Jesus Cleanses a Leper; The Centurion’s Faith

8 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds ^[a]followed Him. ² And a leper came up to Him and bowed down before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You are able to make me clean (well).”^{(A) 3} Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest [for inspection] and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony (evidence) to them [of your healing].”^(B)

⁵ As Jesus went into Capernaum, a ^[b]centurion came up to Him, begging Him [for help],^{(C) 6} and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain.” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ But the centurion replied to Him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I also am a man subject to authority [of a higher rank], with soldiers subject to me; and I say to one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you truthfully, I have not found such great faith [as this] with anyone in Israel. ¹¹ I say to you that many [Gentiles] will come from east and west, and will sit down [to feast at the table, and enjoy God’s promises] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven [because they accepted Me as Savior], ¹² while the sons and heirs of the kingdom [the descendants of Abraham who will not recognize Me as Messiah] will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place [which is farthest removed from the kingdom] there will be weeping [in sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [in distress and anger].”^{(D) 13} Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was restored to health at that very hour.

Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed

¹⁴ When Jesus went into Peter’s house [in Capernaum], He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.^{(E) 15} He touched her hand and the fever left her; and she got up and served Him. ¹⁶ When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons; and He cast out the evil spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick [exhibiting His authority as Messiah], ¹⁷ so that He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He Himself took our infirmities [upon Himself] and carried away our diseases.”^(F)

Discipleship Tested

¹⁸ Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to cast off for the other side of the Sea of Galilee. ¹⁹ Then [on His way to board the boat] a scribe [who was a respected and authoritative interpreter of the Law] came and said to Him, “Master, I will accompany You [as Your student] wherever You go.”^{(G) 20} Jesus replied to him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the ^[c]Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”^{(H) 21} Another of the ^[d]disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and ^[e]bury my father (collect my inheritance).”^{(I) 22} But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me [believing in Me as Master and Teacher], and allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead.”

²³ When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.^{(J) 24} And suddenly a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ And the disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us, we are going to die!” ²⁶ He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was [at once] a great and wonderful calm [a perfect peacefulness]. ²⁷ The men wondered in amazement, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus Casts Out Demons

²⁸ When He arrived at the other side in the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs met Him. They were so extremely fierce and violent that no one could pass by that way.^{(K) 29} And they screamed out, “^[f]What business do we have [in common] with each other, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time [of judgment]?”^{(L) 30} Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was grazing. ³¹ The demons began begging Him, “If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” ³² And He said to them, “Go!” So they came out [of the men] and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and died in the water. ³³ The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the men under the power of demons. ³⁴ And the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.

A Paralytic Healed

9 And Jesus, getting into a boat, crossed over the Sea of Galilee and came to [Capernaum] His own city.

² They brought to Him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a stretcher. Seeing their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], Jesus said to the paralytic, “Do not be afraid, son; your sins are forgiven [the penalty is paid, the guilt removed, and you are declared to be in right standing with God].”^{(M) 3} And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes [by claiming the rights and prerogatives of God]!” ⁴ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven and the penalty paid,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? [Both are possible for God; both are impossible for man.] ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority and the power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and went home [healed and forgiven]. ⁸ When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God and praised Him, who had given such authority and power to men.

Matthew Called

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew (Levi) sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].” And Matthew got up and followed Him.^(N)

¹⁰ Then as Jesus was reclining at the table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and ^[g]sinners [including non-observant Jews] came and ate with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but [only] those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this [Scripture] means: ‘I desire compassion [for those in distress], and not [animal] sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call [to repentance] the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to change], but sinners [those who recognize their sin and actively seek forgiveness].”^(O)

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John [the Baptist] came to Jesus, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees often fast [as a religious exercise], but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus replied to them, “Can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts a piece of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. ¹⁷ Nor is new wine put into old ^[h]wineskins [that have lost their elasticity]; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the [fermenting] wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, so both are preserved.”

Miracles of Healing

¹⁸ While He was saying these things to them, a ruler (synagogue official) entered [the house] and kneeled down and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just now died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”^{(P) 19} Jesus got up and began to accompany the ruler, with His disciples.

²⁰ Then a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the [tassel] fringe of His outer robe;^{(Q) 21} for she had been saying to herself, “If I only touch His outer robe, I will be healed.” ²² But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Take courage, daughter; your [personal trust and confident] faith [in Me] has made you well.” And at once the woman was [completely] healed.

²³ When Jesus came to the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players [who were professional, hired mourners] and the [grieving] crowd making an uproar, ²⁴ He said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead, but is sleeping.” And they laughed and jeered at Him. ²⁵ But when the crowd had been sent outside, Jesus went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. ²⁶ And the news about this spread throughout all that district.

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, screaming loudly, “Have mercy and compassion on us, ^[i]Son of David (Messiah)!” ²⁸ When He went into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” ²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith [your trust and confidence in My power and My ability to heal] it will be done to you.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus ^[j]sternly warned them: “See that no one knows this!” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole district.

³² While they were going away, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Jesus. ³³ And when the demon was driven out [by Jesus], the mute man spoke; and the crowds wondered in amazement, saying, “Never before has anything like this [miracle] been seen in Israel.” ³⁴ But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by [the power of] the ruler of demons.”

³⁵ Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages [in Galilee], teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness [His words and His works reflecting His Messiahship].

³⁶ When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd.^{(R) 37} Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”