A Person Of Interest

“From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, ‘This man is calling Elijah.’ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

“And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” [1]

Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka, Clifford Olson, Allan Legere, Robert Pickton—these names are tragically familiar to Canadians. Each of these names represent a serial killer convicted of multiple heinous crimes. Men, women, boys, and girls disappeared, or bodies were discovered; and at some point each of these individuals was named as “a person of interest” by those investigating the various sordid cases. Though you likely recognise these names if you have lived in Canada at some point during the past forty years, I must wonder whether you can name any one of the multiple victims these vicious murderers left in their bloody wakes? A dark feature of our modern forensic world is that we know and remember the names of violent criminals, especially murderers, but we are unable to name those killed by them. The vicious are prominently displayed in all news media, but the victims, not so much.

We recognise the names of those who are identified as a suspect in criminal cases, and we are immediately suspicious of anyone who is named as “a person of interest.” However, has a victim of crime ever been named as “a person of interest?” Perhaps we are informed that the authorities can’t identify an individual who has been murdered, or perhaps they will ask the public for information, but the authorities don’t name a victim as “a person of interest.” However, we who are Christians look to One Who was viciously and unjustly subjected to a judicial murder. I suspect it may be the only instance in history when the victim could be named as “a person of interest.”

The message this day invites you to consider the events that swirled about the death of Jesus of Nazareth. To be certain, He gave His life as a sacrifice, but from a purely human point of view, Jesus was the victim of a corrupt judiciary. And that corrupt judiciary was not only acceptable to those living at that time, but the distortion of justice was demanded by those living at that time. Especially, those who were the religious leaders, those who professed to speak on behalf of the Living God, manipulated the judiciary to accomplish their own ends.

Some of you may remember when CBS television aired a show that bore the title, “Person of Interest.” The show presented the story of a reclusive American billionaire named Harold Finch who developed a computer program for the federal government. That program was capable of collating all sources of information to predict deadly crimes. He then recruited a former Green Beret and CIA agent to investigate the person of interest, identified by a social security number.

The Word of God tells us of another Person of Interest, a real Person of Interest, someone Who should be of interest to you. What is interesting is that the Father of this Person had no desire to keep the identity of this Person secret. God sought to tell the world what was accomplished through the sacrifice and resurrection of this Person. Though People attempt to keep this Person out of sight, He is truly a Person of Interest.

JESUS OF NAZARETH — There was nothing of particular interest about this man when we first meet Him as an adult, nothing to make Him stand out. Isaiah would say of Him,

“He grew up before [the LORD] like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him,

and no beauty that we should desire Him.

He was despised and rejected by men,