Here is Today's Message

Matthew 9:1-13 NET


Healing and Forgiving a Paralytic

Matthew 9:1-13 After getting into a boat he crossed to the other side and came to his own town.

Just then some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven."

Then some of the experts in the law said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming!"

When Jesus perceived their thoughts he said, "Why do you respond with evil in your hearts?

Which is easier to say,"Your sins are forgiven' or to say, 'Stand up and walk'?

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--then he said to the paralytic--"Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home."

So he stood up and went home.

When the crowd saw this, they were afraid and honored God who had given such authority to men.

The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said to him. So he got up and followed him.

As Jesus was having a meal in Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples.

When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

When Jesus heard this he said, "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do.

Go and learn what this saying means: 'I want mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Jesus and Beelzebul

Matthew 12:22-30 Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, Jesus healed him so that he could speak and see.

All the crowds were amazed and said, "Could this one be the Son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard this they said, "He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons!"

Now when Jesus realized what they were thinking, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and no town or house divided against itself will stand.

So if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

But if I cast our demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you.

How else can someone enter a strong man's house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man?  Then he can thoroughly plunder the house.

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Mark 2:3-5 Some people came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.

When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus. Then, after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Luke 5:18-20 Just then some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus,

But since they found no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the roof tiles right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith he said,"Friend, your sins are forgiven."

Matthew 11:16-19 "To what should I compare this generation?  They are like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another,

'We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.'

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!'

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

Hosea 6:6 For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice; I delight in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings.

Matthew 12:7-8 If you had known what this means: 'I want mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.

For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."