There's an old story that many of you may know about a young man in Montana who bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day.  However when the next day arrived, the farmer reneged on his promise.

“I'm afraid the horse has died,"he explained.

The young man said, “Well, then give me my money back."

The farmer said, “Can't do that. I spent it already."

The young man thought for a moment and said, “Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse."

The farmer asked, “What you going to do with a dead horse?"

The young man said, “I'm going to raffle it off."

The farmer said, “You can't raffle off a dead horse!"

The young man said, “Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with the young man and asked, “What happened with that dead horse?"

The young man said, “I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998 . .."

The farmer said, “Didn't anyone complain?"

The young man said, “Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."

Now there's an enterprising young man. We might even call him something of a con man. There's something about a con man that captures the imagination. There have been several successful weekly television shows through the years in which the hero is a former con man now using his creative skills for the greater good.

Jesus once told a parable about a man with that kind of wily disposition. He, too, was something of a con man. Most of you know the story quite well.