Study Desk

As they rode along, Jesus saw a man who had been blind his whole life.

"Boss," his cowboys asked, "why is this man blind? Did his daddy commit some kind of sin that made God mad or something?"

"Neither of his parents did anything to make this happen," Jesus said as he dismounted. "This happened so God could show y'all what he can do.

and said to him, "Go wash this mud off in Siloam Pond." (Siloam means "sent.") The guy felt his way there and did as he was told. He came back with eyes better'n a bald eagle.

All his neighbors and those who had known him when he was blind couldn't believe their own eyes. They asked, "Isn't this the beggar who we used to help because he was blind?"

So they asked him how he got his eyes back to workin' condition.

They asked, "Where is this Jesus fellow?"The man answered, "I ain't got no idea. I ain't his keeper."

asked them, "Is this your son? Has he been blind his whole life? How is it that he can now see?"

His parents knew they were in a sticky situation and said, "This is our boy, and yes, he was born blind as a bat.

His parents were evasive because the church leaders had already made it public that if you support Jesus, you would be thrown out of the church.

The guy threw his hands in the air and said, "I might've been blind, but I'm startin' to wonder if y'all are all deaf. I have already told you how it happened. Are y'all tryin' to figure out how to find Jesus so you can ride with him, too?"

The man held his ground and said, "Oh, really? You don't know where he's from, but he healed my eyes.

There has never been an instance of a blind man being given back his sight, yet here I stand.

Then Jesus put his hand on the man's shoulder and said to everyone watching, "I have come into this world to set the record straight. Those who thought they were blind will now realize they can see. And those who thought they could see everything will now find out they were the ones who were blind."

"I am the good cowboy. The good cowboy will die for his cattle.

The day worker is not the cowboy and does not own the cattle. If a day worker sees a wolf or a rustler, he's not going to defend the cattle with his life. He will hightail it out of there. Then the herd is run through the fence and scattered.

The day worker isn't going to put his life on the line.

Now you know the Good Book never lies. So, if God himself called some of his Cowboys 'gods',

Then Jesus loped out across Jordan Creek where John the Baptizer had done all his work in the early days. He stayed there for a while, and many people came out to see him. A lot of folks said, "John never performed a miracle, but everything he said about Jesus is true."

(Mary was that gal who poured perfume on Jesus and cleaned his feet with her hair.)