Jesus stops a storm
23 Then Jesus got into a boat. His disciples also went with him. 24 Immediately a great storm began to blow across the lake. Water began to go into the boat and fill it. Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went to him and they woke him. ‘Master, save us!’ they said. ‘We will die here in the water!’ 26 Jesus said to them, ‘You should not be so afraid. You should trust me more than you do!’ Then he stood up and he spoke strongly to the wind and the water. ‘Stop!’ he said. Then the wind and the water became quiet again.
27 The disciples were very surprised. They asked each other, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the water obey him!’
Jesus makes two men well again
28 Jesus arrived at the other side of Lake Galilee. He came to a place where the Gadarene people lived. Two men who had bad spirits in them came to meet him. These men lived outside, among some graves. They were very strong and dangerous. People were too afraid to walk that way because of them. 29 When the two men saw Jesus, they immediately shouted at him, ‘You are the Son of God! What are you doing here? Have you come to punish us before the right time comes?’
8:28This place is across the lake from Galilee on the east side of the lake. About 2 kilometres from the shore there is a small village called Khersa. There were some big holes in the rocks there. The people from the village buried dead people in the holes. Some people also lived in the big holes as houses. They were not Jews.
8:29The bad spirits were speaking to Jesus. They knew who Jesus was. They knew that one day God would judge them.
30 A large group of pigs was eating there, not very far away. 31 The bad spirits said to Jesus, ‘If you make us leave these men, please send us to those pigs. Let us go into them.’ 32 Jesus said to the bad spirits, ‘Go!’ So the bad spirits came out of the men and they went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed together down the hill into the lake. They all died there in the water. 33 When this happened, the men who took care of the pigs ran away. They went into the town. They told people there everything that had happened to the men with the bad spirits in them. 34 So everybody came out of the town to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they said, ‘Please go away. Leave our part of the country.’
Matthew 9
Jesus helps a man who cannot walk
1 Then Jesus got back into the boat. He sailed across to the other side of the lake again. He went to Capernaum, the town where he was living.
2 Some men came to see Jesus there. They carried with them a man who could not walk or move his legs. He was lying on a mat. Jesus knew that they believed in him. He said to the man who could not walk, ‘Do not be afraid, my friend. I forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.’
3 Then some teachers of God's Law said to themselves: ‘This man is speaking as if he is God. That is not right.’
4 Jesus knew what the teachers were thinking. So he said to them, ‘You should not think these bad things in your minds. 5 I said to this man, “I forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.” Instead, I could have said to him, “Stand up and walk.” Which one is easier for me to say? 6 But I want you to know this. I, the Son of Man, have authority on earth. I can forgive people for the wrong things that they have done.’ Then he said to the man who could not walk, ‘Stand up. Pick up your mat and go home.’ 7 So then the man stood up and he went home. 8 The crowds of people saw what had happened. They were very surprised and afraid. They saw that God had given so much authority to men. So they praised God and they said, ‘God is great!’
9:6Jesus often called himself the Son of Man. He did this so that people would remember about some messages in the Bible. We can read about the Son of Man in the book called Daniel. (See Daniel 7:13-14.) 