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

And Simon and those who were with him [i.e., probably Andrew, James and John. See verse 29] followed Him.

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]."

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].

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].

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."

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 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].

And the Pharisees were watching Him to see if He would heal the man on the Sabbath day, so that they could [find a reason to] accuse Him.

He told His disciples to have a small boat waiting for Him [i.e., from which He could address the people. See 4:1], to prevent His being thronged by the large crowd.

Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew [i.e., the same as Nathaniel. See John 1:45], Matthew [i.e., the same as Levi. See Mark 2:14], Thomas [i.e., the same as Didymus. See John 11:16], James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus [i.e., the same as Judas, the son of James. See Luke 6:16], Simon the Canaanean [i.e., the same as the Zealot. See Luke 6:15],

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."

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.

"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.

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."

Some of the seed that fell along the roadside represents where 'the word' was sown [i.e., preached]. When these people have heard, immediately Satan comes and takes away 'the word' which had been sown in them.

And in the same way, some [of the seed] that was sown on rocky soil represented those who heard 'the word' and immediately accepted it gladly,

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

then went to bed and got up the next day to find that the seed had sprouted and grown, yet he did not know how it happened.

It is similar to a seed from the mustard tree which, when planted in the ground,

And His disciples said to Him, "You see the large crowd thronging you and yet you ask 'Who touched me'?"

Then He looked around to see who had done this [i.e., touched Him and received healing].

And He said to them, "How many loaves [of bread] do you have? Go and see." And when had found out, they said, "Five [barley] loaves [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish."

The number eating the loaves of bread was five thousand men. [Note: This was besides women and children. See Matt. 14:21].

The number [who ate] was about four thousand men [besides women and children. See Matt. 15:38]. Then Jesus sent them away.

Then Jesus ordered them, saying, "Pay attention and watch out for the leavening [effect] of the Pharisees and Herod." [Note: By "Herod" is probably meant the Herodians, who were a party favorable to King Herod and, along with the Pharisees and Sadducees, were out to get Jesus. See Matt. 16:6].

Even though you have eyes, do you not see? And even though you have ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

[So], He took hold of the blind man by his hand and brought him out of the village. When Jesus spit [and put His saliva] on his eyes [See 7:33 for a similar use of His saliva in healing] and placed His hands on him [for healing], He asked him, "Can you see anything?"

The man looked up and said, " [Yes], I see people, but they look like trees walking around."

Then Jesus again placed His hands on his eyes; the man stared intently, then his sight was [completely] restored and he was able to see everything clearly.

And Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, there are some people standing here who will surely not experience death until they see that God's kingdom has come in [a demonstration of] power."

And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi [i.e., Teacher], it is good for us to be here. Let us build three small shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." [See note at Matt. 17:4]

And as they were coming down from the mountain Jesus ordered His disciples not to tell anyone what they had seen until [after] the Son of man was raised again from the dead.

And when Peter, James and John [See verse 2] returned to [the rest of] the disciples, they saw a large crowd gathered around them, and the experts in the law of Moses disputing with them.

And whoever causes one of these little ones [i.e., humble followers of the Lord. See Matt. 18:6] who believes in me to be led astray [from God], he would have been better off to have had a huge millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the ocean [Note: This was a heavy, circular stone rolled over grain to crush it, and moved by an animal walking in a circle].

"Salt is good, but if it loses its salty flavor, what will you use to restore it? [i.e., it is difficult to restore the "salt" of sacrificial commitment to God once it is lost]. You should have salt in yourselves [i.e., develop the qualities of preserving, purifying commitment to God], and live peacefully with one another [i.e., instead of in rivalry. See 9:33-34].

But when Jesus saw it, He was moved with [righteous] indignation, and said to them, "Allow these little children to come to me and stop trying to prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such [humble ones. See Matt. 18:4].

Then Jesus entered the Temple in Jerusalem, and after looking around at everything [there], He left for Bethany with the twelve apostles, since it was evening by then. [Note: Jesus stayed overnight at Bethany during the week prior to His crucifixion. See verse 19].

Jesus began speaking to them [i.e., to the leading priests and experts in the law of Moses (See 11:

Then the Pharisees sent certain ones of their number [See Matt. 22:15-16] along with the Herodians [Note: This refers to members of a political party favoring King Herod] to attempt to trap Him by what He said.

