Soon after, Jesus and his students were in Capernaum one Sabbath Day. In the synagogue, Jesus astonished everyone with the excellence of his teaching.
After a while, a voice rang out from among the congregants.
"What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth!? [hdd.1a] Are you here to destroy us? I recognize you, God's holy one!"
"Be quiet!" Jesus said. He then rebuked the man's demon and ordered it to come out.
At that, the demon screamed and threw the man down, inflicting lacerations on the man's body as it was expelled.
The congregants were startled. "What is this?! Some new kind of teaching!? He speaks with authority and even the devils listen??"
That miracle prompted news about Jesus to travel far and wide in northern Galilee.
On leaving the synagogue, Jesus and his students walked over to the house of Simon's mother in law for some refreshment, but the woman was lying down with a high fever and in no position to provide for the men. Jesus, however, took her by the hand, gently encouraging her to rise. The fever immediately vanished and she took care of their needs.
Later, after sundown (because Jews had to wait until after sundown in order to do even simple tasks on Sabbath Day), people brought to the door many who were afflicted with illnesses and demons. Jesus healed many of the ailing and cast out many demons, which he ordered to keep silent so that they would not identify him. (The truth in the mouth of a devil is a blasphemy.)
Long before dawn the next morning, he went out to a lonely spot in the country to pray. A little later, Simon and the others found him."Everybody is looking for you," Simon said.
But Jesus replied, "Let's go to some other towns now so that I may teach there also. I came for this purpose."
So Jesus commenced to tour the synagogues of Galilee, teaching people about God's kingdom.
In one city, a man with severe leprosy knelt before him [hdd.1] saying, "If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with compassion, [hdd.2]
Jesus replied, "I do wish it. Be clean!"
The skin lesions vanished immediately and there was no sign of the disease.
Jesus earnestly instructed the man, "Make sure you tell no one. Show yourself to a priest and offer the sacrifices that are required [in the Mosaic law] as a testimony."
But the excited fellow went and told everybody, making it impossible for Jesus to enter a city openly. So Jesus stayed out in the wild places. Still, people came to him from all over.
One day, Jesus and his students were back at a house in Capernaum, where a crowd had gathered. A wall of people blocked the doorway, preventing some men from bringing a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing. So they climbed onto the roof, carefully handing him up and then pulled the straw and clay roofing apart to make a hole. [hdd.2a] They then lowered the mat, with the man on it, into the room.
On seeing this, Jesus said, "Son, be happy. Your sins are forgiven."
Some of those who heard this, being specialists in Jewish religious law, were offended.
Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them, "Why are you thinking that way? Which is easier? To speak a word forgiving sins or to speak a word healing a man?"
The doubters knew that Jesus had performed miraculous cures, but they still wanted to hold him to their standards.
"But so that you know that the son of man [hdd.3] has power on earth to forgive sins..." Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said: "I tell you, arise, pick up your mat and go home."
The man immediately got up and left, taking his mat with him.
People were astonished. "We've never seen anything like this!"
Not long after this, Jesus recruited another man to become a disciple.
As Jesus walked along the shoreline, he encountered a fellow whose job it was to collect taxes from those doing business in the port area.
Jesus said, "Follow me."
The man, Levi son of Alphaeus, [hdd.4] left his table and joined the other disciples.
Once word got out that a tax collector was among the disciples, a whole group of people who were considered the dregs of society showed up at Levi's house and they all joined Jesus for dinner.
When some Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these social outcasts, they later asked his disciples, "Why does your rabbi eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
To the Pharisees, a sinner was anyone who did not obey Jewish law and who was therefore barred from the synagogues. (The ultra-orthodox sect of the Pharisees was influential among Jews, even those living as far north as the north shore of Lake Galilee.) When the disciples repeated the question to him, Jesus replied, "Those who are well don't need a doctor. A doctor is for the sick. Now, go and find out what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' [hdd.5] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Each disciple reflected on what that meant for him.
One Sabbath Day Jesus and his disciples were walking through a grain field. The disciples were plucking the grain, rolling it in their hands and eating it as they went.
This was noticed by some Pharisees, who were very scrupulous about what they thought the religious law said. They challenged Jesus: "Why are your disciples doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?"
As these critics believed that their rule stemmed from Scripture, Jesus gave them a Scripture-based answer.
"Did you never read what David did under necessity of hunger? How he entered God's house when Abiathar [hdd.6] was high priest and ate the show-bread, which no one except the priests was allowed to eat?" [hdd.7]
Jesus continued, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
From this, we can see that the son of man is lord of the Sabbath.
At another point, his religious critics asked him, "How is it that John's disciples fast often, as do Pharisee learners, but your students eat and drink?"
Jesus replied, "Can ye make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them? But the days will come when the groom is taken from them, and then they will fast."
