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John's Bout with Doubt

¹ When Jesus got through training his cowboys, he went and trained others who would listen in and around Galilee.

² John the Baptist was stuck in jail and when he heard all the great things Jesus was accomplishin', ³ he sent some of his boys out to ask Jesus, "Are you the real deal or should we be waitin' on someone else?"

⁴ Jesus said, "Go back and tell John what you see and hear, ⁵ the blind have been cured, the lame are walkin' around, those with all sorts of diseases are bein' cured, deaf ears can now hear, folks are comin' back from the dead, and the good news is bein' taught to the poor. ⁶ God will bless those who won't shy away or be ashamed of ridin' with me."

⁷ When John's boys left, Jesus began tellin' everyone who was there about John. "What kind of man did y'all think would be livin' out there in the desert? Someone who resembles a tumbleweed and is just blown around the pasture every time the wind picks up? ⁸ Did you go out there lookin' for a guy in a three-piece suit? Those guys live in fancy houses, not the desert. ⁹ If you went out there lookin' for a prophet, then you sure enough found him. But John was more than just a prophet, ¹⁰ he is the one who they've been talkin' about since before you were born, 'I'm sendin' a cowboy to blaze a trail for you, and he will bust the brush open so you can come through.'

¹¹ "This right here's the truth, no woman has ever given birth to someone greater than John the Baptist. But the sorriest cowboy in God's Green Pastures is greater than John. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until right now, the Pastures of Heaven have been ridin' this way hard and many ruthless people have been attacking it. ¹³ Until John came, all the world had been waitin' and talkin' and lookin' forward to this time right here. ¹⁴ If you'll open your minds and hearts to understand this, he is just like the great cowboy Elijah, who wasn't scared to tell folks the truth and tell them about me comin'. ¹⁵ If you got a lick of sense you'll be able to understand what I'm tellin' you.

¹⁶ "Let me see if I can explain the folks of this generation. They are like the fans in the stands while the cowboys stand in the arena and talk to them. The cowboys say to them, ¹⁷ 'We rode the rough stock for you and got bucked off, but you didn't cheer because you wanted to see us rope. We roped fast and quick, but you didn't clap because no one got bucked off.'

¹⁸ "John didn't drink alcohol and often went without food so he could pray, but y'all said he was evil. ¹⁹ But then I come, the Son of Man, having a beer with outlaws and whores but y'all say, 'He's a pig and a drunk and he hangs out with lowlifes.' A wise man gets results no matter what."

Rest for the Soul Is Coming

²⁰ Jesus began to criticize the cities where most of his miracles had been done. Even after all he did, they just kept right on with their same old sorry ways instead of ridin' with him. ²¹ "Oh what a heavy price that Chorazin and Bethsaida are gonna have to pay. If the miracles that had been done there had been done in Tyre or Sidon, they would have stopped all their sinning and given glory to God. ²² I'm serious when I say that Tyre and Sidon will be a lot better off on Judgment Day than for y'all. ²³ And don't even get me started on Capernaum! Your trail ain't headed north, it's at a dead run to the south. If the miracles that had been performed for you had been done in Sodom, those cowboys would still be around and ridin' for me. ²⁴ Sodom is gonna fair a lot better on Judgment Day than you are Capernaum."

²⁵ That's when Jesus said, "Thank you God for hiding all these things from the know-it-alls and the pompous wise men, and showin' it all to little kids. ²⁶ Yup! This is the way that you wanted it.

²⁷ "My Father has given me everything. Nobody knows me like my Father does, and nobody knows my Father like I do, except for those cowboys and cowgirls who I choose to show who he really is.

²⁸ "Come and ride with me, all of y'all who are worn smooth out and feel like a miner's old pack mule, and I will take the load off of you and let you lie down in tall green grass. ²⁹ Ride with me and learn what I teach you, 'cause I'm a gentle trail boss and my heart is pure and humble. With me is where you'll find rest for your soul. ³⁰ Ridin' for me is easy, and workin' for me ain't hard either."