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Everyone Wants a Sign

¹ The hypocritical preachers (Pharisees) and cattle barons (Sadducees) came to Jesus askin' for a sign from the Boss.

² He told 'em, "If the sky is red in the evening, you would say the weather will be good. ³ But if the sky is red and cloudy in the morning you'd say it was about to rain. You're good at lookin' at the weather by the signs in the sky, but you won't open your eyes to what's happenin' right before your eyes. ⁴ You want proof of the Boss because you are full of evil. The only sign you'll be given is what happened to old Jonah." Then Jesus rode out of town.

The Yeast

⁵ The cowboys had forgotten to bring biscuits when they crossed the lake. ⁶ Jesus warned 'em against the yeast of the hypocritical preachers and the cattle barons.

⁷ The cowboys talked among themselves and said to each other, "He must be sayin' that because we forgot the biscuits."

⁸ Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, "Y'all ain't got a lick of faith do you? Why are you talkin' about not havin' any biscuits? ⁹ Why don't you understand? Did you already forget about those five thousand people and all the leftovers from just five biscuits? ¹⁰ And what about the four thousand cowboys and all the leftovers from just seven pieces of hard tack? ¹¹ Don't you know by now I ain't talkin' about biscuits? Watch out for the yeast of the hypocritical preachers and cattle barons!"

¹² Finally it began to sink in and the cowboys knew what he was talkin' about. He wasn't talkin' about yeast for makin' biscuits, but the things that the hypocritical preachers and cattle barons tried to get people to do.

Who Is Jesus?

¹³ When Jesus and his crew were near the town of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, "So what do people say about the Son of the Boss?"

¹⁴ The cowboys looked around and said, "Some people say you are John the Baptist or maybe even the great cowboy Elijah. Others say Jeremiah while some just say you're a prophet."

¹⁵ Then Jesus asked, "Who do y'all think I am?"

¹⁶ Pete spoke right up and said, "You are the cowboy we've been waiting on. You're the Boss's Son."

¹⁷ Jesus told him, "Pete, you will be granted favor for your answer. You didn't figure that out on your own. It was shown to you by the Boss. ¹⁸ I'm gonna call you Peter from now on. That means 'rock.' This truth you have been shown is what I will build my ranch on and death itself won't be able to knock down its gates. ¹⁹ I'm gonna give you the key to the gates on this ranch and the Boss will allow in his place whatever you allow outside it. He won't allow anything inside that you don't allow outside."

²⁰ Jesus told all of them not to tell anyone that he was the cowboy everyone had been lookin' for.

Jesus Tells Them He Is Going to Die

²¹ From this point on, Jesus told his cowboys what was gonna happen to him. He said, "Pretty soon, I'm gonna ride up to Jerusalem and all those folks I've warned you about are gonna do some very terrible things to me. In the end, they're gonna string me up. But after three days, I will come back to life."

²² Pete took Jesus a little ways away and said, "The Boss ain't gonna let that happen so you need to quit talkin' nonsense!"

²³ Jesus turned on him and said, "Get away from me Devil! You're standin' in the way because you're acting like everyone else and not like the Boss wants you to."

²⁴ Then Jesus said to all the cowboys, "If y'all want to continue on in this crew, you need to forget about what you want and start focusin' on what the Boss wants. ²⁵ You gotta be willin' to give up your life and ride with me. ²⁶ What will you get if you gain everything this world has to offer and you still lose your soul? What can a man swap that's worth his soul?"

²⁷ "The Boss's Son will soon return with his Dad's crew and reward everyone for the things they do. ²⁸ I'm tellin' you now that some of you who are hunkered down here with me now won't die before you see me comin'."