I understand the tendency that people have to question what’s true, to want more than an explanation, to want evidence. We take pride in the fact that we are not easily fooled. I want to test your ability to discern fact from fiction. We’ll call this game: Accept or Reject.
1. Life Savers® candy was invented by a man whose daughter died choking on a mint. The hole in the middle allows you to breathe, even if it gets stuck in your throat. Reject. That’s not true.
2. The Jelly Belly Candy Company makes jelly beans flavored like soap, spinach, and sardines. Reject. They do make black pepper and ear wax flavors, but not these.
3. The kid who played “Mikey” in the Life cereal commercials died when his stomach exploded after consuming Pop Rocks® candy and Coca-Cola®. Reject.
4. The combined weight of all the world’s ants is equal to that of all the humans on earth. Accept. There are an estimated ten TRILLION ants on earth, and their combined weight is equivalent to the entire human population. That’s roughly 1.6 million ants for each person.
5. Swallowed chewing gum takes seven years to digest and pass through your system. Reject. Though chewing gum is largely
indigestible, it makes its way through your digestive system at the same rate as anything else.
I have one more statement for you to accept or reject.
6. Jesus is the Son of God who died for the sins of the world and rose again. Accept or reject? Whether you accept or reject the
previous statements is really insignificant. But whether or not you accept or reject this statement changes everything. Sadly, the most common response to the person Jesus is rejection.
“Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it.” - Matthew 7:13-14 (GN)
I want us to look at a couple of bystanders Jesus would have seen as He looked out from the cross, who were transformed by their experience that day. They didn’t know when they got up that morning that they were about to be completely changed. But they were because of Jesus.
And that same transforming power is available to us today. Maybe for you, this day seemed about the same as every other. But maybe today will be the day when everything changes for you.
Bystander # 1: Simon of Cyrene - Mark 15:21
Cyrene, a city in Libya, had a big Jewish population. Evidently, Simon had traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover. Maybe he had saved for years, dreaming of one day eating a Passover Feast in the Holy City. But on Friday, when he arrived, he was caught up in pedestrian traffic. People lined the streets to watch an execution parade, and he stopped to watch, too. He saw Jesus of Nazareth, carrying His cross to Golgotha. He had been beaten and scourged - something so severe many men died from it. Exhausted, he stumbled and fell right in front of Simon. The Roman soldiers had the authority to force citizens into temporary service. They looked at the crowd and picked out Simon to carry Jesus’ cross. Simon didn’t have an option. He couldn’t refuse.
This close encounter with Jesus transformed Simon forever. Perhaps he looked into Jesus’ innocent eyes; or felt the blood of Jesus run off the cross onto his neck; or heard Jesus whisper, “Thank you.” Perhaps he stayed and listened as Jesus prayed from the cross and asked the Father to forgive these people for what they had done. We don’t know. But it appears that Simon accepted Jesus and was transformed.
Mark refers to him as “Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus.” It is safe to assume Alexander and Rufus were known to the readers. In fact, Romans 16:13 (NIV) reads, “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.” It appears that Simon and his family were converted. Simon came to the Holy City to sacrifice his Passover lamb, but instead he came face-to-face with the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for him.
Some of you are here today because someone pressured you. I wonder if it’s possible this is a day God has known about before you were born. A day where you would meet Jesus and be changed. My prayer is, you will be like Simon, who took up the cross because he was forced to, but he volunteered to never put it down.
Bystander # 2: The Roman Centurion - Mark 15:39
Another bystander at the cross accepted Jesus as the Son of God. We don’t know his name, only his rank. He was a Roman centurion. Here is a man who was changed from a hostile skeptic to a humble believer. This centurion was the commander of the Roman execution squad. The Gospels tell us the Roman soldiers struck Jesus with their fists; they spit on Him; they scourged Him; and they mocked Him. This centurion did nothing to prevent that. He may even have been part of it.
As he watched Jesus die, something happened to his hard heart. What made Jesus’ death so different? He’d probably never heard anyone ask God to forgive His executioners before. He’d have been close enough to hear Jesus say to the thief crucified beside Him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” Then in the middle of the day as Jesus hangs on the cross the sky turns to black. The ground begins to tremble under his feet. Then Jesus cried out, “Tetelestai” -“It is finished.” A better translation is “Paid in full.” Tetelestai was stamped on a receipt of payment in the ancient world to signify one’s debt had been fully paid. Jesus, having fully paid the price for our sins, declared in triumph and victory, “It is finished, it is complete, it is done, paid in full!”
After considering how Jesus died, he saw what the religious leaders missed. He believed what the crowd refused to accept. He concluded, “Surely, this man is the Son of God.” He’s not alone. There’s a long list of skeptics who became committed followers when they took an honest look at Jesus.
Lee Strobel was an award winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune. He was an atheist. But after his wife became a Christian, he started to see positive changes in her life. So he decided to go to church with her, partly out of curiosity; but mostly to poke fun at her faith. In the service he was confronted for the first time with Jesus’ claims. So he made a decision to check out the Christianity as a journalist would. He’d look at the evidence for himself. He began his with a prayer asking a God he didn’t believe in to reveal if He did, in fact, exist; and he began his search. After two years, Lee Strobel became a Christian. He wrote a book about his journey of discovery called The case for Christ.
Josh McDowell was so annoyed with friends attempts to evangelize him, he decided to disprove Christianity. He studied history. He flew to Israel and participated in archeological digs. He did extensive research. Years later, he became a Christian. He wrote two volumes on the evidence that convinced him called Evidence That Demands a Verdict.
Viggo Olson is a surgeon who studied Christianity to try to disprove it to his in-laws. Eventually, his research led to trust in Christ. He wrote a book about it called The Agnostic Who Dared to Search.
Simon Greenleaf was Professor Emeritus of Evidence at Harvard Law School. He set out to disprove Christianity from a legal perspective. As he gathered evidence to make his case, he became convinced, this man is the Son of God. He wrote a book, The Testimony of the Apostles.
Steven Masood was raised a Muslim, but wanted to know truth for himself. He studied the Islam at length; but was unconvinced. He began to study Christianity, and became convinced. He was beaten and nearly killed by people in his hometown because of his conversion. But he stuck to it. He wrote a book called Into the Light.
Ravi Maharaj was a Hindu. He had advanced to the degree that people in his village believed he had nearly evolved to the point of
Nirvana and worshipped him when he walked by. But he never knew for sure if what he believed and taught was true. So he set about on a pursuit of truth. He became a Christian and wrote a book about his search called Death of a Guru.
Conclusion: The point is that like Simon of Cyrene and the centurion, there are people today who, upon consideration of Christ, are compelled to believe on Him. Why? Because the evidence that points to Him being who He claims to be - The Son of God who died for the sins of the world and rose again - is compelling, and upon honestly considering the evidence, people are compelled to believe.
“Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it.” - Matthew 7:13-14 (GN)
Why does He say that the road to hell is easy and there are many who travel it? Why does Jesus say that the way to life is hard? Why does He say that few people find it?
Because it is far easier to remain ignorant of truth than to seek the truth. It is far easier to go with the flow than against it. After all, “No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God,” (Romans 3:11 NLT). That’s how most people approach truth. They don’t think. They don’t search, They don’t consider. They just mindlessly float along, accepting whatever everyone else says.
But God is at work, calling us unto Himself. And He will orchestrate circumstances and situations to bring us to a place where we can decide if we will honestly consider the claims of his Son of not. Will you?
