THE SOLDIER - FAITH UNDER THE CROSS; Near the Cross (5)

 

And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God  (Mark 15:39)

Roman centurions are portrayed in an exceptionally good light throughout the New Testament.  

It is amazing that they should be depicted in a positive manner considering who they represented; an army of occupying forces who had stolen the liberties of Israel.  These portrayals of the centurions speak highly of the honesty of the New Testament, untainted by the nationalistic and political philosophies which dominated Judaism. 

These portrayals also speak highly of the men themselves; open-minded, gracious and generous while at the same time firm, brave and loyal.  Historians record that the centurion was the backbone of the Roman military machine, the very reason why the empire expanded and survived for long.  They were fighting men, yet at the same time men of integrity who saw the value of winning the respect of the indigenous populations whom their soldiers had subjugated.

A centurion based in Capernaum is a case in point, of whom Jesus said that He had not found a faith so great in all of Israel.  This centurion was a compassionate man who cared greatly for a sick servant, a man who was described by the elders in Capernaum as one who loved Israel because he paid for the building of a new synagogue.  

The humanity and spirituality of this carefully chosen group of men is also exemplified by Cornelius of Caesarea who has the distinction of being the first Gentile convert to Christianity.  He was a devoutly religious man who was seeking after God and to whom the Holy Spirit directed the Apostle Peter.  Cornelius gathered his household which included family and servants to hear God’s servant and a Christian fellowship was established in his home.  

Other examples of this noble race are the centurions with whom Paul was acquainted during his rescue from the Jerusalem mob and his subsequent journey as a prisoner to Rome.  The dignity and respect that Paul received speaks highly of his guards. 

Today, on Good Friday the centurion who captures our imagination is the one responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  All of the commendable characteristics which were instilled into this group of men are manifested by the one who looked on the form of one who died as no man man had ever died and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

Being one of army officers stationed in Jerusalem during Passover was a delicate business.  He was a man of tact and diplomacy who was well acquainted with the customs and traditions of the people he was working among.  At the same time his position required a certain ruthlessness capable of controlled and disciplined brutality.   This strange mixture of terror and humanity would stand him in good stead as he commanded one hundred troops in a city with a population of close to a million of devout, zealous and at times fanatical pilgrims.

On the morning before the Passover Sabbath he received his orders which had come directly from Pontius Pilate, the Governor - three men to be crucified; two thieves and a man called Jesus who claimed to be the Messiah.  His was not to question, he was not the judge - obeying orders he set about his grim and gory task.

But these were orders he would never forget. In a distinguished military career this was his stand out moment.  Whatever battles he fought, whatever honours he received he would never forget the day he crucified Jesus Christ.

No man looked into the eyes of the crucified Jesus so closely as the centurion.  He oversaw the flogging in the torture chamber, his soldiers platted the crown of thorns, beat it into the skull of Jesus, draping the purple mocking robe upon his shoulders.  He stood beside Jesus as Pilate pleaded for his innocence.  That in itself must have provoked great thought in the mind of an intelligent man - a judge in the hands of a mob pleading for the acquittal of a condemned man.  This ran contrary to his concept of Roman justice.  It was the knowledge that he by following orders was performing an injustice must have struck a raw nerve in the centurion’s conscience.

 Therefore, he maintained a close watch upon this rather unusual prisoner.  Was his seizing of Simon from the crowd to bear the cross an act of kindness, where normally he would have forced the weakest of men to carry their burden?  How amazed was he at the dignity and grace of Jesus when experiencing the pain that his soldiers inflicted upon him?  There were eyes of love and kindness looking through him despite the hammer blows.  He could feel that love.  Where others hated and cursed this man was different.

Underneath the shadow of the cross the centurion was the foremost eyewitness of the unfolding events.  

He heard every word spoken by the crucified Jesus.

Words of forgiveness for His tormentors.

Words of compassion for His mother.

Words of hope for one of the thieves with talk of a kingdom and paradise.

He permitted one to give Jesus the gall filled with vinegar, to numb the pain a little as Jesus cried “I thirst”, underneath the rising sun as the burning dehydration began to take effect.  Another act of mercy from this thoughtful man.

The three hours of darkness hushed the crowd that assembled on Calvary’s hill.  Even the soldiers were subdued and silent; there was a strange chill in the air.  As the light returned the cry of agony from the middle cross would not forgotten; “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”.

As death came the words of Jesus became triumphant as he declared His work was finished and as He commended His soul into His Father’s hands.

Where the legs of the other men were broken to hasten death that afternoon, Jesus was already dead.  Crucifixion often meant long lingering painful deaths; yet this man surrendered His spirit.

As Jesus died the earth trembled and the rocks were dislodged from their hillside refuges tumbling to the ground below.  But another earthquake was causing the centurion to tremble in spirit as he pondered the enormity of what had taken place.

With a mixture of amazement, wonder and faith this eyewitness of Christ’s death humbly confessed:

Truly this man was the Son of God

The Gospel record grants us a view of the cross through the eyes of this centurion.  We observe the most amazing death in the history of humanity; the sacrifice of one who died for our sins.

