The Call of the First Disciples
One day, Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when a crowd gathered around him, pushing closer and closer because they wanted to hear God's word. Jesus noticed two fishing boats sitting empty at the water's edge. The fishermen who owned them had finished their work for the night and were cleaning their nets nearby. Jesus climbed into one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, and asked him to row out a short distance from the shore. Then Jesus sat down in the boat and began teaching the people who had gathered along the shoreline. When Jesus finished his teaching, he turned to Simon and said, "Row out into the deeper water and lower your nets to catch some fish." Simon looked at him and replied, "Teacher, we worked hard all night long and didn't catch a single fish. But since you're telling me to do it, I'll put the nets down." When they lowered their nets into the water, they caught so many fish that their nets started ripping apart from the weight. They quickly waved to their fishing partners in the other boat, calling them over to help. Their partners came rushing over, and together they filled both boats with so many fish that the boats nearly sank under the load. When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he dropped to his knees in front of Jesus and said, "Please leave me, Lord! I'm too sinful to be around you." He said this because both he and everyone with him were completely amazed by the huge catch of fish they had just pulled in. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners, were just as shocked as everyone else. But Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid. From now on, instead of catching fish, you're going to be catching people." When they brought their boats back to shore, they left everything behind and followed Jesus.
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
While Jesus was visiting one of the towns, a man approached him whose body was completely covered with leprosy. The moment this man saw Jesus, he threw himself face-down on the ground and pleaded desperately, "Lord, if you're willing to do it, you have the power to make me clean." Jesus stretched out his hand and actually touched the man—something no one would dare do to someone with leprosy. "I am willing," Jesus declared. "Be clean!" In that instant, the leprosy completely disappeared from the man's body. Jesus then gave the man strict instructions: "Don't tell anyone what happened to you. Instead, go directly to the priest and bring the offering that Moses commanded for people who have been cleansed from leprosy. This will serve as proof to the religious authorities of what has taken place." Despite Jesus telling the man to keep quiet, word about what Jesus had done spread even faster and farther than before. Massive crowds began gathering from everywhere, coming both to hear Jesus teach and to be healed from their various diseases and ailments. But Jesus made it his regular practice to slip away from these crowds and retreat to lonely places in the wilderness where he could pray.
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
One day Jesus was teaching, and religious leaders called Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting nearby listening. People had traveled from Jerusalem and from every town in Galilee and Judea to hear him. The power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal sick people. While he was teaching, some men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They wanted to bring him inside and place him in front of Jesus, but they couldn't find a way through the packed crowd. So they climbed up onto the roof of the house and carefully lowered the paralyzed man on his stretcher down through the roof tiles, setting him right in the middle of the crowd, directly in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw how much faith these men had, he looked at the paralyzed man and said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." The religious teachers and Pharisees immediately began thinking to themselves, "Who does this man think he is, speaking such blasphemy? Only God can forgive sins!" Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking in their hearts, so he responded to them: "Why are you having these thoughts? Which is easier to say—'Your sins are forgiven' or 'Stand up and walk'? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has the authority here on earth to forgive sins." Then he turned to the paralyzed man and said, "I'm telling you—get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home." Immediately the man stood up right there in front of everyone. He picked up the stretcher he had been lying on and walked home, praising God as he went. Everyone who witnessed this was completely amazed and began praising God. They were filled with wonder and awe, saying to each other, "We have seen incredible things today."
The Call of Levi
After this happened, Jesus walked out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collection booth. Jesus looked at him and said, "Follow me." Levi immediately stood up, abandoned everything he was doing, and went with Jesus. Later, Levi threw a big dinner party for Jesus at his own house. Many tax collectors came to the feast, along with all kinds of other people who sat down to eat with them. When the Pharisees and the teachers of the law saw this, they began grumbling to Jesus' followers. "Why does your teacher eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" they demanded. Jesus heard their complaint and responded to them directly. "Healthy people don't need a doctor," he said. "Only sick people do. I didn't come to invite good people to change their hearts and lives. I came for sinners."
A Question About Fasting
Then some people approached Jesus and said to Him, "John's followers and the Pharisees' followers regularly go without food and spend time in prayer, but your followers continue eating and drinking as usual." Jesus answered them, "You wouldn't ask wedding guests to skip meals while the groom is celebrating with them, would you? Of course not. But there will come a time when the groom will be taken away from them. When that happens, then they will go without food." Jesus then shared a story to help them understand. "Nobody cuts a piece of fabric from a brand-new coat to patch up an old coat. If someone did that, they would ruin the new coat, and besides, the new patch wouldn't even match the old coat properly. In the same way, nobody puts fresh wine into old leather containers. If they did, the fresh wine would expand and burst the old containers. The wine would be lost and the containers would be destroyed. Instead, fresh wine must be put into new containers that can handle it. And here's another thing—after someone has been drinking aged wine, they don't want the new wine because they say, 'The old wine tastes better.'"