To illustrate his point, Jesus said, "No one takes a piece of a new garment and puts it on old cloth. Otherwise, the new piece makes a tear in the old, and the two pieces don't match."
Similarly, said Jesus, "No one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the new wine bursts the wineskins, spills out and ruins the containers."
Another time, Jesus entered a synagogue as he normally did on Sabbath Day.
In the congregation was a man with a withered hand. Everyone watched to see what Jesus would do. Would he dare to heal a man on Sabbath Day, when no work was permitted?
Some who watched wanted to accuse him. They were unimpressed by the miracles he had already done. And they planned to criticize him for the miracle they were expecting him to do.
"Come over here," Jesus said to the man.
Then Jesus addressed the crowd. "Which of you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on Sabbath Day, would not take hold of it and lift it out? Isn't a man's life worth much more than a sheep's?
"So then, is it lawful on Sabbath Day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?"
Jesus looked at them with anger and sorrow. How could anyone be so cold-hearted?
He then said to the man, "Hold out your hand."
The man did so, and as he did, the hand became normal.
The Pharisees were indignant and soon afterwards consulted with Herod's gang as to how to get rid of Jesus, even though the Pharisee sect had always represented a strong force against the practices and beliefs of the Herod clan.
Jesus realized this group was plotting to have him killed and, as his time had not yet come, he left town with his disciples. But, a large crowd followed him out into the countryside. People now began to flock to him from all over Galilee, as well as from the Ten Cities area that bordered the southeast shore of Lake Galilee and from Peraea. Some came from as far away as Judaea and even Idumaea, which was south of Judaea. Still others came from the coastal zone north of Galilee where Tyre and Sidon were located in the Roman territory of Syro-Phoenicia.
Many people, including many from the Gentile lands bordering Galilee, were healed. The demons were cast out, with Jesus silencing any that tried to speak about him.
This fulfills the words of Isaiah:
Isaiah 42:1-9
After a while, a voice rang out from among the congregants.
"What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth!? [hdd.1a] Are you here to destroy us? I recognize you, God's holy one!"
"Be quiet!" Jesus said. He then rebuked the man's demon and ordered it to come out.
At that, the demon screamed and threw the man down, inflicting lacerations on the man's body as it was expelled.
The congregants were startled. "What is this?! Some new kind of teaching!? He speaks with authority and even the devils listen??"
That miracle prompted news about Jesus to travel far and wide in northern Galilee.
On leaving the synagogue, Jesus and his students walked over to the house of Simon's mother in law for some refreshment, but the woman was lying down with a high fever and in no position to provide for the men. Jesus, however, took her by the hand, gently encouraging her to rise. The fever immediately vanished and she took care of their needs.
Later, after sundown (because Jews had to wait until after sundown in order to do even simple tasks on Sabbath Day), people brought to the door many who were afflicted with illnesses and demons. Jesus healed many of the ailing and cast out many demons, which he ordered to keep silent so that they would not identify him. (The truth in the mouth of a devil is a blasphemy.)
Long before dawn the next morning, he went out to a lonely spot in the country to pray. A little later, Simon and the others found him."Everybody is looking for you," Simon said.
But Jesus replied, "Let's go to some other towns now so that I may teach there also. I came for this purpose."
So Jesus commenced to tour the synagogues of Galilee, teaching people about God's kingdom.
In one city, a man with severe leprosy knelt before him [hdd.1] saying, "If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with compassion, [hdd.2]
Jesus replied, "I do wish it. Be clean!"
The skin lesions vanished immediately and there was no sign of the disease.
Jesus earnestly instructed the man, "Make sure you tell no one. Show yourself to a priest and offer the sacrifices that are required [in the Mosaic law] as a testimony."
But the excited fellow went and told everybody, making it impossible for Jesus to enter a city openly. So Jesus stayed out in the wild places. Still, people came to him from all over.
Why did this miracle magnify Jesus' fame so much more so than the previous ones? We may conjecture that when people at a distance heard of the healings of people with fevers and demons, they thought there might be natural explanations. But everyone knew there could be no natural explanation for a case of severe leprosy vanishing.
One day, Jesus and his students were back at a house in Capernaum, where a crowd had gathered. A wall of people blocked the doorway, preventing some men from bringing a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing. So they climbed onto the roof, carefully handing him up and then pulled the straw and clay roofing apart to make a hole. [hdd.2a] They then lowered the mat, with the man on it, into the room.
On seeing this, Jesus said, "Son, be happy. Your sins are forgiven."
Some of those who heard this, being specialists in Jewish religious law, were offended.
Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them, "Why are you thinking that way? Which is easier? To speak a word forgiving sins or to speak a word healing a man?"
The doubters knew that Jesus had performed miraculous cures, but they still wanted to hold him to their standards.
"But so that you know that the son of man [hdd.3] has power on earth to forgive sins..." Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said: "I tell you, arise, pick up your mat and go home."
The man immediately got up and left, taking his mat with him.
