Luke 5:17-39

One day Jesus was teaching. Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. They heard that the Lord had given Jesus the power to heal the sick. So some men came carrying a man who could not walk. He was lying on a mat. They tried to take him into the house to place him in front of Jesus. They could not find a way to do this because of the crowd. So they went up on the roof. Then they lowered the man on his mat through the opening in the roof tiles. They lowered him into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw that they had faith, he spoke to the man. He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to think, “Who is this fellow who says such an evil thing? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he spoke to the man who could not walk. “I tell you,” he said, “get up. Take your mat and go home.” Right away, the man stood up in front of them. He took his mat and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with wonder. They said, “We have seen unusual things today.” After this, Jesus left the house. He saw a tax collector sitting at the tax booth. The man’s name was Levi. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him. Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi gave a huge banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and their teachers of the law complained to Jesus’ disciples. They said, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. Sick people do. I have not come to get those who think they are right with God to follow me. I have come to get sinners to turn away from their sins.” Some of the people who were there said to Jesus, “John’s disciples often pray and go without eating. So do the disciples of the Pharisees. But yours go on eating and drinking.” Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the groom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. In those days they will go without eating.” Then Jesus gave them an example. He said, “No one tears a piece out of new clothes to patch old clothes. Otherwise, they will tear the new clothes. Also, the patch from the new clothes will not match the old clothes. No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins. The wine will run out, and the wineskins will be destroyed. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. After drinking old wine, no one wants the new. They say, ‘The old wine is better.’ ”