Today I want to tell you a story of a man whom we meet during the Lenten season but we don´t know him very well because his name just briefly shows up in the passion story.
This person made many unusual decisions in his life and tried some things that an ordinary person may never experience. Now, it is not important to know his name – maybe after a while you will figure out who this man was – but for your information – he lived in the time of Jesus. He, like many people of that time, experienced the domination and power of the Romans who ruined country after country, enslaved their people and robbed them of their freedom. He was one of the millions... – Here is what he says:
Every day as a boy I would see violent and arrogant behaviour of Roman soldiers who robbed and plundered everything that crossed their way. They took everything they liked even from those who were poor and literally had nothing. – These were exactly the things I had seen every day. I wasn´t from a wealthy family and I spent most of my young age on the street. That was the place where I met people who decided to do something against the Romans. I really admired them. They were my kind of people. They just didn´t want to sit back and watch what those barbarians would do to our nation. They were ready to act, return an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I was so proud when they allowed me to become a part of their group. – Soon we started to express our hatred by open warfare. We provoked. One day we attacked a small group of Roman soldiers and beat them. We understood it as a way to seek revenge for all that injustice and oppression they caused us.
As I got older – all that hatred and anger I held in my heart totally consumed my mind. We even tried to rouse other people to rise up against all that tyranny. – We urged them to take weapons and protect themselves against the Romans. – Some of them ignored us – but we also found those who were willing to join us. – As our group grew up we felt more and more confident but also violent. Once as we attacked a Roman´s garrison, I, being so full of anger, brutality killed a man. It may be that there were more people involved in that act but I didn´t care. I was not sorry about it at all. I justified my actions thinking I did it for my nation, remembering the phrase “This is a war and war always brings victims.” – After that I become a murderer and criminal who became dangerous even for the people who lived around me. I was hiding in the mountains and sometimes I felt as if I were a wild animal. – After a while I became like a heartless beast who didn´t trust anyone. – And you know what, I was right. One day when we decided to attack a military headquarters, one of my best friends betrayed me and I ended up in prison. – The military court took place the same day and I knew the result long before it was pronounced – “He is guilty. DEATH is the verdict.” I was sentenced to crucifixion and then thrown into a cell with two other criminals where I awaited my execution.
It was a very strange date to die. Right before Passover – the day my nation celebrates liberation from their slavery in Egypt. I would be nailed on the cross in sight of all those people who came to Jerusalem to celebrate this special event. My last breath would be a great theatre for all those I tried to save.
The night before the execution I couldn´t sleep at all. My life flashed before my eyes. Now I was not so sure if I had chosen the right path when I made the decision to join that violent group. I was overwhelmed with feelings of guilt. I recalled all the cruelty, brutality, and pain I caused to others. As I closed my eyes I could even see the faces of those poor people I killed. – I will never forget them. – Now, I was not so sure about all my actions. Even my brain refused to support the things I had done. In the prison cell I wasn´t a HERO anymore. I felt miserable – like a man who was totally useless, ignored, and rejected by everyone. I really thought I was doing it for them and now they were about to crucify me.
The day began around 5 o´clock and I was thinking to myself, “It is almost over. My end is so close. These are my very last hours.” From the courtyard I could hear some noise. It sounded like a crowd was yelling but I couldn´t understand a single word. After a few moments they quieted down. The Soldiers didn´t bring me any food. It didn´t make any sense to invest in someone whose life would soon end. My life didn´t have any value anymore. – I was a “nobody” my whole life. – I couldn´t even talk to those other prisoners who would die with me. But frankly, what would we talk about? Each of us was silent with our own thoughts.
It was around 8 o´clock when a soldier came into my cell and yelled, “Well, your time is getting short, right? Don´t worry. In a couple of minutes it will come! You will get out of here, and you will look on Jerusalem from the cross!”– He slammed the door and silence and loneliness spread around me again. I could literally feel how short my time really was. All of a sudden something broke in my heart and I couldn´t shake off the thoughts that I deserved this punishment. All of this was my fault! Nobody forced me to live like that and do those nasty things. – My thoughts kept getting stronger and stronger. Then another noise in the courtyard interrupted my thoughts. I could hear people screaming: “Crucify Him”. – I thought, “Nice, those people are looking forward to my execution. I was so naive. I thought I was doing it all for them. And now they cannot wait to see me die.”
Then soldiers who watched my cell left for a moment. When they came back they were laughing about how much fun they had whipping that man who proclaimed himself to be the King of the Jews. As they were talking one of them complained that he beat that man so hard that something cracked in his arm and now he felt a terrible pain. – Then I heard the same noise from outside again. I had an impression that those people mentioned my name – but I was not sure. After that, it became very quiet. It could have been around nine o´clock when the escort – around fifty, fully armed people – came to the prison. Most of them stayed outside. First they snatched those two men who were sentenced with me. Then they opened the door to my cell.
My whole body was shaking and I was crying when two soldiers grabbed me by my arms and led me out. Through the small window I could see them strapping three men to the beams of the crosses. Nobody mentioned that there would be another man sentenced the same day with us. But then we suddenly turned right and went through some other doors out of the building. I didn´t understand what was going on and I was afraid to ask. Those two Romans who led me out were nodding their heads and uttering, “Indeed, this fool is so lucky. We cannot believe it! It happened at the very last moment!” – Then we passed the last guards and went out of the governors building. Both of them pushed me out of the door so violently that I fell to the ground. One of them yelled to me: “Get out of here, you filthy murderer and don´t dare to show up here again!!!!!!!” I didn´t have enough strength to get up. – I just cried silently and couldn´t believe I was free.
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Do you recognize this story? It might have happened this way. It was a story about one man whose life had been radically changed. He was saved from an execution that was very cruel but appropriate and just. We don´t know anything else about him. We just know that on his cross, between the other two criminals, someone else died.
Who is hanging on the cross that is prepared for our sins, for all our mistakes and transgressions? Who is hanging on the cross for all our wrong decisions and hatred? WHO?
The apostle Paul in his letter to Romans says that the reward for our sins is DEATH. Finally it is not so important how many and how serious our sins are. We all deserve nothing else but death for even one sin we commit during our life. There is no one who can live an absolutely clean, just, and perfect life. – So the man, I mentioned today, might be one of many. Every one of us should realize that someone else took our place in that execution. All of us should hear the words, “Now go, you are free! Your sins are forgiven because on your cross, on your behalf, for your sins someone else died.” Our place on the cross was taken by Jesus Christ, God´s Son – and through that sacrifice we can experience forgiveness and salvation.