People were astonished. "We've never seen anything like this!"
Not long after this, Jesus recruited another man to become a disciple.
As Jesus walked along the shoreline, he encountered a fellow whose job it was to collect taxes from those doing business in the port area.
Jesus said, "Follow me."
The man, Levi son of Alphaeus, [hdd.4] left his table and joined the other disciples.
Once word got out that a tax collector was among the disciples, a whole group of people who were considered the dregs of society showed up at Levi's house and they all joined Jesus for dinner.
When some Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these social outcasts, they later asked his disciples, "Why does your rabbi eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
To the Pharisees, a sinner was anyone who did not obey Jewish law and who was therefore barred from the synagogues. (The ultra-orthodox sect of the Pharisees was influential among Jews, even those living as far north as the north shore of Lake Galilee.) When the disciples repeated the question to him, Jesus replied, "Those who are well don't need a doctor. A doctor is for the sick. Now, go and find out what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' [hdd.5] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Each disciple reflected on what that meant for him.
One Sabbath Day Jesus and his disciples were walking through a grain field. The disciples were plucking the grain, rolling it in their hands and eating it as they went.
This was noticed by some Pharisees, who were very scrupulous about what they thought the religious law said. They challenged Jesus: "Why are your disciples doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?"
As these critics believed that their rule stemmed from Scripture, Jesus gave them a Scripture-based answer.
"Did you never read what David did under necessity of hunger? How he entered God's house when Abiathar [hdd.6] was high priest and ate the show-bread, which no one except the priests was allowed to eat?" [hdd.7]
Jesus continued, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
From this, we can see that the son of man is lord of the Sabbath.
Jesus here, as elsewhere, is pointing out that the legalists had lost sight of the purpose of the law. They were focused more on form than on content. They couldn't see the forest because of all the trees.
At another point, his religious critics asked him, "How is it that John's disciples fast often, as do Pharisee learners, but your students eat and drink?"
Jesus replied, "Can ye make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them? But the days will come when the groom is taken from them, and then they will fast."
To illustrate his point, Jesus said, "No one takes a piece of a new garment and puts it on old cloth. Otherwise, the new piece makes a tear in the old, and the two pieces don't match."
Similarly, said Jesus, "No one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the new wine bursts the wineskins, spills out and ruins the containers."
In other words, heaven had come to earth. It was time for joy and merriment. During that window of time, the old practices and forms simply did not suit God's wonderful work.
Another time, Jesus entered a synagogue as he normally did on Sabbath Day.
In the congregation was a man with a withered hand. Everyone watched to see what Jesus would do. Would he dare to heal a man on Sabbath Day, when no work was permitted?
Some who watched wanted to accuse him. They were unimpressed by the miracles he had already done. And they planned to criticize him for the miracle they were expecting him to do.
"Come over here," Jesus said to the man.
Then Jesus addressed the crowd. "Which of you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on Sabbath Day, would not take hold of it and lift it out? Isn't a man's life worth much more than a sheep's?
"So then, is it lawful on Sabbath Day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?"
Isaiah 56:6 shows that the sabbath is not to be polluted. Jesus' point was that healing a person does not pollute anything.
But the men of the synagogue remained silent.Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to Jehovah, to serve him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keeps the sabbath, not polluting it, and takes hold of my covenant will be accepted by God.
Jesus looked at them with anger and sorrow. How could anyone be so cold-hearted?
He then said to the man, "Hold out your hand."
The man did so, and as he did, the hand became normal.
The Pharisees were indignant and soon afterwards consulted with Herod's gang as to how to get rid of Jesus, even though the Pharisee sect had always represented a strong force against the practices and beliefs of the Herod clan.
Jesus realized this group was plotting to have him killed and, as his time had not yet come, he left town with his disciples. But, a large crowd followed him out into the countryside. People now began to flock to him from all over Galilee, as well as from the Ten Cities area that bordered the southeast shore of Lake Galilee and from Peraea. Some came from as far away as Judaea and even Idumaea, which was south of Judaea. Still others came from the coastal zone north of Galilee where Tyre and Sidon were located in the Roman territory of Syro-Phoenicia.
Many people, including many from the Gentile lands bordering Galilee, were healed. The demons were cast out, with Jesus silencing any that tried to speak about him.
This fulfills the words of Isaiah:
Isaiah 42:1-9
1 Observe my servant, whom I uphold; my choice, in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He will not shout, nor fight, nor raise a tumult in the street.
3 A bruised reed he will not break, and neither will he douse the smoldering lamp wick. He will bring true judgment.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged before he has set judgment in the earth. And the coastlands will wait for his law.
5 Thus says God the Lordhe who created the heavens, and stretched them out, he who spread forth the earth, and what comes out of it, he who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk there6 I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.
7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am Jehovah. [hdd.8] That is my name, and my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to graven images.
9 Observe, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
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