MY FRIENDS, IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS, WHERE DO WE STAND?

Dec. 13, 2016

MY FRIENDS, IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS, WHERE DO WE STAND?

Jesus was accused of sedition a civil crime, not a religious one, which blasphemy would have been. But Rome had no religious affiliations so Christ was “crucified between two thieves, which the word thieves can also mean “insurgents.” A Centurion guard was the commander over a group of  roman soldiers whose only reward was glory in one’s death on the battle field. Their jobs also was to oversee crucifixions, a cruel and unusual method of disposing of insurgents. So the process was not about just killing somebody, but killing them in a horrible way.

The Centurion over these insensitive and heathens soldiers was probably the same one who arrested Jesus on Thursday night in the garden, who saw Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest with a sword and Christ miracle of putting it back. My friends, do we witness daily the miracle of Christ in our life with no regards as to the hand that guides us on this road we travel daily, “like the fool who says there is no God.”

The Centurion was probably with Jesus through His four trials as the head official who maintained order. His soldiers would have been the ones who scourge Christ with “a multi-thong type whip used to inflict severe corporal punishment and mocking Jesus by throwing a cloak on Him as if it were a royal robe, putting a reed in His hand as a scepter and a crown of thorns on His head.

They were the ones who would have taken that mock scepter hitting Him in the face, spitting on Him, ridiculing Him as a fake king, “Hail King of the Jews,” not realizing He truly was the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords. “ They were the soldiers who probably eye-witnessed the entire ordeal from the very beginning, down the Via Dolorosa to Calvary in an act of vulgar, un-sympathetic and callous behavior in the presence of the Son of God.

My friends, why weren’t they in awe at how different Christ reacted compared to the other prisoners they nailed to the cross? Never realizing the purity and righteousness of who Christ was and what the gospel they were witnessing could do to them, if they believed? Never understanding the selfless, sacrificial and unconditional love of the one whose hands and feet they hammered those nails through.

His only response, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Paul tells us in 1 Titus 1:15 (KJV) “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. So does the things of this world make you and I defiled and unbelieving to the point not even what Christ has done to us and for us we recognize anymore?

And Have we reached the point on our Journey where we have no more regard for His daily blessings then the Roman soldiers or the rabble who cried out crucify Him? But one my friends, only one. The Centurion stood in the shadow of the cross and allowed the good news of Christ crucifixion to transform him as he cried out “Surely this man was the Son of God!” My friends, we mock and crucify Christ daily like the heathen soldiers who knew no God. But like the centurion are we willing to stand in the shadow of the cross and be transformed.