-
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,
-
as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—
-
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
-
The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
-
And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
-
Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
-
At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness,
-
and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
-
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
-
At once they left their nets and followed him.
-
Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
-
“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”
-
The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
-
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”
-
News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
-
Simon and his companions went to look for him,
-
and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
-
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
-
Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
-
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning:
-
Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
-
Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.
-
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.
-
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.
-
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.
