Tell the Story
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.1
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,2
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare3 the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The Baptism of Jesus
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;4 with you I am well pleased.”
The Temptation of Jesus
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;5 repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”6 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit
21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
Jesus Heals Many
29 And immediately he7 left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
40 And a leper8 came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus9 sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
Footnotes
[1] 1:1
[2] 1:2
[3] 1:3
[4] 1:11
[5] 1:15
[6] 1:17
[7] 1:29
[8] 1:40
[9] 1:43
Have you ever had a big mosquito bite? Or a bad case of poison ivy? Or an allergic reaction to your mom’s meatloaf? Or anything that made your skin itchy and scratchy and sore?
In the Bible there was a very nasty skin disease called leprosy, and people who had it were called lepers. Leprosy was painful. It was dangerous. And sometimes it looked really bad. In order to keep others safe from the disease, lepers had to stay away from people and announce “Unclean! Unclean!” to everyone.
It was definitely no fun to be a leper. Leprosy was probably one of the saddest, scariest, most miserable things a person could have.
One day in Galilee, a leper came up to Jesus begging on his knees, “Please make me clean! I know you can heal me if you want to!” What an amazing thing for the leper to say. Most lepers didn’t dare go near people. And most lepers didn’t believe that an ordinary-looking man like Jesus could heal them. This leper had a lot of guts. And a lot of faith too.
Jesus saw the leper and was moved with pity. He was heartbroken to see a man in such misery. So Jesus did the one thing no one dared to do with lepers: he touched the man. Jesus stretched out his hand and said, “You’re right. I can heal you, and I will. Be clean.”
And you know what? He was clean, just like that. It was a miracle. That’s not how God always works. Sometimes God has reasons not to heal the people he loves. But this time, with this man, Jesus made him clean right on the spot.
But that’s not quite the end of the story. Jesus told the man to go to the priest like the law required, but to say nothing about the miracle to anyone else. Jesus knew all the attention would make his ministry harder. But the man didn’t listen to Jesus. He blabbed about his healing all over town. And sure enough, things got a lot harder. People started mobbing Jesus. He wasn’t able to go out into the open anymore. He had to watch his back. He had to hide out in lonely places.
A strange thing had happened. The leper was now free, but Jesus wasn’t. The leper had new life, but soon people would want Jesus dead. The leper was no longer an outcast, but before long Jesus would be. The Lord and the leper traded places. One man’s salvation for another man’s suffering. That’s how it works with Jesus. And that’s how it works for us when we ask Jesus to make us clean.
