New Testament in a Year

Chapter 9

The Healing of a Paralyzed Man.^{[a] 1} Therefore, Jesus got into a boat and, crossing over the lake, arrived at his hometown.^{[b] 2} Some people then approached him, carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. On perceiving their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Take heart, son. Your sins are forgiven.”

³ On hearing this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”^{[c] 4} Jesus perceived what they were thinking, and he said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts in your hearts? ^5 [d]Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say: ‘Stand up and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may come to realize that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man—“Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” ⁷ The man got up and returned to his home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God for having given such authority to men.

Jesus Calls Matthew.^{[e] 9} As Jesus walked on from there, he noticed a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.

¹⁰ Jesus Dines with Sinners. When he was sitting at dinner in the house, many tax collectors^[f] and sinners were seated with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ On seeing this, the Pharisees said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² When Jesus heard this, he said, “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but rather those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this text means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

¹⁴ A Time of Joy and Grace.^[g] Then the disciples of John came to him and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not do so?” ¹⁵ Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶ “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak, because the patch eventually pulls away from the cloak and a worse tear results. ¹⁷ Nor do people pour new wine into old wineskins, for if they do, the wineskins burst, the wine spills forth, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins. In this way both are preserved.”