Jesus to Paralyzed Man: “Your Sins Are Gone”
1Since the people asked Jesus to leave, he left. He got into the boat, crossed back to the other side of the lake, and went back into the town where he had been staying. [1]2Some people brought to Jesus a paralyzed man who was lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Courage, buddy. Your sins are forgiven.”
3Some of the scholars known as scribes mumbled, “This man just insulted God!”
4Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, “Why do you cram so much evil into your heads and your hearts? 5What’s easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’? 6I’m going to do this to show you that I, the Son of Humans, [2] have every right to forgive sins here on earth.”
Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Get up. Pick up your stretcher. Go home.” 7The man got up and went home.
8Shock and awe swept through the crowd. The people started raving about God and thanking him for giving someone power like this.
Jesus Picks a Taxman as a Disciple
9When Jesus headed out, he came to the local tax booth. A man named Matthew was sitting there. Jesus said to him, “Come with me.” Matthew got right up and went with him.10Jesus and his disciples ate that day with a bunch of taxmen and other folks who had a fairly solid reputation for sinning. 11A group of Jews known as Pharisees [3] saw what was going on. They went over to the disciples of Jesus and asked, “What does your teacher think he’s doing, eating with these tax collectors and sinners?”
12Jesus heard what they said. He told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. Sick people do. 13You need to do a little more studying. You need to learn what our Bible means when it says, ‘I don’t want to see you offering sacrifices. I want to see you showing mercy.’ [4] I didn’t come here for good and godly people. I came to invite sinners.”
Why Disciples Skipped Fasting Instead of Meals
14Disciples of John the Baptist cornered Jesus with a question: “Why don’t your disciples ever skip meals in a fast? We do. So do the Pharisees, a lot.” [5]15Jesus said, “Friends of the groom don’t skip the food at a wedding, do they? The time will come when the groom will be taken away. They will fast then. 16When you need to repair torn clothing, you don’t try to fix it by sewing on a patch of cloth that has never been washed. If you do that, the patch would shrink and rip the hole even bigger. [6]
17“And people don’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If they did, the wine would expand as it continues to ferment, and it would pop the wineskin. You’d lose the wine and the wineskin. Instead, people put new wine into new wineskins. That way, you save both the wine and the wineskin.”
Jesus Goes to Help a Dead Girl
18Jesus was still talking when a leader at the local synagogue came over and dropped to the ground, bowing in front of him. The man said, “My little girl [7] has just died. But if you come and put your hands on her, she’ll live again.”19Jesus and his disciples got up and followed the man to his home.
Woman Is Healed by Touching Jesus
20As they walked, a woman sneaked up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his robe. She had been suffering from a chronic flow of blood [8] for the past 12 years. 21She had been telling herself, “If only I can manage to touch his clothes, I’ll get healed.”22Jesus turned around and looked at the woman. He told her, “Don’t be afraid, my daughter. You’re healed, and it’s because of your faith.” She walked away healed.
Jesus Raises a Dead Girl
23Flute players and a noisy crowd of mourners greeted Jesus when he got to the home of the synagogue leader. 24Jesus told the people, “Leave. This girl isn’t dead. She’s just sleeping.” The people scolded him for saying such a thing. 25When the people cleared the room, Jesus went over to the girl. He took her by the hand and she got up.26News about this spread all over the area.
Jesus Heals Blind Men, Tells Them Not to Talk
27When Jesus left there, two blind men started following him. They kept yelling, “Please help us, Son of David!”28Jesus went into the house where he was staying. [9] The blind men followed him there. Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I’m able to do this for you?”
They answered, “Yes, sir, we do.”
29Jesus touched their eyes and said, “Since you’ve got the faith to see again, open your eyes and look around.”
30They opened their eyes, and they could see. Then Jesus gave them a stern warning: “Look here. I want you to make sure no one knows anything about what just happened.”
31The men left and told everyone about everything that just happened. Word spread throughout the countryside.
Jesus Heals a Man Who Can’t Talk
32As the formerly blind men [10] were leaving, some other people brought to Jesus a demon-possessed man who couldn’t talk. 33After the exorcism, the man started talking.The crowd of people who saw this was absolutely amazed. “Wow! Nothing like this has ever happened before anywhere in Israel!”
34Pharisees started spreading a rumor. They said, “You know where he gets the power to boss demons around? From the ruler of demons.”
Help Wanted for Spiritual Harvest
35Jesus went into cities and villages all over the area. He taught in synagogues. He preached the good news about the kingdom of heaven. He healed everyone brought to him. It didn’t matter what kind of illness or disease they had. 36He felt for the people. He could see they were facing a lot of troubles and they had no idea where to turn for help. They were like lost sheep without a shepherd.37He told his disciples, “There’s a huge crop out there ready to harvest. But we don’t have enough workers. 38Ask the Boss in charge of the harvest to send more workers out into the field.”
