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Jesus Heals a Man with Hoof Rot

¹ A ton of people followed Jesus as he came down from the mesa. ² All of a sudden, a man came from the brush and took off his hat and hit a knee right in front of him and said, "Boss, if you want to, you can heal me of this hoof rot."

³ Jesus laid a hand on the guy's shoulder and said, "I sure enough want to. Be healed!" The hoof rot that had covered his body instantly vanished. ⁴ Jesus told him, "Don't say a word about this to anyone. Instead, head to town and let the priest have a look at you. Take something with you so you can offer it to God for healin' you. This is how you will let people know you've been healed."

The Brand Inspector's Faith

⁵ When Jesus went back to Capernaum, a Roman brand inspector came to him and begged him, ⁶ "Lord, my young day worker is paralyzed and in a lot of pain."

⁷ Jesus said, "I'll go with you and make him well."

⁸ But the brand inspector told him, "I'd really rather you not. It's not necessary. All you have to do is say the word and I know the young lad will be healed. ⁹ I know this because I do what my boss tells me to and my cowboys who ride for me do what I tell them to. If I give 'em word to ride hard west, they do it. If I give 'em word to come back, they do it."

¹⁰ Jesus stood there amazed. He turned around and said, "That's the kind of faith I've been lookin' for and I finally found it! ¹¹ And let me tell you something else folks. Cowboys and cowgirls are goin' to come from everywhere and sit down at the Great Campfire in the sky with all the saints. ¹² But a lot of the cowboys from Israel—those the Campfire was made for—will be thrown out in the darkness on their heads, where there will be constant squallin' and grindin' of teeth."

¹³ Then Jesus told the brand inspector, "Go on back to your hacienda. Your young cowboy will be healed because you believed I could do it." Come to find out, the young cowboy was healed at that exact hour.

Jesus Cures Many Folks

¹⁴ When Jesus made it back to Peter's house, Peter's mother-in-law was mighty ill with a burnin' fever. ¹⁵ But when Jesus walked in and touched her on the hand, the fever left her. She felt so good she got up and cooked 'em all some buttermilk biscuits.

¹⁶ That evening while they were sittin' on the porch, a bunch of folks were brought to Jesus who were possessed by devilish spirits. Jesus simply told the spirits to take a hike and the people were cured. Jesus also healed everyone who was sick. ¹⁷ This fulfilled what Isaiah had said about him long ago, "He hauled out our sicknesses and vanquished our diseases."

Following Jesus Has Its Costs

¹⁸ Jesus saw the folks were startin' to crowd around him so he told his cowboys to cross to the other side of the lake.

¹⁹ Then one of the teachers who taught the rules said to him, "Hey, I'll go wherever you go Jesus."

²⁰ But Jesus told him, "Coyotes have dens and birds have nests, but the Boss's Son doesn't have any place to call home."

²¹ Another fellow said, "My dad died, and as soon as his funeral's over, I'll come with you."

²² Jesus shook his head and said, "If you are really willin' to follow me then do it right now. You can't help anyone who's already dead."

Jesus and the Squall

²³ Then Jesus jumped in the boat and they headed for the other side of the lake. ²⁴ All of a sudden, a boat-sinker of a storm blew in. But Jesus had his hat down over his eyes and slept through it. ²⁵ The disciples were frettin' and fearin' that this was gonna be the end of them all. They finally woke Jesus up by shakin' him and saying, "Jesus, save us! We're all gonna drown!"

²⁶ Jesus shook his head patiently and said, "Quit actin' like a bunch of sissies! You ain't got very much faith at all, do you?" Jesus got up, stretched, and told the wind to shut up and the waves to sit down . . . and they did.

²⁷ The hands were shocked, stunned, and amazed and asked, "What kind of hombre is this? Even the wind and the waves listen to him!"

The Demons and the Pigs

²⁸ When he got over to the Gadarene country, two possessed men who came from the cemetery met him. They was so brutal and mean that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ "What does the Boss's Son want with us?" they screamed. "Have you come to kill us before you are supposed to?"

³⁰ There was a herd of pigs feeding in the next pasture. ³¹ The demons begged and cried out to Jesus, "If you get rid of us, send us into that herd of pigs over there."

³² He told them, "Alright then. Go!" So the demons left the men and went into the herd of pigs. When they possessed the pigs, the four-legged slop-eaters all ran to a cliff and jumped in the water and drown. ³³ The farmers who were tendin' the pigs ran off to town and told everyone what had happened, includin' what had happened to the two demon-possessed men. ³⁴ Everyone got together when they heard the news and went out to confront Jesus. When they saw him, they told him to get the heck out of Dodge.