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Jesus Heals a Crippled Man^(a)

¹ A few days later, Jesus came back to Capernaum. The news spread that he was back home. ² A large crowd gathered to hear him speak. The house was so full that there was no place to stand, not even outside the door. While Jesus was teaching, ³ some people brought a paralyzed man to see him. He was being carried by four of them. ⁴ But they could not get the man inside to Jesus because the house was so full of people. So they went to the roof above Jesus and made a hole in it. Then they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. ⁵ When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the paralyzed man, "Young man, your sins are forgiven."

⁶ Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there. They saw what Jesus did, and they said to themselves, ⁷ "Why does this man say things like that? What an insult to God! No one but God can forgive sins."

⁸ Jesus knew immediately what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, "Why do you have these questions in your minds?^9-10 The 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 to the crippled man, ‘Your sins are forgiven.' There's no proof it really happened. But what if I say to the man, ‘Stand up. Take your mat and walk'? Then you will be able to see if I really have this power or not." So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ "I tell you, stand up. Take your mat and go home."

¹² Immediately the paralyzed man stood up. He picked up his mat and walked out of the room. Everyone could see him. They were amazed and praised God. They said, "This is the most amazing thing we have ever seen!"

Levi (Matthew) Follows Jesus^(b)

¹³ Jesus went to the lake again, and many people followed him there. So Jesus taught them. ¹⁴ He was walking beside the lake, and he saw a man named Levi, son of Alphaeus. Levi was sitting at his place for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, "Follow me." Then Levi stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁵ Later that day, Jesus and his followers ate at Levi's house. There were also many tax collectors and others with bad reputations eating with them. (There were many of these people who followed Jesus.) ¹⁶ When some teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with such bad people, they asked his followers, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, he said to them, "It is the sick people who need a doctor, not those who are healthy. I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners."

Jesus Is Not Like Other Religious Leaders^(c)

¹⁸ The followers of John and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and said, "John's followers fast, and the followers of the Pharisees fast. But your followers don't fast. Why?"

¹⁹ Jesus answered, "At a wedding the friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. They cannot fast while the bridegroom is still there. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them. Then they will fast.

²¹ "When someone sews a patch over a hole in an old coat, they never use a piece of cloth that is not yet shrunk. If they do, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat. Then the hole will be worse. ²² Also, no one ever pours new wine into old wineskins. The wine would break them, and the wine would be ruined along with the wineskins. You always put new wine into new wineskins."

Jesus Is Lord Over the Sabbath Day^(d)

²³ On the Sabbath day, Jesus and his followers were walking through some grain fields. The followers picked some grain to eat. ²⁴ Some Pharisees said to Jesus, "Why are your followers doing this? It is against the law to pick grain on the Sabbath."

²⁵ Jesus answered, "You have read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry and needed food. ²⁶ It was during the time of Abiathar the high priest. David went into God's house and ate the bread that was offered to God. And the Law of Moses says that only priests can eat that bread. David also gave some of the bread to the people with him."

²⁷ Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, "The Sabbath day was made to help people. People were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord of every day, even the Sabbath."