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Jesus Rides a Burro into Jerusalem

¹ When they got close to Jerusalem, ² he told two of his cowboys, "Go into the village ahead and you will find a burro tied there with her colt standin' next to her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything, tell 'em that the Boss's Son needs them."

⁴ This happened to fulfill what had been said long ago, ⁵ "Say to the daughter of Jerusalem, 'Look! Your king comes to you, gentle and ridin' on a donkey, not just any donkey, but the colt of a donkey.'"

⁶ The cowboys went into the village and did just what Jesus told 'em to. ⁷ They brought out the donkey and her colt, and used their jackets as a saddle blanket for the colt and Jesus got on. ⁸ A large crowd spread their ponchos, coats, and vests on the road and others cut branches off the trees and covered the ground with them. ⁹ The crowd of people went ahead of him and shouted, "Yippe-ti-yi-yay, the Boss's Son has come!"

"Great is he who comes from the Lord!"

"Yippe-ti-yi-yo, the Boss's Son has come!"

¹⁰ When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the whole town was askin', "Who is this cowboy?"

¹¹ The crowds shouted back, "This is Jesus, the Boss's Son from Nazareth in Galilee."

Jesus Throws People Out of the Church Building

¹² Jesus walked into the church building and started running everyone out who was buying and selling things. He knocked over the money changer's tables and the chairs of those who were selling doves for sacrifices. ¹³ "It was written long ago," Jesus said, "'My house will be a place where you could talk to me,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"

¹⁴ The blind and the crippled came to Jesus and he healed them all. ¹⁵ But when the uppity preachers and the my-way-or-the-highway teachers saw all the great things Jesus was doing and heard the little children shouting, "Yippe-ti-yi-yay to the Boss's Son!" they were mad.

¹⁶ "Do you hear what these kids are shouting?" they asked him.

"You bet I do!" Jesus said. "Have you never read, 'The little cowboys and cowgirls will sing songs of worship?'"

¹⁷ He then left the church and rode out to the small town of Bethany and spent the night there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

¹⁸ The next morning as he was ridin' back to Jerusalem, Jesus wanted somethin' to eat because he was hungry. ¹⁹ He saw a fruit tree on the side of the trail and he rode up to it so he could get a piece of fruit, but all he found was leaves. Then he said to the tree, "You look good from a distance, but when I get close to you, I see you don't have any fruit. Because you haven't done what you were made to do, you will never be able to make fruit again!" Just then, the tree withered and died.

²⁰ When the cowboys saw this, they were astonished. "How come that tree withered and died right before our eyes?" they asked Jesus.

²¹ Jesus said, "Listen up and I'll tell you the truth. If you have faith and don't doubt one little bit, not only can you do what I did to this tree, but you could even tell the Rocky Mountains to go jump in the sea and they will do it. ²² If you believe, you will receive what you ask for when you talk to me in prayer."

The Authority of Jesus Is Questioned

²³ Jesus went into the church and started teachin'. The uppity preachers and some

old coots came up to him and asked him, "Who told you that you could do these things? And who gave you the authority to do them?"

²⁴ Jesus told 'em, "First, let me ask you a question. If you can answer mine, I will answer yours. ²⁵ John's baptism, where did it come from? Was it from the Boss or from men?"

They talked about it and finally said among themselves, "If we say that it came from the Boss, then he will say, 'Then how come you didn't believe John?' ²⁶ If we tell him it came from man, then all these cowboys are going to get mad and throw us out because they think he came on the Boss's word."

²⁷ They finally just threw their hands up and said, "We don't know." Then Jesus said, "Since you didn't answer, neither will I."

The Good Son and the Bad Son

²⁸ Jesus said, "Let me ask y'all this. There was a cowboy who had two boys. He went to the oldest and said, 'Go check on the cattle in the pasture and make sure they are all there.'

²⁹ "'I'm not goin' to check on anything,' the boy said, but later he felt bad and went and checked on the cattle.

³⁰ "Then the cowboy went and told the second boy to do the same thing and go check on the cattle. The boy said, 'Yes sir! I'll go right now,' but the boy never did.

³¹ "Which of the two boys did what their dad wanted them to?"

"The first boy," they said.

Jesus told 'em, "Listen to what I say, the bank robbers and the hookers are getting to the Boss's ranch in heaven before you are! ³² John came and showed you how to make things right with the Boss and you shunned his message, but the bank robbers and hookers listened to him. Even after all you have seen, you still don't turn from your sorry way of life or believe him.

³³ "Listen to this story. There was a farmer who planted a field of alfalfa. He fenced it off and even put a lookout tower on the edge of the field. After all the work was done, he rented it out to some other people and went on a long adventure. ³⁴ When it was time for the hay to be baled, the farmer sent some of his employees to collect his part of the hay.

³⁵ "The renters took the employees and beat the snot out of one of 'em and killed two of the others. ³⁶ The farmer then sent some more hired hands and the renters jumped them and did the same thing they had before. ³⁷ Finally, the farmer sent his only son. He thought surely they would respect his son.

³⁸ "The renters saw the son comin' and said to one another, 'Here comes the farmer's boy! If we kill him, then we can have his inheritance and own this place.' ³⁹ So they took the son and strung him up.

⁴⁰ "What do y'all think the farmer is gonna do to these renters?" Jesus asked.

⁴¹ "The farmer is gonna kill them all and take back the field and rent it to some people who will bale the hay like they are supposed to and give the farmer his part," they replied.

⁴² Jesus said to them, "Have you never read the Good Book where it says, 'The perfect calf has been rejected by the cowboys. The Lord has done this and it's amazin' to our eyes.'

⁴³ "The Boss's ranch is going to be taken from the cowboys he entrusted it to and given to those who will work the ranch and give back to him what he is due. ⁴⁴ The cowboy who ignores this Calf and falls over it will be broken, but the cowboy the Calf steps on will be crushed."

⁴⁵ When the uppity preachers and the religious know-it-alls heard this story, they knew that Jesus was talkin' about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted a reason to throw him in jail, but they were afraid because the people thought he was sent from God.