Study Desk

"This will be the end of the line for me, boys. I'm going to be double-crossed by a pard and the religious institution that claims to serve God. They are going to sentence me to death and hand me over to the Romans.

They looked at each other and continued, "When you take your spot at the head of the ranch, we want to ride on your right and left. You know, up front with you."

Now the other cowboys heard what was happening and they got all frazzled up over the conversation.

Jesus told 'em all to quiet down and listen to what he had to say. "This outfit don't work the way it does everywhere else. Everyone down here wants titles and positions so they can tell others what to do and be looked up to like they are something special.

They were passing through Jericho and on the outskirts, they ran into a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. He was sitting beside the road.

They slowed to a walk as they got close to Jerusalem. Jesus sent two of his cowboys ahead to a little cow camp and

They found the colt and sure enough,

They brought the colt to Jesus and they threw their coats on its back as saddle blankets and then Jesus hopped up there.

The next morning they got up and rode out of Bethany. Jesus was hungry and

When they got to Jerusalem, they went straight to the main church area of town. Jesus jumped off his horse and started throwing the tables of those people who were selling animals for sacrifices across the courtyard. He made quite an impression in the way he handled the money changer's booths.

When Jesus finished speaking the truth, some religious experts and bigwig preachers immediately started trying to figure out how they could kill this cowboy.

Jesus and his cowboys spent all day in town. They left as the sun started to set and they loped off into the darkness.

The next morning, they took the same route as the day before. They passed by that fig tree and many of them noticed it was dead.

They rode into Jerusalem again and headed straight for the main church area. While Jesus was walking amongst the people, some of the bigwigs who ran the place came up to him and asked him,

Finally, they turned back to Jesus and said, "We don't know."Jesus shook his head and then said, "If you don't even know who John was, then I ain't going to tell you who I am or where my authority comes from."

Then Jesus gathered everyone who wanted to learn around him. He taught them with stories they could understand and relate to, "A man started a ranch and strung all the wire and set every post. He even built a big nice entrance with a gate. After that, he leased the ranch on shares to some cowboys who wanted to get started in the business. The rancher moved away to another part of the country, but at the time of shipping calves,

"The rancher sent another hand over there to get his share of the calves and they beat that fellow also and sent him back empty-handed.

The next cowboy the rancher sent was even killed. Still, the rancher sent hand after hand to get what was owed and right. They beat or killed every single one.

"Finally, the rancher was all out of hands and the only one left to send was his only son—the son he loved more than anything else. The rancher finally sent him, thinking, 'Surely they will respect my son.'

So they ambushed the rancher's grown son, killed him, and then left his body right outside the front gate."