Jesus Heals a Crippled Man

¹⁷One day Jesus was teaching the people. The Pharisees* and teachers of the law were sitting there too. They had come from every town in Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. The Lord (God) was giving Jesus the power to heal people. ¹⁸There was a man that was paralyzed (crippled). Some men carried him on a small bed. The men tried to bring him and put him down before Jesus. ¹⁹But there were so many people that the men could not find a way to Jesus. So the men went up on the roof and lowered the crippled man down through a hole in the ceiling. They lowered the bed [into the room] so that the crippled man was lying before Jesus. ²⁰Jesus saw that these men believed. Jesus said to the sick man, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." ²¹The Jewish teachers of the law and the Pharisees* thought to themselves, "Who is this man (Jesus)? He is saying things that are against God! Only God can forgive sins." ²²But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, "Why do you have these questions in your minds? ^23-24The Son of Man* has power on earth to forgive sins. But how can I prove this to you? Maybe you are thinking it was easy for me to say, 'Your sins are forgiven.' [No one could see if it really happened.] But what if I say to the man, 'Stand up. Take your bed and walk'? Then you will be able to see that I really have this power." So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, stand up! Take your bed and go home!" ²⁵Then the man stood up before the people there. He picked up his bed and walked home, praising God. ²⁶All the people were fully amazed. They began to praise God. The people were filled with much respect [for God's power]. They said, "Today we saw amazing things!"

Levi (Matthew) Follows Jesus

²⁷After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector* sitting in the tax office. His name was Levi. Jesus said to him, "Follow me!" ²⁸Levi got up, left everything, and followed Jesus. ²⁹Then Levi gave a big dinner for Jesus. The dinner was at Levi's house. At the table there were many tax collectors* and some other people too. ³⁰But the Pharisees* and those men that taught the law for the Pharisees began to complain to the followers of Jesus, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and other bad people?" ³¹Jesus answered them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor. It is the sick people that need a doctor. ³²I have not come to ask good people to change. I have come to ask bad people to change their hearts and lives!"

Jesus Answers a Question About Fasting

³³They said to Jesus, "John's followers often fast* and pray, the same as the Pharisees.* But your followers eat and drink all the time." ³⁴Jesus said to them, ["When there is a wedding], you cannot make the friends of the bridegroom* fast (be sad) while the bridegroom is still with them. ³⁵But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then his friends will fast.*" ³⁶Jesus told them this story: "No person takes cloth off a new coat to cover a hole on an old coat. Why? Because he ruins the new coat, and the cloth from the new coat will not be the same as the old cloth. ³⁷People never pour new wine into old wine bags.* Why? Because the new wine will break the bags, and the wine will spill out and the wine bags will be ruined. ³⁸People always put new wine into new wine bags. ³⁹No person that drinks old wine wants new wine. Why? Because he says, 'The old wine is fine.'"

Pharisees The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs. Son of Man A name Jesus used for himself. In Dan. 7:13-14, this is the name for the Messiah, the one God chose to save his people. tax collector(s) Jews hired by the Romans to collect taxes. They often cheated, and the other Jews hated them. fast To live without food for a time of prayer or mourning. bridegroom A man that is getting married. fast To live without food for a time of prayer or mourning. wine bags Animal skins used for holding wine.