Should we pay it, or should we not pay it?" But Jesus was aware of their hypocrisy and said to them, "Bring me the coin so I can see it." [Note: The amount of this coin was equivalent to one day of a farm laborer's pay, or about $60-$84 in 1994].

or, to the people (See Luke 20:9)] by using parables. He said, "A man planted a vineyard and built a fence around it. He dug a place for constructing a grape squeezing device, built a [lookout] tower [near it], then leased it out to tenant farmers and went to another country.

As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, He responded [to some Pharisees. See Matt. 22:41] by asking, "How is it that the experts in the law of Moses can say that the Christ is the son of David?

And Jesus responded to him, "Do you see these huge buildings? There will not be one stone left on another here that will not be thrown down."

"But when you see that disgusting thing that causes total destruction [i.e., the Roman army. See Luke 21:20] standing where it ought not to be [i.e., surrounding the besieged city of Jerusalem], (let the reader understand [what is meant by this]), then those of you in Judea are to run away into the [nearby] mountains.

And then they will see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and splendor.

In the same way also, when you see these things happening, you [should] know that He [i.e., Jesus] is as near as your [front] door.

Although the sky and the earth will pass away [See II Pet. 3:10], my words will not pass away [i.e., they will certainly come true].

But some [of the disciples. See Matt. 26:8] were upset among themselves, saying, "What is the reason for wasting this perfume?

As they reclined at the table to eat, [Note: See Matt. 23:6] Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will turn me over [i.e., to the Jewish leaders]; [it is the one] who is eating with me."

And He came back a third time and said to them, "Go ahead and sleep now and get your rest. That is enough; the time has come. See, the Son of man is about to be turned over into the hands of sinners.

But a certain disciple that was standing nearby [i.e., Peter. See John 18:10] drew his sword and struck the head priest's servant [i.e., Malchus. See John 18:10], shearing off his ear.

Then two people [See Matt. 26:60] stood up and gave false testimony against Him, saying,

And Jesus answered, "Yes, I am; and 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."

Now when Peter was in the courtyard downstairs [i.e., from where the Sanhedrin was having its meeting. See verse 55], one of the head priest's servant girls came in,

But again he denied it. Then after a little while those standing nearby said to Peter again, "We know for sure that you are one of them because you are from Galilee." [Note: Peter's accent gave him away. See Matt. 26:73].

This 'Christ, the king of Israel,' let him now come down from the cross so we can see it and believe in him." And the thieves who were being crucified with Him also spoke abusively to Him.

Then one of the soldiers ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a stick and gave it to Him to drink, saying, "Let him alone; let us see if Elijah comes to take him down [from the cross]."

Then Jesus spoke in a loud voice and gave up His spirit [to God. See Luke 23:46].

And there were also some women watching all this from a distance. Among them were Mary from Magdala; Mary the mother of the younger James and [his brother] Joseph [i.e., probably the wife of Clopas. See John 19:25]; and Salome [i.e., the mother of James and John and wife of Zebedee. See Matt. 27:56].

[Now] Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of Joseph [See verse 40] saw where the body was laid.

Now when the Sabbath day was over [i.e., after sunset on Saturday evening], Mary from Magdala; Mary the mother of James [i.e., the "other Mary" of Matt. 28:1, who was probably Jesus' mother. See Matt. 27:56]; and Salome [i.e., the mother of James and John and wife of Zebedee. See Matt. 27:56], bought spices [i.e., consisting of aloes and other aromatic perfumes] in order to apply them to His body [i.e., as a means of embalming].

So, go and tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there, just as He told you.'"

And when they heard that Jesus was alive and had been seen by Mary from Magdala, they refused to believe it.

After these things happened, Jesus showed Himself in a different form to two disciples [Note: One was named Cleopas. See Luke 24:13-18], as they were walking out into the countryside [i.e., to the village of Emmaus, about seven miles northwest of Jerusalem. See Luke 24:13].

Later on Jesus showed Himself to the eleven apostles as they sat [i.e., reclined. See Matt. 23:6], eating a meal. He scolded them for their lack of faith and stubbornness because they refused to believe those who had seen Him [alive] after His resurrection.

And these [miraculous] signs will attend [the conversion of] those who believe. [Note: This refers to the supernatural miracles performed by the apostles and their associates during the apostolic age. See verse

And the apostles [See verses 14-15] went out and preached everywhere. The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message [i.e., verified that it was true] by means of the [miraculous] signs which accompanied their ministry. May it be so.