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Jesus Helps a Fellow on the Day of Rest

¹ Another time, Jesus walked into a church and there was a fellow there with a crippled wing. ² The bigwig preachers kept an eye on Jesus to see if he would heal the guy on the day of rest. They were always on the lookout for some way to talk bad about him. ³ Jesus said to the guy, "Come up front for a second." ⁴ Then Jesus turned to all the scowling preachers and said, "Is it against the Law to do something good for someone who is in a bad way?" They sat there and didn't say a word.

⁵ Jesus looked hard at them, but he felt sorry for 'em because of their stubbornness and pride. He told the guy with the crippled wing, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and it was completely normal. ⁶ Them bigwig preachers went straight out and began planning how they could kill Jesus.

Tons of Folks Flock After Jesus

⁷ Then Jesus rode back out toward the Sea of Galilee and a ton of people ⁸ followed after him because of the great things he was doing.

⁹ There were so many people, he told his cowboys to stack some hay up so the crowd wouldn't mash him. ¹⁰ He had healed so many people with various ailments that all kinds of sick people were trying to touch him. ¹¹ But whenever a demon saw him, they would always fall down and holler out, "You are the Son of God, his Top Hand!" ¹² But Jesus always kept the demons from telling anyone who he really was.

Jesus Picks His Twelve Cowboys

¹³ Now Jesus rode up onto the mountain and asked some guys to ride with him. ¹⁴ He chose twelve cowboys to ride with him so he could teach them his ways and they could show others. He also gave them the power to ¹⁵ whip demons that were hurting people. ¹⁶ These are the names of Jesus's twelve cowboys: Simon, who Jesus gave the name of Pete; ¹⁷ James and John, brothers who he called the Sons of Thunder; and the rest were ¹⁸ Andy, Phil, Bart, Matt, Tom, the other James, Thad, Simon the Fanatic, ¹⁹ and Judas, who would double-cross Jesus.

Jesus and the Devil

²⁰ Jesus rode back home and there were so many people needing him that there wasn't even time enough to grab a sandwich. ²¹ When his family heard what was happening, they tried to go get him. They thought he was going crazy. ²² The religious experts came all the way from Jerusalem, but they said he was possessed by the devil and that is how he was able to cast out the demons. ²³ So Jesus called them all around and told them stories. "How can the devil cast out the devil? ²⁴ A cowboy divided against himself ropes no cattle. ²⁵ A person against himself has come to his end. ²⁶ If Satan double-crosses himself, he can't survive. ²⁷ But no one can steal a ranch's cattle unless he first ties up the cowboy watching over it. Then they can rustle anything they find.

²⁸ "I'm telling you straight, every wrong can be forgiven, ²⁹ but anyone who rejects the love of God and attributes the Holy Spirit's work to the devil, that person's sin will not be forgiven." ³⁰ He said all this because they were accusing him of being possessed by a demon.

Jesus Reveals His Real Family

³¹ While all this was happening, Jesus's mom and brothers finally found him. They were standing outside the house where he was and ³² they sent some people in to get him.

Someone in the crowd said, "Hey! Your mom and brothers are outside looking for you."

³³ He shrugged and said, "Who is my mom and who are my brothers?" ³⁴ He motioned toward all the cowboys who were sitting around and learning from him. "Here is my family right here. Whoever rides for the Boss's outfit is my family."