Some children were choosing up sides for a game of cowboys and Indians. The first boy who was chosen by the captain of the Indian side came up and whispered to him, "Choose Cory next - he’s so great at dying!" So Cory was chosen.

As the game progressed you could see what the boy meant, for when the cowboys threw a bead on Cory and shot him, he let out a moan - no blood-curdling scream, no over-acting - just a moan. He staggered forward and pitched over on his face, twitching once or twice before he went limp to fall over the pretended cliff. For a moment the game came to a standstill as the cowboys and Indians gathered around to admire Cory’s talent for dying.

It might be unthinkable for a captain in real life to choose a man for that kind of talent - yet, Jesus confronts us with this pa…