Afterwards, Jesus went to the home of Peter and Andrew. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. The family asked Jesus to heal her. So, he touched her hand and said to the fever, “Leave this woman!”

Taking her hand he said, “Please, get up.” Immediately the fever left her, and she got up. She was totally recovered, so she started serving the guests in her house.

By evening, almost the entire town was at the house. Jesus taught the people, healed the sick, and cast out demons.

The next morning, he got up before sunrise and went to a place where he could be alone. There he prayed and talked to his Father.

When the people of the town woke up, they started searching for Jesus, and finally found him. He told them he was going to visit the other towns in the area. They begged him to stay with them, but he said, “No, I need to preach the kingdom of God in other cities as well.” He then traveled throughout Galilee, teaching the people, healing the sick, and casting out demons.

At one point, a man with leprosy came and knelt down before Jesus and begged him, “If you are willing, you could heal me.”

Jesus looked at him with compassion. “Yes, I am willing. Be clean!” Instantly the disease of leprosy left the man and he was healed.

Jesus then gave him definite instructions. “Listen to me. Don’t tell anyone about what just happened. Instead, go immediately to the priest and give the offering as instructed by Moses. That is how you are to give testimony of your healing.”

But, the man was so excited that he started telling everyone about what happened – so much so – Jesus could no longer enter any of the towns. Instead, he went to other areas and allowed people to come to him.

One day he went to the shores of the Sea of Galilee to teach the people. There were two fishing boats on the shore, and the fishermen were washing their nets nearby. Jesus got into the boat that was owned by Simon Peter and asked him to push off a little from shore. Once this was done, he sat down and taught the people.

After he finished, he said to Peter, “Go into deeper water and let out the nets.”

Peter said, “Lord, we fished all night and didn’t catch anything. Still, if that’s what you want, I’ll cast out a net.”

He then took the boat into deeper water. When he cast out his net, he immediately caught a large school of fish—so many fish that the net started to rip apart. Peter yelled to his partners, “James, John!” They rushed out and helped gather in the fish. They filled both boats … until they were in danger of sinking.

Peter was totally overcome by this miracle. He fell to his knees and said to Jesus, “Go away! I’m a sinful man!”

Jesus said, “Simon, don’t be afraid. In the past you caught fish. From now on, you’ll catch people.”

The fishermen brought their boats to shore, where they left everything and followed Jesus.