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Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed
Man
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum,
the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in
such large numbers that there was no room left, not even
outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some
men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four
of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of
the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by
digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was
lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there,
thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like
that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was
what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to
them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier:
to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or
to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’ 10 But I want you
to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins.” So he said to the man,
11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12
He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them
all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We
have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large
crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he
walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax
collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got
up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many
tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his
disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the
teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with
the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples:
“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the
healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to
call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.
Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s
disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting,
but yours are not?”
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the
bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long
as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when
the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they
will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old
garment. If they do, the new piece will pull away from the
old, making the tear worse. 22 And people do not pour new
wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the
skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.
No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields,
and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some
heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are
they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In
the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house
of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only
for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his
companions.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for
people, not people for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is
Lord even of the Sabbath.” |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
