Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the Gospel
of Matthew chapter 9, Mark chapter 2, and Luke
chapter 5. Matthew chapter 9. So he got into
a boat, crossed over, and came to his own city.
Then behold, they brought to him a paralytic
lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he
said to the paralytic, Son, Be of good cheer,
your sins are forgiven you. And at once some
of the scribes said within themselves, This man
blasphemes. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts,
said, Why do you think evil in your hearts? For
which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven
you, or to say, Arise and walk? But that you
may know that the Son of Man has power on earth
to forgive sins. Then he said to the paralytic,
Arise, Take up your bed and go to your house.
And he arose and departed to his house. Now when
the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified
God, who had given such power to men. As Jesus
passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew
sitting at the tax office. And he said to him,
Follow me. So he arose and followed him. Now
it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the
house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners
came and sat down with him. and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his
disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax
collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard that,
he said to them, Those who are well have no need
of a physician, but those who are sick. But go
and learn what this means. I desire mercy and
not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance. Then the
disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do
we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples
do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the
friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the
bridegroom is with them? But the days will come
when the bridegroom will be taken away from them,
and then they will fast. No one puts a piece
of untrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch
pulls away from the garment and the tear is made
worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins,
or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled,
and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new
wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
While he spoke these things to them, behold,
a ruler came and worshipped him, saying, My daughter
has just died, but come and lay your hand on
her, and she will live. So Jesus arose and followed
him. And so did his disciples. And suddenly a
woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years
came from behind and touched the hem of his garment.
For she said to herself, If only I may touch
his garment, I shall be made well. But Jesus
turned around, and when he saw her, he said,
Be of good cheer, daughter. Your faith has made
you well. And the woman was made well from that
hour. When Jesus came into the ruler's house
and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd
wailing, he said to them, Make room, for the
girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed
him. But when the crowd was put outside, he went
in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.
And the report of this went out into all that
land. When Jesus departed from there, two blind
men followed him, crying out and saying, Son
of David, have mercy on us. And when he had come
into the house, the blind men came to him, and
Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am
able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord.
Then he touched their eyes, saying, According
to your faith, let it be to you. And their eyes
were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying,
See that no one knows it. But when they had departed,
they spread the news about him in all that country.
As they went out, behold, they brought to him
a man mute and demon -possessed. And when the
demon was cast out, the mute spoke, and the multitudes
marveled, saying, It was never seen like this
in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casts out
demons by the ruler of the demons. Then Jesus
went about all the cities and villages, teaching
in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of
the kingdom and healing every sickness and every
disease among the people. But when he saw the
multitudes, he was moved with compassion for
them because they were weary and scattered, like
sheep having no shepherd. Then he said to his
disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but
the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord
of the harvest to send out laborers into his
harvest. Mark 2 And again he entered Capernaum
after some days, and it was heard that he was
in the house. Immediately many gathered together,
so that there was no longer room to receive them,
not even near the door. And he preached the word
to them. Then it came to him bringing a paralytic,
who was carried by four men. And when they could
not come near him because of the crowd, they
uncovered the roof where he was. So when they
had broken through, they let down the bed on
which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw
their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your
sins are forgiven you. And some of the scribes
were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts.
Why does this man speak blasphemies like this?
Who can forgive sins but God alone? But immediately
when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they
reasoned thus within themselves, he said to them,
Why do you reason about these things in your
hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
your sins are forgiven you, or to say, arise,
take up your bed and walk? But that you may know
that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive
sins. He said to the paralytic, I say to you,
arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.
Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went
out in the presence of them all, so that all
were amazed and glorified God, saying, We never
saw anything like this. Then he went out again
by the sea, and all the multitude came to him,
and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi,
the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax office.
And he said to him, Follow me. So he arose and
followed him. Now it happened, as he was dining
in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and
sinners also sat together with Jesus and his
disciples. For there were many, and they followed
him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him
eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they
said to his disciples, How is it that he eats
and drinks with tax collectors and sinners? When
Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are
well have no need of a physician, but those who
are sick, I did not come to call the righteous
but sinners to repentance. The disciples of John
and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they
came and said to him, Why do the disciples of
John and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples
do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the
friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom
is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom
with them, they cannot fast. But the days will
come when the bridegroom will be taken away from
them. And then they will fast in those days.
