39. Help for the Sick

Jesus and the disciples were on their way home from a Jewish place of worship called the synagogue. They stopped by Simon's house and found Simon's mother-in-law had a very bad fever.

Simon asked Jesus to come quickly. As Jesus stood over the woman and took her hand in his, the fever went away. Then the woman got up, went to her kitchen and fixed food for her guests.

Before the day ended, people began bringing their sick relatives and friends to Jesus for healing. Jesus put his hands on them while he spoke. He made them well and drove the evil spirits out of their bodies.

Later, Jesus went into the cities to preach and heal the sick. A leper in the crowd came up to him. "If you will, you can take away my illness," he said.

Jesus took pity on the man. He touched him and the leprosy was gone. Jesus told the man not to tell anyone what had happened. But the man was so filled with joy that he told everyone he met about the wonder Jesus did for him.

No matter where Jesus went, the people found out where he was and crowded around him. One night he was staying at a small house in Capernaum. As soon as people learned Jesus was in town, they filled the house and formed a line outside.

Some men brought their friend to see Jesus. The man could not walk, so they carried him on a stretcher. When they saw the lines of people waiting to see Jesus, they knew it would be impossible to get through the crowd.

The four men lifted their friend onto the roof and removed some roofing to make a hole. Then they lowered the stretcher down where Jesus sat. When Jesus saw their great faith, he spoke to the sick man. "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Jesus told the man to get up from his stretcher. "Take your mat with you and go to your home," he said. The man got up immediately and everyone was amazed at how well he could walk.

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