The centurion encourages us to look with faith and love and to stand forgiven at the cross because

Truly this man was the Son of God

THE THIEF SAVED ON THE CROSS; Near the Cross (4)

 

Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom...Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:42-43)

The hill we call Calvary was also known by the Jews as Golgotha which meant the place of the skull; a suitably grotesque name for the gruesome place where public executions were performed.  

Being just outside the city wall near one of the gates of the old city, Golgotha was in close proximity to a main route. The Romans had a purpose in this barbaric and savage madness.  They executed their victims with extreme cruelty with maximum visibility as a warning; to reinforce Roman rule.  

The prophet Jeremiah many centuries earlier sat nearby lamenting for the Holy City which had been destroyed by the crushing force of Nebuchadnezzar.  As the travellers looked across at the ruins of what had once been a glorious place the weeping prophet wailed “Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by”.  On the sad day that Jesus died the travellers stopped to look and gaze upon three crosses standing side by side carrying three condemned men, with the centre cross occupied by the Saviour of the World.  They looked on oblivious to the greatness of the transaction that was occurring before their ignorant eyes.

There were three crosses occupying Golgotha on that tragic day.  On either side of the perfectly lovely Lord Jesus hung two thieves.  These men were consumed with the madness of their agony.  As the crowd gathered hurling their obscenities at Jesus these thieves cast the same in His teeth according to Matthew’s record.

But one of the thieves saw something or heard something in Jesus which transformed him completely as he hung dying, consumed with terrible pain.  He had looked into Jesus’ eyes as they struggled to carry those heavy timbers up to the brow of Golgotha.  He saw nothing contemptible in this man.  He saw a very different man from the man that he was.  As he cursed and screamed as the nails were driven the man occupying the centre cross was silent, serenely dignified.  Becoming convinced of the righteousness of Jesus the dying thief summoned up enough energy to shout out to his partner in crime:

Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

What changed his mind?  Whatever this thief saw that was righteous and innocent he ultimately saw love glowing and shining through the persona of the dying Lamb of God.  

It was this love that caused this man, in the dying embers of a misspent life, to cry out, turning his neck painfully towards Jesus:

Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

He now believed in the afterlife...that there was a kingdom to be gained beyond death, that Jesus was a King presiding over a Kingdom with the power to forgive and give hope to an old dying thief.

This man had learned more in those hours hanging beside the cross of Christ than the Priests and the Pharisees had learned after years of study.  He certainly understood more than the passing throng who watched without heart on that momentous day.  

This is the place to which we must come.  This understanding is essential learning for humanity.  Beyond death there is eternity and the prospect of entering into Christ’s Kingdom.  But to receive that Kingdom there must be the acknowledgment of our guilt and our need forgiveness.  The prayer of the dying thief is a good prayer:

Lord, remember me

The response was a promise of paradise.  This paradise would be instant, on that very day.  Death would herald a bright new future; paradise or as St Paul would later describe it -“with Christ which is far better.”

At Golgotha there was a distinct burning smell.  Just beyond the walls of Jerusalem was the Valley of Hinnom known as Gehenna.  Since the days of King Josiah this had been the public rubbish tip.  All of the waste was disposed in this foul place, where the fire never went out.  The smoke was continually rising, the smell of burning; a burning which included not only human waste but the carcasses of animals and the bodies of people, the criminals, the outcasts whom no-one cared for.  The Lord would use Gehenna as a vivid illustration of the torments of hell and the fire which would never be quenched.

It is almost certain that when the body of Jesus was lovingly and tenderly claimed by Joseph of Arimathea, the bodies of these thieves were taken down and thrown into nearby Gehenna.  By that time one man had already opened his eyes in Hell, like the rich man in the story related by Jesus.  The other thief, however, was in paradise.  The awful burning end that his body received bore absolutely no relation to the paradise of glory that he continues to enjoy.

Everything about the cross is awful beyond words.  Crucifixion represents the worst of humanity.  Therefore the cross signifies the curse...the ultimate representation of a cruel and broken world.

For the thief who repented, however, this place of pain and cruelty was transformed into a place of hope...the very gate of heaven for his soul.

It was for this very reason that the Apostle Paul gloried in the cross and preached Christ crucified to a baffled world which recoiled in fear before this symbol of cruelty.  The grace of God transformed the cross from a place of the curse to a place of blessing.  

It was on that that hill two thousand years ago Jesus Christ took our curse, our pain and our suffering.  While the bodies of the thieves would be cast into Gehenna His soul felt a greater fire during the three hours of mysterious and dreadful darkness...the burning wrath of God for the guilt of our sin that we like the thief might be liberated.  He was made a curse for us because He took our place upon that cross.

Therefore from the cross comes the same promise, a promise purchased by blood for all who look by faith towards the Lamb of God, a promise received by all who repent:

thou shalt be with me in paradise

SIMON CARRYING THE CROSS; Near the Cross (3)

 

“And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon  by name: 

him they compelled to bear his cross.”

