At that moment a woman who had been sick with bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the hem of his cloak.
She had told herself, “If I can just touch his cloak, I'll be healed.”
Jesus turned and saw her. “Be happy, for your trust in me has healed you,” he told her. The woman was immediately healed.
As Jesus continued on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, “Son of David, please have mercy on us!”
When Jesus arrived at the house where he was staying, the blind men came in too.
“Are you convinced that I'm able to do this?” he asked them.
“Yes, Lord,” they replied.
Then Jesus touched their eyes, and said, “Because of your trust in me it will happen!”
And they could see. Then Jesus warned them, “Make sure nobody knows about this.”
Then some Pharisees and religious teachers from Jerusalem came to Jesus and asked him,
“Why do your disciples break the tradition of our forefathers by not washing their hands before they eat a meal?”
“Why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition?” Jesus replied.
“For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Those who curse their father or mother should be put to death.’
But you say that if someone tells their father or mother, ‘Whatever you might have expected to get from me is now a gift to God,’ then
they don't have to honor their father. In this way you've annulled God's word for the sake of your tradition.
You hypocrites! How well Isaiah described you when he prophesied:
‘These people say they honor me but in their minds they don't care about me.
Their worship of me is pointless. What they teach are just man-made requirements.’”
He called the crowd over and told them, “Listen, and understand this:
it's not what goes into you through your mouth that defiles you. It's what comes out of your mouth that defiles you.”
Then Jesus' disciples came to him and said, “You do realize that the Pharisees were offended by what you said.”
“Every plant my heavenly Father didn't plant will be uprooted,” Jesus replied.
“Forget about them—they are blind guides. If a blind man leads another blind man, then they'll both fall into a ditch.”
Then Peter asked, “Please tell us what you mean by this illustration.”
“Haven't you understood this yet?” replied Jesus.
“Don't you see that whatever goes in through the mouth then passes through the stomach, and then leaves the body as waste?
But what comes out through the mouth comes from the mind, and that's what defiles you.
For what comes from the mind are evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and blasphemy
and those are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands doesn't defile you.”
Jesus left and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
A Canaanite woman from that area came, shouting out, “Lord, son of David! Please have mercy on me, because my daughter is suffering badly because she's possessed by a demon!”
But Jesus didn't reply at all. His disciples came to him and told him, “Tell her to stop following us. All her shouting is really annoying!”
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Jesus said to the woman.
But the woman came and kneeled before him, and said, “Lord, please help me!”
“It's not right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs,” Jesus told her.
“Yes, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat crumbs that fall from their master's table,” she replied.
“You have great trust in me,” Jesus answered. “Your wish is granted!” And her daughter was healed immediately.
Jesus returned, passing by the Sea of Galilee. He went into the mountains nearby where he sat down.
Huge crowds came to him, bringing those who were lame, blind, crippled, dumb, and many others who were sick. They laid them on the ground at his feet, and he healed them.
The crowd was astounded at what they saw happen: the deaf could speak, the crippled were healed, the lame could walk, and the blind could see. They praised the God of Israel.
Jesus called his disciples over and told them, “I feel really sorry for all these people, because they've been with me now for three days, and they have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, in case they faint on their way home.”
“Where could we find enough bread here in this desert to feed such a huge crowd?” the disciples responded.
“How many loaves of bread do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven, and a few small fish,” they replied.
Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground.
He took the seven loaves and the fish, and after blessing the food he broke it into pieces and gave it to the disciples, and the disciples gave it to the crowds.
Everybody ate until they were full, and then they collected the leftovers, filling seven baskets.
Four thousand men ate the food, not counting women and children.
Then he sent the crowds away, got into a boat, and went to the Magadan region.
After Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
All of a sudden there was a tremendous earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled away the stone, and sat on it.
His face blazed like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow.
The guards shook with fear, falling down as if they were dead.
The angel told the women, “Don't be afraid! I know you're looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He's not here. He's risen from the dead, just as he said he would. Come and see where the Lord was lying.
Now go quickly and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead and that he's going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, I promise you!”
They quickly left the tomb, both afraid and very happy, running to tell his disciples.
Suddenly Jesus came to meet them, and greeted them. They went over to him, held onto his feet and worshiped him.
Then Jesus said to them, “Don't be afraid! Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”
As they left, some of the guards went into the city and explained to the chief priests everything that had happened.
After the chief priests had met with the elders, and worked out a plan, they bribed the soldiers with a great deal of money.
“Say that his disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping,” they told the soldiers.
“And if the governor hears about this, we'll talk to him and you won't have to worry.”
So the soldiers took the money and did what they were told. This story has been spread among the Jewish people to this very day.
But the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw him they worshiped him, though some doubted.
Jesus came to them and told them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
So go and make disciples of people of all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Teach them to follow all the commands I have given you. Remember, I am always with you, to the very end of the world.”
“Why do you say, ‘if you can?’” replied Jesus. “Whoever trusts has every power!”
The following morning as they returned, they saw the fig tree, withered from the roots up.
Peter remembered what Jesus had done, and said to him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
“Trust in God,” Jesus replied.
“Believe me when I say to you that if you told this mountain, ‘Get out of here and be thrown into the sea,’ and you don't doubt in your heart, but are convinced about what you're asking, then it will happen!
I'm telling you that whatever you pray for, whatever you ask, trust that you've received it, and it's yours.
As Jesus continued on his way to Jerusalem, he passed along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
As he entered a particular village, ten lepers met him, standing at a distance.
They called out, “Jesus, Master, please have mercy on us.”
When Jesus saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” On their way there, they were healed.
One of them when he saw that he was healed, returned to Jesus, shouting praises to God.
He fell down at Jesus' feet, thanking him. He was a Samaritan.
“Weren't ten lepers healed?” Jesus asked. “Where are the other nine?
Didn't anyone else come back to praise God—only this foreigner?”
Jesus told the man, “Get up and go on your way. Your trust has healed you.”
As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting beside the road begging.
He heard the crowd going past, so he asked what was happening.
They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
He called out, “Jesus, son of David, please have mercy on me!”
Those at the front of the crowd told him to stop shouting and be quiet, but he only shouted louder, “Son of David, please have mercy on me!”
Jesus stopped and told them to bring the blind man to him. As he came over, Jesus asked him,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord, please, I want to see,” he pleaded.
“Then see!” Jesus told him. “Your trust in me has healed you.”
Immediately the man could see. He followed Jesus, praising God. Everyone there who saw what happened also praised God.
In the town of Lystra there was a disabled man who was lame in both feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never been able to walk.
He sat there listening to Paul speaking. When Paul looked directly at him, and realized that the man was trusting in God to heal him,
Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” The man jumped to his feet and started walking.
Now our trust in God is the guarantee of what we hope for, the evidence of what we can't see.
People who lived long ago trusted God and this is what gained them God's approval.
Through our trust in God we understand that the whole universe was created by God's command, that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.
By trusting him Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, and as a result God identified him as someone who lived right. God showed this by accepting his offering. Even though Abel has been dead for a long time, he still speaks to us through what he did.
By trusting God Enoch was taken to heaven so he didn't experience death. He couldn't be found on earth because God took him to heaven. Before this happened he was known as someone God was pleased with.
You can't expect God to be pleased with you if you don't trust him! Anyone who comes to God must believe that God exists, and that he rewards those who are searching for him.
Such a prayer, trusting in God, will heal those who are sick, and the Lord will make them well. If they've committed sins, they will be forgiven.