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Some men carried their sick friend to Jesus
And you can read this story in Matthew 9:1-8 and in Luke 5:17-26
1 Jesus went back to stay in a house in Cap-per-ni-um (Capernaum). Some time later when people found out that Jesus was there, they went to see him. 2-3 There were so many people inside the house, a lot of them had to stand outside.
While Jesus was telling the people about God, some men came to the house carrying a crippled man on a mat. 4 There were too many people blocking the door and so the men carried the crippled man up the stairs onto the flat roof of the house. Then they cut a hole in the roof. They picked the man up on his mat and put the man down to where Jesus was teaching.
5 Jesus saw that these men really trusted him to make their friend better, and so he said to the crippled man, “You know all the bad things you have done? I say that God will forget about what you did and he will not punish you.”
6-7 But some of the Jewish lawmen didn't like what Jesus said. They were thinking, “Hey, he can't say that! God is the only one who can say that people are not guilty. That man thinks he is God!” 8-9 Straight away, Jesus knew what those men were thinking, so he said, “Why are you thinking like that? I might say to this man, ‘You are forgiven for doing those bad things.’ Or I might say, ‘Pick up your mat and walk home!’ I can say both of those things, so which one is easier for me to say? 10 Alright, I will show you that I am God's special man sent from heaven. I am powerful and I am allowed to say that people are not guilty.”
Then Jesus looked at the crippled man and said, 11 “Stand up, pick up your mat and go home.”
12 Straight away, the man got up onto his feet. Then he rolled up his mat and walked out of the house. Everyone saw what happened, and they were really shocked. But they started to say good things about God. They said to each other, “We have never seen anything like this before.”
13 Then Jesus left the house and went for a walk next to the lake. All the people followed him, so he kept on teaching them.
Jesus told a tax man to follow him
14 There was a Jewish man who worked for the Romans. The man's name was Levi and his father's name was Al-fay-us (Alphaeus). One day Jesus was walking along and he saw Levi sitting in his office taking tax money from people. Jesus walked up to him and said, “Come and follow me!” And straight away Levi got up and followed Jesus.*At that time, the Romans were the boss over all of Israel, and they made all the Jewish people pay tax money. They used some Jewish men to take the tax money from their own countrymen and give it to the Roman government. And so the Jews hated taxmen.
15-16 Later on, Levi asked Jesus and his followers to come to his house. Levi wanted them to eat with him. There were other people there too, tax men and some people that didn't live God's way. A lot of people like this followed Jesus.
Some Jewish lawmen saw Jesus eating in Levi's house, and they said to Jesus' followers, “Why does Jesus eat with tax men and those people that do not live God's way?”
17 Jesus was listening and said to them, “Listen, sick people need help from a doctor. People that are well do not need that help. I tell you, I am like a doctor for those people that do not live God's way. I want to help them change up their lives. I have not come to help people that are right with God.”
Jesus talked about not eating food
And you can read this story in Matthew 9:14-17 and in Luke 5:33-39
18 At that time, the Jewish lawmen and the followers of John the Baptist, sometimes stopped eating food for a while to show that they were serious about living God's way. Some people came to Jesus and said to him, “The lawmen and John's followers stop eating for a while to show God that they respect him. How come your followers keep on eating all the time?”
19-20 Jesus said to them, “Listen to this story. At a wedding ceremony everyone is happy, and they all eat food together with the man that is getting married. But one day someone will take that man away. Then all the people at the party will stop eating food for a while.” †Jesus was saying that he is like the man getting married. Jesus was still with his friends, and so they are happy and are still eating food. But one day Jesus' enemies will take him away. Then his friends will stop eating food for a while.
21 Then Jesus told the lawmen 2 stories to help them understand what he was saying. He said, “Listen to this story. You can't fix a hole in an old coat by sewing a new piece of cloth into it. When you wash the coat, the new cloth will get smaller and it will tear away. Then that old coat will have a bigger hole in it and it will be useless.”‡Jesus was saying that his new teaching didn't go with the old way of living for God.
22 And what about this story? If you put new wine into a bottle that has a hole in it, the wine will leak out and it will be wasted. You have to put new wine into a new bottle.§Jesus was saying that his teaching had to go into people that were made new by God.
Jesus talked about the Jewish rest day
And you can read this story in Matthew 12:1-8 and in Luke 6:1-5
23 On one of the Jewish rest days, Jesus and his followers were walking in a paddock. In that paddock there were plants that had seeds growing on them. Jesus' followers picked some of the seeds and ate them as they walked along. Deuteronomy 23:25 24 Some Jewish lawmen saw what Jesus' followers were doing, and they got upset. They said to Jesus, “Today is our rest day and our law says you cannot work on God's rest day. Your followers are doing work, they are picking seeds off those plants and so they are doing the wrong thing!”
25-26 Jesus said back to them, “Have you forgotten the story about King David and his men? Do you remember what happened a long time ago when Abi-a-thar (Abiathar) was the High Priest (leader for all the Jewish ceremony men)*In Jesus' day, the Jewish ceremony men were called Priests. The leader of those ceremony men was called the High Priest. One day, David and his men were really hungry, so David went into God's house and ate some of the special ceremony bread. The leaders of the Jewish ceremony were the only ones that were allowed to eat that bread. And David gave some of the bread to his men too. So David and his men were breaking God's law, but no-one growled at them for doing that!”1 Samuel 21:1-6; Leviticus 24:9
27 Then Jesus said to them, “Listen to me. God gave us our rest day to help us. He did not make people just so that they could follow special laws about his rest day. 28 I am God's special man from heaven and so I am even the Lord of the Jewish rest day. I am not worried about what my followers are doing.”

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*2:14 At that time, the Romans were the boss over all of Israel, and they made all the Jewish people pay tax money. They used some Jewish men to take the tax money from their own countrymen and give it to the Roman government. And so the Jews hated taxmen.

†2:19-20 Jesus was saying that he is like the man getting married. Jesus was still with his friends, and so they are happy and are still eating food. But one day Jesus' enemies will take him away. Then his friends will stop eating food for a while.

‡2:21 Jesus was saying that his new teaching didn't go with the old way of living for God.

§2:22 Jesus was saying that his teaching had to go into people that were made new by God.

2:23 Deuteronomy 23:25

*2:25-26 In Jesus' day, the Jewish ceremony men were called Priests. The leader of those ceremony men was called the High Priest

2:25-26 1 Samuel 21:1-6; Leviticus 24:9

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