Matthew 27:32

Simon of Cyrene was at the end of a gruelling journey from North Africa to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem.  Perhaps he had been resident in the Holy City for a few days and business took him beyond the walls into the country on the eve of the Passover.  Perhaps he had been delayed in his journey only arriving at Jerusalem a few hours before the sacred festivities began.

But whatever Simon’s circumstances, he reached the gate of the old city just as a rather cruel and barbaric procession was exiting.  He could hear the shouts and the obscenities of the soldiers and he could see the beleaguered victims, crosses upon their backs being forced through the narrow streets towards the gate and upwards to Calvary.

He reached the gate just as three condemned men were being pushed through the opening.  Just then one of the men staggered.  It was obvious his blood loss was considerable.  His back bore the deep cuts inflicted by the lictor’s whip that morning.  His face was pummelled and bruised.  His brow has been pierced by something sharp; Simon didn’t know it then but we know that these were the marks of the crown of thorns.  The man could go no further with such a cruel weight pressing upon the torn and the raw flesh. 

A rough arm hauled Simon from the crowd, the cross was laid upon his back and suddenly this unassuming bystander was given a prominent place as an eye witness of the greatest event in world history.

Simon turned his head and he saw His eyes.  

Eyes filled with pain and pity, eyes that were clear and kind and true.  

How could Simon not have been moved as he carried the burden of the cross and walked step by step up Calvary with the Saviour of the World?

As the execution place was reached Simon was pushed roughly back into the crowd.  

He was there when they crucified my Lord.  

He heard the dull blow of the hammer swung low as they nailed my Lord to the tree.  

He watched as the cross was raised up, exposing the Son of God to the laughter and mockery of the callous crowd.  

But as Simon watched the horrific drama unfold he did so as  the man who carried the cross of Jesus.

Chance encounters do not happen.  God works to an orderly plan.  Simon was placed at the gate on that eventful morning because he was chosen to bear the cross.  He was chosen to be identified with Jesus Christ in His greatest agony.

Encounters with Jesus Christ take place today.  Sitting in a church service, listening to a radio programme, reading a Gospel tract, being engaged in conversation, experiencing a time of suffering or bereavement or reading this article...Jesus comes and looks on you...And you feel the power of that look...Eyes that suffered for you out of love are fixed on you today.

Your calling is to see His cross as your cross.  This is what it means to bear the cross.  It is to understand that He died for you, that He took your suffering, your torture and your Hell.  

St. Mark, when recording the life of Christ for the believers in Rome many years later referred to Simon of Cyrene as the father of Alexander and Rufus.  Obviously the readership in Rome knew Alexander and Rufus as being members of their fellowship; at least I can think of no other reason why Mark would record this detail.  This is a comforting indicator that the cross carrier became a follower and he won his boys for Jesus.  

He never forgot the encounter at the gate of old Jerusalem and the day he carried the cross.

PILATE ORDERING THE CROSS; Near the Cross (1)

 

“Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified” 

Mathew 27:26

Pilate the Roman Governor of Judaea was anxious.  He was tasked with keeping order in one of the most troublesome of all the Roman territories.  He was entering Passover time when hundreds of thousands of Jews were flooding into Jerusalem.  Nationalistic fervour would be at its highest and mixed with religious energy this was a heady cocktail.  He was aware of the stories of a Messiah, the great deliverer whom the Jews longed for.

As day broke on the eve of Passover Pilate was approached by a delegation from the Sanhedrin.  However much he despised these Jewish leaders he could not ignore them.  If unrest broke out during Passover his soldiers would never be able to hold back the mobs and he would lose his credibility.  These Priests and Pharisees were demanding that Pilate execute a man who claimed to be the Messiah, the miracle worker called Jesus who hailed from Nazareth.

Knowing the Sanhedrin as he did, Pilate recognised their jealous motivation and the innocence of Jesus.  On interviewing Jesus Pilate became increasingly convinced of His innocency.  All that morning he laboured to find a way to set Jesus free.  He offered another prisoner to the people, a murderer called Barabbas thinking that the choice would be for Jesus.  But the demand from the increasingly angry mob was that Barabbas must be released that Passover.  He remonstrated but his words could not prevail.  His wife had a disturbing dream and warned her husband against executing this just man.  Cleverly, the Jewish leadership threatened the Governor by the warning him that acquitting Jesus would put him at odds with Caesar; in other words ‘there will be a heavy price to pay for going against us’.  Pilate finally made his fateful decision washing His hands in a public show of defiance passing the guilt onto the Jews.  

But still it was him that made the choice.  He crucified Jesus.

He crucified Jesus after looking into his eyes of love and pity.

He crucified Jesus after seeing the pain his soldiers had already inflicted in the torture chamber.

He crucified Jesus sinning against his conscience and pressurised by the crowd.

And so Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified.

Just as Pilate is defined by his tragic choice so men and women in their millions are eternally defined by their response to Jesus Christ.  Some accept Him as Saviour while others reject Him.

What is your choice?

Can you look into those eyes of love, can you look into the face of one who embraced

 that fearful death for you and refuse Him as your Saviour? 

Don’t make the tragic choice which Pilate made!

Accept Christ as your Saviour today.