Healing and Forgiving a Paralyzed Man
Matthew 9He entered a boat, crossed over, and came into his own city. Some people brought a man who was paralyzed to him, lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Son, take courage! Your sins are forgiven you.”
Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming.”
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do y’all think evil in y’all’s hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’ But so that you may know that the Son of Humanity has authority on earth to forgive sins” —then he said to the paralytic— “Get up, take up your mat, and go to your house.”
He got up and went to his house. But when the crowd saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to humans.
The Calling of Matthew
As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” Then Matthew got up and followed him.
While he was having dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does y’all’s teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a doctor, but those who are sick do. But y’all go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’+Hos 6:6 For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The Question about Fasting
Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”
Jesus said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch would pull away from the garment, and the tear will be worse. Neither do people put new wine into old wine skins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved.”
Restoring a Dead Girl and Healing a Sick Woman
While he was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
Jesus got up and followed him, as did his disciples. Just then, a woman who had a hemorrhage of blood for twelve years came behind him, and touched the edge of his cloak; for she said to herself, “If I just touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
But Jesus, turning around and seeing her, said, “Daughter, take courage! Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that hour.
When Jesus came into the synagogue official’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said to them, “Y’all need to leave, because the girl is not dead but asleep.”
But they ridiculed him. When the crowd was sent outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. The news of this spread throughout that region.
Healing the Blind and Mute
As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do y’all believe that I am able to do this?”
They told him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to y’all’s faith let it be done to y’all.” Then their eyes were opened. Jesus strictly commanded them, saying, “Y’all must see that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread news about him throughout the region.
As they went out, a man who was demon possessed and could not talk was brought to him. When the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”
But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of demons.”
The Workers and the Harvest
Jesus went through all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the empire, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. But when he saw the crowds, he felt gut-wrenching sympathy for them because they were distressed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, y’all should ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into ʜɪꜱ harvest.”