After that Jesus got in a ship and went back to His own city. When He got there people brought a sick man to Him who was lying on a bed. The man was shaking and so weak he couldn’t walk. Jesus told the man, Cheer up, by happy, God forgives all your sins and bad stuff. It is all let go and gone from you.

Some of the leaders were there and heard what Jesus said and thought, This man is saying wrong stuff about God. But Jesus was God there with them and He knew what they were thinking. He said to them, Why are you thinking bad stuff in your hearts? Is it easier to say, Your sins are forgiven or to say, Get up and walk? (Only God can forgive sins and only God can make the sickness go away so he could get up and walk.)

And so you will know that it is really God here in Me, I am the Son of the Most High, and have the power to forgive sins… then Jesus said to the sick man, Get up and take your bed and go back to your house. And the man got up and went to his house. When the people saw it they were amazed and so happy that God had given a power like that to men.

 

 

Then Jesus left there and as He was walking along he saw a tax collector sitting in his place collecting money from the people for their taxes. The man’s name was Matthew. Jesus said to him, Follow Me. And Matthew got up and followed Jesus.

Then later, when Jesus was sitting down to eat many people, tax collectors and people who had done bad stuff, came and sat down with Him. The leaders saw it and asked Jesus followers, Why does your Master eat with bad ones. Jesus heard it and said, Sick ones need to be made well, good ones don’t. Jesus told them, Go learn what it means when the Lord said, I want My special love to go out. I came to call not the ones who do good, but the ones who do bad to turn back to Me.

Then people came and asked Jesus, Why do the people who followed John, stop eating to get quiet with God, and the ones who follow you, don’t. Jesus told them, Can the children at the wedding be sad when the bridegroom is there with them. The one they stop eating to get close to is here with them. When I am gone, then they will stop eating to get close to Me.

It is a new time, not like the old time. The old stuff doesn’t fit into this new time, like using a new piece of cloth to fix a tear in an old shirt only makes it look worse or like putting new wine in an old wineskin will split it open and spill all the wine out. We do things a new way in this new time that starts now because I am here with you.

When Jesus was telling the people these things, one of the rulers of the people came to Him and said, My daughter is dead. But if you come and put Your hand on her, she will come alive again. So Jesus got up and followed the man to his house.

On the way a woman who had been sick for 12 years, bleeding, sneaked up behind Jesus to touch the back hem of his coat because she said inside her heart, if I can just touch the bottom of his clothes I will be all well.

 

 

 

But Jesus turned around and said to her, My daughter, feel very good; your leaning on me has made you better. And the bleeding stopped right then and never came back.

When Jesus got to the rulers house He saw the people there who were crying and singing sad songs and playing music because the girl was dead.  Jesus told them, Stop it! The little girl is not dead; she is just sleeping. The people laughed and made fun of Jesus. But they were put outside the house. Then Jesus went in and took the little girl by the hand and she got up all well.

 

 

The people everywhere heard about this, how Jesus brought the little girl back from being dead. Then when Jesus left there, two blind men were following Him yelling, You! Son of David, be kind to us.

When they got to the house, the blind men came in and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I can make you see? They said, Yes, Lord. Jesus touched their eyes and said, What you believed will be done for you. And their eyes were opened and they could see everything. Jesus told them, Don’t tell anyone about this. But when they went out, they told everyone so that people everywhere knew about Jesus and what He could do.

Then the people brought to Jesus a man who couldn’t talk and had the spirit of a bad one living in him. Jesus threw out the bad one and the man could talk. The leaders said, He is doing these things by the power of the most bad one.

Jesus went to all their cities and towns and taught them about God in their churches and telling the good news that the kingdom of heaven was coming to them and He was healing all the diseases and sicknesses that the people had.

 

When He saw all of them, great bunches, He was sad for them and His heart loved them because they were like sheep wandering around with no one to feed them or take care of them.

Jesus said to the ones He had called to follow Him, There are so many turning back to Me and lots of work to do to help them and heal them and teach them, but not many workers. Ask the Father, the Lord of the gathering in, to send out more workers into His gathering in.

Jesus called His 12 special followers and gave power to them to throw bad spirits out of people and heal every kind of sickness and bad thing that can happen to people. Then He sent them out and told them where to go and what to say. He said, Go to the lost sheep in My nation Israel, first, not to the other countries around the world.

Tell them, The kingdom of heaven is here now. Heal the sick ones and raise up the dead ones and fix every sickness and throw out all the bad ones. Give out My power for free to everyone because I give everything to you for free. Don’t take gold or silver in your purses or extra coats or shoes or anything.

Let the ones you go to help give you what you will need. And every town you go into, if it wants you, then let your peace be there, but if it doesn’t want you and the people won’t listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet as you go away from that town. When judgment time comes, it will be very bad for that town.

 

I send you out like sheep into the country of wolves, so be real smart like serpents but don’t hurt anyone, like doves.

 

And if you get arrested and put in jail, don’t plan out in your mind what to say,

 

 

 

because the Spirit of your Father in heaven will give you the right words to say at the right time.

People will hate you and put you in jail and hurt and kill you because the bad one has been running this kingdom for a long time and he doesn’t want to be stopped.

 

 

 

So when people don’t want you in their city, just run away to the next city.

You are not better then Me, Jesus told them. And if they are mean and don’t want Me, they will be mean and not want you. Don’t be scared of them because every sneaky bad thing will be shown and known.

 

 

 

Don’t be scared of ones who can kill your body and that’s all they can do. Be scared of the One who can throw you into the lake of fire.

You can buy two sparrows for a penny and not one of them ever falls to the ground but into your Father’s lap. And you are worth much more than them. He will protect and take care of you.

 

 

You are so important to the Father in heaven that He even keeps count of how many hairs there are on your head.

 

Whoever tells about Me to men, I will tell about him to My Father. Whoever doesn’t want Me I won’t take Him to the Father.

 

 

 

Don’t think that I came to make it all better on the world right now

 

 

 

but I came to fight and get rid of the bad one and all the ones who follow him.

 

 

 

Of people in each house, some will be for Me and some against Me and some enemies will be in your own house.

 

 

One who loves his father and mother or kids more than Me isn’t thinking right because I made them all and everything they like. It all comes from Me.

 

 

If you don’t listen to Me more than yourself that’s not right.

If you listen to Me first and most, your life will be very good. He that gives up his own way for Me, will find the best life. I know what is forever best.

Whoever helps someone who is for Me is letting Me in and letting in the one who sent Me, and he will get the same big reward as the reward for Me.

And whoever gives a cup of water just in the name of one of My followers won’t lose his reward.