Lord of the Sabbath

Around that time, Jesus walked through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and eat them.^{[1] 2} When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath.”

³ He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his men were hungry? ⁴ How he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence — which was not lawful for him or his men to eat, but only for the priests?^{[2] 5} Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are not guilty? ⁶ I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ And if you had understood what this means — ‘I want mercy, not sacrifice’ — you would not have condemned the innocent.^{[3] 8} For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹ He left that place and went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ A man with a withered hand was there. They asked Jesus, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — so they could accuse him.

¹¹ He said to them, “Which of you, if you had one sheep and it fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t grab hold of it and pull it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored — healthy, just like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, how they might destroy him.

¹⁵ Jesus knew this and withdrew from there. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all, ¹⁶ and he warned them sharply not to make him known. ¹⁷ This fulfilled what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

¹⁸ “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will announce justice to the nations. ¹⁹ He will not quarrel or shout; no one will hear his voice in the streets. ²⁰ A crushed reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not put out, until he brings justice through to victory. ²¹ And in his name the nations will hope.”

²² Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to him. He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. ²³ All the crowds were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”^[4]

²⁵ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? So they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹ “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his goods unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. ³⁰ Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

³¹ “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³² Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven — not in this age or in the age to come.

³³ “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten. For a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You nest of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart. ³⁵ The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. ³⁶ I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak. ³⁷ For by your words you will be declared right, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

³⁹ He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. ⁴⁰ For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.^{[5] 41} The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they turned from their ways at Jonah’s preaching — and look, something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴² The Queen of the South will be raised at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom — and look, something greater than Solomon is here.^[6]

⁴³ “When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house that I left.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept clean, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there. The final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this evil generation.”

⁴⁶ While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

⁴⁸ He answered the one who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven — that person is my brother and sister and mother.”