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old
garment, or else the new piece pulls away from
the old and the tear is made worse. And no one
puts new wineskin into old wineskins, or else
the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine
is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. but
new wine must be put into new wineskins now it
happened that he went through the grain fields
on the sabbath and as they went his disciples
began to pluck the heads of grain and the pharisees
said to him look why do they do what is not lawful
on the sabbath but he said to them have you never
read what david did when he was in need and hungry
he and those with him How he went into the house
of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest,
and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to
eat except for the priests, and also gave some
to those who were with him. And he said to them,
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for
the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also
the Lord of the Sabbath. So it was as the multitude
pressed about him to hear the word of God that
he stood by the lake of Gennesaret and saw two
boats standing by the lake but the fishermen
had gone from them and were washing their nets.
Then he got into one of the boats which was Simon's
and asked him to put out a little from the land
and he sat down and taught the multitudes from
the boat. When he had stopped speaking he said
to Simon launch out into the deep and let down
your nets for a catch. But Simon answered and
said to him, Master, we have toiled all night
and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word
I will let down the net. And when they had done
this, they caught a great number of fish, and
their net was breaking. So they signaled to their
partners in the other boat to come and help them.
And they came and filled both the boats, so that
they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it,
he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he
and all who were with him were astonished at
the catch of fish which they had taken. And so
also were James and John the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said
to Simon, Do not be afraid. From now on you will
catch men. So when they had brought their boats
to land, they forsook all and followed him. And
it happened when he was in a certain city, that,
behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus,
and he fell on his face and implored him, saying,
Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.
Then he put out his hand and touched him, saying,
I am willing, be cleansed. Immediately the leprosy
left him, and he charged him to tell no one,
but go and show yourself to the priest and make
an offering for your cleansing as a testimony
to them. just as Moses commanded. However, the
report went around concerning him all the more,
and great multitudes came together to hear, and
to be healed by him of their infirmities. So
he himself often withdrew into the wilderness
and prayed. Now it happened on a certain day,
as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees
and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come
out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem,
and the power of the Lord was present to heal
them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man
who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring
in and lay before him. And when they could not
find how they might bring him in because of the
crowd, they went up on a housetop and let him
down with his bed through the tiling into the
midst before Jesus. When he saw their faith,
he said to him, Man, your sins are forgiven you.
And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason,
saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who
can forgive sins but God alone? But when Jesus
perceived their thoughts, he answered and said
to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven
you, or to say, Rise up and walk? But that you
may know that the Son of Man has power on earth
to forgive sins, he said to the man who was paralyzed,
I say to you, Arise, take up your bed, and go
to your house. Immediately he rose up before
them, took up what he had been lying on, and
departed to his own house, glorifying God. And
they were all amazed, and they glorified God,
and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen
strange things today. After these things he went
out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting
at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow
me. So he left all, rose up, and followed him.
Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house,
and there were a great number of tax collectors
and others who sat down with them. And their
scribes and the Pharisees complained against
his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink
with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered
and said to them, Those who are well have no
need of a physician, but those who are sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners,
to repentance. Then they said to him, Why do
the disciples of John fast often and make prayers,
and likewise those of the Pharisees, but yours
eat and drink? And he said to them, Can you make
the friends of the bridegroom fast while the
bridegroom is with them? But the days will come
when the bridegroom will be taken away from them.
Then they will fast in those days. Then he spoke
a parable to them. No one puts a piece from a
new garment on an old one. Otherwise, the new
makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken
out of the new does not match the old. And no
one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else
the new wine will burst the wineskins and be
spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But
new wine must be put into new wineskins, and
both are preserved. And no one having drunk old
wine immediately desires new, for he says, the
old is better. I hope you enjoyed today's reading
as much as I did and I look forward to seeing
you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.