Matthew 8–9

The Leper is Cleansed

Mark 1:40–44; Luke 5:12–14

8When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. ^2aAnd behold, a leper came and ^bworshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

³Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy ^cwas cleansed.

⁴And Jesus said to him, ^d“See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that ^eMoses ^fcommanded, as a testimony to them.”

The Centurion’s Servant is Healed

Luke 7:1–10

^5gNow when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a ^hcenturion came to Him, pleading with Him, ⁶saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

⁷And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸The centurion answered and said, “Lord, ⁱI am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only ^jspeak a word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! ¹¹And I say to you that ^kmany will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹²But ^lthe sons of the kingdom ^mwill be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Peter’s Mother-in-Law is Healed

Mark 1:29–34; Luke 4:38–41

¹⁴ⁿNow when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw ^ohis wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. ¹⁵So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served ¹them.

^16pWhen evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, ¹⁷that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

^q“He Himself took our infirmities

And bore our sicknesses.”

Demands of Discipleship

Luke 9:57–62

¹⁸And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. ^19rThen a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

²⁰And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

^21sThen another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, ^tlet me first go and bury my father.”

²²But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

The Sea is Stilled

Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25

²³Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. ^24uAnd suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. ²⁵Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

²⁶But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then ^vHe arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷So the men marveled, saying, ²“Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Demons are Cast into Swine

Mark 5:1–17; Luke 8:26–37

^28wWhen He had come to the other side, to the country of the ³Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. ²⁹And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. ³¹So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, ⁴permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”

³²And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

³³Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, ^xthey begged Him to depart from their region.

The Paralytic is Forgiven

Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26

9So He got into a boat, crossed over, ^aand came to His own city. ^2bThen behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. ^cWhen Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

³And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

⁴But Jesus, ^dknowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? ⁶But 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.” ⁷And he arose and departed to his house.

⁸Now when the multitudes saw it, they ^emarveled ¹and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Matthew is Called

Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27, 28

^9fAs 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.

The Disciples Eat with Sinners

Mark 2:15–17; Luke 5:29–32

^10gNow 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. ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with ^htax collectors and ⁱsinners?”

¹²When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: ^j‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^kbut sinners, ²to repentance.”

The Disciples Do Not Fast

Mark 2:18–22; Luke 5:33–39

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ^l“Why do we and the Pharisees fast ³often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “Can ^mthe ⁴friends 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 ⁿthen they will fast. ¹⁶No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ⁵the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. ¹⁷Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins ⁶break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Life is Restored

Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56

^18oWhile He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His ^pdisciples.

^20qAnd suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and ^rtouched the hem of His garment. ²¹For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” ²²But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; ^syour faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

^23tWhen Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw ^uthe flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ²⁴He said to them, ^v“Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. ²⁵But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and ^wtook her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶And the ^xreport of this went out into all that land.

Sight is Restored

²⁷When Jesus departed from there, ^ytwo blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ^z“Son of David, have mercy on us!”

²⁸And 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.”

²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” ³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ^a“See that no one knows it.” ^31bBut when they had departed, they ⁷spread the news about Him in all that ⁸country.

Speech is Restored

^32cAs they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. ³³And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, ^d“He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

The Need for Delegation of Power

³⁵Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, ^eteaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease ⁹among the people. ^36fBut when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were ¹weary and scattered, ^glike sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷Then He said to His disciples, ^h“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ⁱTherefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”