Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 338
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
9:3-20
But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, “That’s
blasphemy! Does he think he’s God?”
Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you
have such evil thoughts in your hearts? Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are
forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of
Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the
paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
And the man jumped up and went home! Fear swept through the crowd
as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such
authority.
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his
tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him.
So Matthew got up and followed him.
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner
guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But
when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your
teacher eat with such scum?”
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—
sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this
Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come
to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they
are sinners.”
One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him,
“Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?”
Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the
groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from
them, and then they will fast.
“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new
patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger
tear than before.
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would
burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine
is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”
As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before
him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to
life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”
So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. Just then a woman
who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind
