I wonder what Jesus thought when He looked down at His bloody feet nailed to the cross. By then His vision would have been blurred, not just from the excruciating pain, but from the blood and sweat that He was powerless to wipe away from His eyes.
In that painful, lonely, and desperate moment of His life as He hung on the cross for those six hours that Friday, what did He see? What did He hear? What did Jesus experience that first Easter?
What He witnessed was a number of people around the cross, who, whether they knew it or not, were answering life’s most important question. There were a number of different responses. We often still choose these responses today as we each answer what is still life’s most important question - What will you do with Jesus?
Perhaps the first people Jesus saw were the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross. And do you know what He saw them doing? Playing games! The soldiers were huddled in a circle. They weren’t concerned with what was happening on the cross above them . . . He was just another criminal, just another Jewish rebel. And so they gambled for some used clothes worn by a carpenter who claimed to be King.
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The most significant event in human history was taking place and they are completely oblivious to it. The Son of God is dying on the cross above them and they’re playing games. Somehow they completely missed the one thing that had the power to change everything.
They quickly dismissed Jesus on the cross.
The reasons that the Roman soldiers were so quick to dismiss Jesus are the same reasons many people dismiss Him today.
1. They had seen all this before.
There’s a kind of “Law of Familiarity” in life that states, “No matter how valuable, given enough time, everything will be taken for granted.” That was true for the soldiers when it came to carrying out a crucifixion. Death by crucifixion was common in the first century.
In his book Crucifixion, Martin Hengel reports that during Titus’s siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, up to five hundred people a day were whipped, tortured, and crucified outside the walls of the city in hopes that the gruesome sight would move the people inside the city to surrender. Five hundred people a day!
About the time when Jesus would have been a teenager there was a Jewish rebellion that was crushed by the Romans. To assure that it didn’t happen again; they crucified an Israelite every ten meters along a road for a distance of sixteen kilometers. Over 1,600 people were crucified in a stretch of about ten miles.
So these soldiers had probably performed so many crucifixions that it was methodical for them. It was a nasty business but it was their job, and they probably had become accustomed to it. It was just another day at work. They had heard the screams. They had heard the pitiful pleas for mercy. They knew what to expect. In a matter of time the man’s breathing would become more spasmodic and life would ebb away, and then they could go home and eat supper.
For many here today, the story of Jesus has become quite familiar. And perhaps you’ve discovered that familiarity breeds indifference. Maybe you grew up in the church and you sang “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” so many times that you can sing it now, without even paying attention to the words. Familiarity doesn’t always bring intimacy. Sometimes it can bring indifference.
But my prayer is that you will be enabled to look at the cross of Christ in such a way that you will be drawn to Him afresh, or for the very first time. My prayer is that as we consider that very first Easter, you will discover intimacy with God.
2. They were turned off by God’s people.
The Romans and the Jews hated each other. The Romans hated being stationed in Palestine. There was constant fighting among the Jews. It was kind of like how many Americans think about the Middle East. The people can’t get along, so we have to send our troops to try and make peace. The Romans couldn’t stand the Jews and the feeling was mutual. The Jews were a proud, independent people who didn’t like being under Roman oppression.
Chances are that because of how they felt toward the Jews, the soldiers relished the opportunity to torture and crucify a Jewish carpenter. They were so negative toward the people of God, they didn’t recognize their Savior dying for their sins.
Maybe you’ve dismissed Jesus because you’re angry toward those who claim to be His followers. Maybe the church has left such a bad taste in your mouth that you won’t taste and see that the Lord is good.
A church planter wanted to discover the attitude of the community he was feeling led to start a church in toward church. He went from house to house asking people if people went to church anywhere, and if not, why not?
The number one answer for why people didn’t go to church was that -“church is boring.” This wasn’t necessarily surprising. But he was a bit surprised by the second most frequent answer. People said in effect - “I don’t really like the Christians I know.”
Pastor Tom Wolf once said that the reason why many people don’t know Christ today is that they do not know a Christian. The
answer to that problem is that Christians need to go to them and point them to Jesus. But another reason why many people don’t know
Christ today is that they do know a Christian. The answer to that problem, interestingly enough, is the same. Christians need to point these people to Jesus, too.
Maybe you’ve shut Jesus out of your life because a Christian exploited you, or someone from a church cheated you out of some money. Maybe you can hear your neighbor with the Jesus fish on his car yelling at his wife. Maybe your Christian co-worker stabbed you in the back.
I challenge you today to see beyond hypocritical, imperfect Christians and look to Christ. Don’t be like the soldiers; don’t let the actions of God’s people keep you from embracing God’s Son.
Remember the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19), a tax collector in Jericho, who learned that Jesus was coming to the city and went out to see Him? But there was such a big crowd around Jesus and he was such a short man that he could not see over their heads to see Jesus. And rather than go home disgusted at the selfish people around Jesus, he humbled himself and climbed up a sycamore tree. He got a higher vantage point, and he saw Jesus and Jesus saw him. Jesus invited him to lunch and his life was transformed.
The same can happen to you, if you will look past the shortcomings of others and consider the sacrifice of Jesus.
3. They were focused on other things.
Instead of being focused on Jesus, the soldiers were caught up with who would win the garment that had been taken from Him. Apparently Jesus had a seamless robe, an inner garment, that went from the shoulders down to below His knees. This was the soldier’s focus.
What is your seamless garment that is keeping you from considering Christ? Maybe it’s your investments, your business, your hobby, or your house. If you are playing games, trying to accumulate a little more, lift up your eyes to see Jesus dying for you. The death of Jesus Christ on that cross is absolutely the most important event in history and in your life.
A missionary family who was expelled from China during the communist revolution. They were under house arrest and were waiting to hear when they could return to America. A soldier came by and said they could go back to America but they were allowed to take only two hundred pounds with them. The husband, wife and two kids did their best to decide what was most important to take with them. The wife thought the sewing machine important; the husband thought his books were important, and the children were concerned about their toys. They had more than two hundred pounds, so they got out the scales and the arguments began. They argued a while and took something off; then argued some more and took something else off. Finally, though they didn’t all agree, they did have two hundred pounds. Later that day the soldier returned and asked if they were ready to go. “Yes,” they said. “Did you weigh everything?” “Yes.” “Did you weigh the kids?” “No.” “Weigh the kids.” In a moment everyone agreed. The sewing machine, books, toys weren’t even worth discussing.
The value of focusing on what really matters is that it keeps us from making choices we might later regret.
“What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” - 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NIV)
Though most of the soldiers dismissed Jesus, one did not. A Centurion who was there looked past his familiarity with crucifixions, prejudice toward the Jews, and the things that could have distracted him and decided, “Surely this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39).
I want to encourage you to do the same. Even if you have heard the story a thousand times, even if you are turned off by Christians, even if you’ve got a lot going on in your life, would you take time to consider Christ? And in so doing, decide today to come to Him - whether it’s for the first time or whether its in the effort to return to Him. Make the decision today that will leave you no regrets tomorrow.
