] in front of all of them, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about."

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 he denied [it] again, [this time] with an oath, saying, "I do not [even] know the man."

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.

saying, "I have sinned by delivering up an innocent man to die." But they replied, "What is that to us? It is your affair!"

And he threw down the thirty silver coins in the Sanctuary [i.e., probably the outer area of the Temple], then left and went out and hanged himself.

The leading priests took the silver coins and said, "It is not permissible by the law of Moses to put this money in the Temple treasury, since it is the price [paid] for [taking] a life.

Now at the [Passover] Festival, the governor was accustomed to releasing whatever prisoner the crowd wanted.

There was at that time in custody a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.

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

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

And he said, "Why [should he be]? What wrong has he done?" But they shouted out even louder, "Let him be crucified!"

They stripped off His clothing and placed a scarlet robe on Him [Note: Mark 15:17 calls this a "purple" robe because in that day, any color with a mixture of "red" in it was often called "purple," so the use of "scarlet" was appropriate].

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!"

And they spat on Him and took the stick and beat Him on the head with it.

And when they had come to the place called Golgotha, which means "the place of a skull" [i.e., probably because it was a skull-shaped knoll in appearance],

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 [also] crucified two thieves with Him, one at His right side and one at His left.

And those who passed by [the cross] shouted abuse at Him and shook their heads [in derision],

saying, "You who [said you] would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself [from dying]; if you [really] are the Son of God, come down from the cross."

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.

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

Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth

and placed it in his own newly prepared grave, which he had cut out of [a ledge of] rock. Then he [had] a huge stone rolled across the entrance of the grave and went away.

and said, "Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: 'I will rise [from the dead] after three days.'

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.

Now there had been a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord had descended from heaven and, [having] come to roll away the stone, was [now] sitting on it.

He appeared as [brilliant] lightning and his clothing was white as snow.

And the guards shook with fear at seeing him, and became as dead men.

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

So, as you go, make disciples out of people from all the nations, then immerse believers [See Mark 16:15-16] into the name of [i.e., to enter a relationship with] the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

It was even written in Isaiah, the prophet [Note: Verse

He will be the voice of a man shouting out in the desert, [urging people] to make the road for the Lord ready [to travel on]; to make a straight pathway for him."

And people from throughout all the regions of Judea and all of Jerusalem went out to John [in the desert]. And he immersed them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

John wore clothing made of camel's hair and he had a leather belt around his waist. He ate grasshoppers and wild honey.

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.

And a voice called out from heaven, saying, "You are my dearly loved Son. I am very pleased with you."

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

They were amazed at His teaching for He taught them as one who had [real] authority, and not as the experts in the law of Moses.

And just then there appeared in the synagogue a man dominated by an evil spirit. He shouted out,

"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 the evil spirit caused the man to have a convulsion, then shouted with a loud voice and came out of him.

And all the people [in the synagogue] were so amazed they began asking one another, "What is this, some new teaching? And it is spoken with such authority He even orders evil spirits, and they obey him."

And people from all over the city [of Capernaum] gathered at the door of the house,

and He healed many of those who were sick with various diseases and drove out many evil spirits. But He did not permit the evil spirits to tell people [who He was], because they knew who He was [i.e., the Christ].

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.

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 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?

So, he got up and immediately picked up his cot and walked out in front of them all, so that everyone was amazed and gave honor to God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this before."

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 as He walked along He saw Levi [i.e., the same person as Matthew. See Matt. 9:9], the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the toll booth [i.e., collecting taxes]. He said to him, "Become my follower." And he got up and followed Him.

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?"

But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast at that time.

"No one sows a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, because what was supposed to cover the hole [actually] makes it larger. The new [piece of cloth] tears away from the old one and the hole is made worse.

And no one puts freshly squeezed grape juice into bottles made of previously used animal skins. If he does, the grape juice will [cause cracks and] burst the [dried-out] animal skins and the grape juice will [all leak out and] be wasted, and the animal skin bottles will become useless. But people put freshly squeezed grape juice into newly prepared animal skin bottles."

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 He replied to them, "Did you never read what King David did when he and his men were hungry and needed something to eat? [See I Sam. 21:6].

Or how he entered the house of God [i.e., the Temple] when Abiathar was head priest, and ate the 'Bread of Presence' which was not permissible, according to the law of Moses, for anyone but priests? He even gave [some of it] to those who were with him."

Then He said to the Pharisees, "Is it permissible by the law of Moses to do something good, or something harmful on the Sabbath day? To save a life or to kill it?" But they did not reply.

And when He had looked around at them with righteous indignation, being grieved over their stubbornness, He said to the man, "Reach out your hand." And when he reached it out, his hand was restored [to normal use].

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]

He appointed twelve apostles to travel with Him, whom He could send out to preach

and have authority to drive out evil spirits.

Soon a crowd assembled again so that they could not even eat a meal [i.e., without people crowding all around them].

When His relatives [or friends] heard about this [i.e., all that He was doing], they went out to take custody of Him [for safety reasons?], for people were saying, "He has lost his mind."

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."

And He called them to Him and began speaking to them in parables [i.e., brief stories to illustrate His teaching], saying, "How can Satan drive out Satan?

And if a kingdom is plagued by internal division, it will never survive.

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.

Then He looked out over those gathered around Him and said, "Look, [here is] my mother and my brothers

For whoever will do what God wants, that person is my brother, and sister and mother."

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.

"Listen carefully A farmer went out to plant seed,

and it happened, as he sowed [i.e., scattering the seed by hand], some of it fell by the side of the road and birds came and ate it.

And some seed fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil, and immediately it sprouted up because the soil was so shallow.

And when He was alone those people who gathered around Him, along with the twelve apostles, asked Him what the parables meant.

This is so that even though they see, they will see and yet not perceive. And even though they hear, they will hear and yet not understand. For if they did, they would turn [back to God] again and receive forgiveness."

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?