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Matthew 8
Jesus was proud of his sermon, called it a day, and proceeded down the mountain with his assistants. The crowd followed him. Many of them still wanted the free health care they'd heard about. One fella with a skin disease caught up and asked Jesus to heal him, which Jesus did, but then Jesus admonished him not to tell anybody. Then a Roman officer caught up and asked Jesus to heal one of his servants who was stuck at home, paralyzed. The Roman officer said he had complete faith in Jesus, that if Jesus commanded something, it would happen. Jesus was pleased by this Roman officer's profession of faith. Jesus turned back to the crowd and told them, "See this man's faith! And he is not even a Jew! Many people from around the world will enter the Kingdom of Heaven through their faith, but you unfaithful Jews will be thrown into Hell!" Some of the Jews were pissed off that Jesus spoke kindly of, and even helped, a Roman officer, while criticizing their own faith. Maybe this Jesus guy wasn't all that great after all. Anyway, Jesus couldn't get away from all the sick people who needed his help. He healed many more of them. They kept coming. Jesus needed a break from all the attention, so he told his assistants to ready their boat so he could cross the lake and get some rest. One of the crowd shouted out, "But Jesus, take me with you, I want to follow you wherever you go!" Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Another person said, "I also want to come with you, but I must first bury my dead father. Can you wait for me?" But Jesus told him, "Follow me now then, and let the dead bury their own dead." ----- So, Jesus and some followers got into the boat. Exhausted, Jesus fell asleep instantly. As they crossed the lake, a sudden storm arose and threatened to capsize the boat. The followers were frightened, and woke Jesus asking him to save them. Jesus replied, "Y'all of little faith, why are y'all so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. ----- On the other side of the lake, the sick and crazy people continued to mob Jesus asking for his help, which he gave, until that town's residents got annoyed and asked him to leave.
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