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As many of you know, Jeff has been under the weather all week and trying to feel better so he could be here with you today. I know it’s killing him that he isn’t the one up here presenting today’s message, so let’s keep him in our prayers. I was at the breakfast table with our men yesterday when he sent me a message to let me know that I would need to preach this morning.
My first thought was that I’ve preached a number of Easter messages at other churches over the years, I can pull one out, dust it off, and be ready to go. As I was driving home, I began to ponder which sermon I’d go with. My mind turned to some of the recent conversations we’d had with our group of ministers that meet for lunch. One of them had shared how he was leading up to Resurrection Sunday by looking at the perspective of various people who had been there.
That got me to thinking- what would it have been like to be there, to witness all the events of that week? If I had seen with my own eyes the arrest, trial, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, surely that would have been enough to become a believer, right?
And yet, one of those perspectives was that of the Roman soldier. He may have seen all these things with his own eyes, yet we’re never told he became a follower of Christ. Why not? What stopped him from turning his life over to Christ? Let’s examine the events he would have witnessed.
We start on Thursday night. Jesus and disciples have participated in the Passover meal where Jesus institutes what we now call the Lord’s supper. Just like how Jeff showed us how the various symbols of the Passover point to Christ, Jesus take the bread and cup and tell us they represent his body and blood that are about to be sacrificed. After the meal, they head to the garden, where Jesus prays.
John 18:3-8 tells us that Judas brought a band of Roman soldiers along with an angry mob complete with lanterns and torches and various weapons to arrest Jesus. Jesus asked them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus responded, “I am he,” and the force of his words knocked the whole crowd back and they fell to the ground.
Luke 22:49-54 shares that a disciple, Peter, pulled out his sword and cut off the right ear of the high priest’s servant. And do you know what the soldier saw Jesus do? He bent over, picked up the ear, and He healed the man! Here He is, about to be arrested, and Jesus takes the time to heal one of the men who had come to arrest Him before turning Himself in. How crazy is that? The soldiers delivered Jesus to the home of the high priest and the illegal nighttime trial began.
Move forward to Friday morning. The Jews have determined that Jesus is guilty of blaspheme, for which the sentence is death. However, they can’t legally execute Jesus, so they bring Him to the Roman soldiers and Pontius Pilate. They demand that Jesus be killed.
In Mark 15:15, we’re told that Pilate found Jesus to be innocent but he wanted to appease the Jews, so he had Jesus scourged in hopes this punishment would be enough. I don’t know about you, but I don’t hear this term scourged very often, so I have a hard time imagining what this means. In Roman tradition, they had a punishment called “40-1” in which they tied broken glass, sharp objects, and jagged rocks into the ends of a whip and crack it across the criminal’s back 39 times because 40 times could kill a man. That was still hard for me to comprehend until Terri and I left our daughters with their grandparents so we could watch Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ.” The scourging scene was so intensely graphic, the theater had to stop the movie and bring in EMTs to treat a man who had suffered a heart attack. It’s that dreadful.
Matthew 27:27-31 tells us that Pilate has given in to the Jews and turns Jesus over to the Roman soldiers to prepare Him for crucifixion. Our soldier could have been part of the battalion, about 420 soldiers, who gathered around Jesus in the governor’s headquarters. They replaced His clothing with a scarlet robe, placed a crown of thorns on his head, and handed him a reed for a scepter. They then mock Jesus, kneeling before Him and proclaiming, “Hail King of the Jews!” They spat on Him and beat Him over the head with the reed, then according to John 19:5, Pilate presents the scarlet robe wearing, crown of thorns bearing Jesus to the crowd and declared, “Behold the man!”
Jesus is then forced to carry His cross to Golgotha, The Place of a Skull. John 19:6-9 informs us that He was crucified on the cross with a sign that proclaimed, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews!” Mark 15:27 tells us that a thief was crucified on either side of Him. Luke 23:35-37 describes how the people were mocking Jesus on the cross. Common Jews, the high priests, the thieves, and even the soldiers were sneering at Him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
And He could have saved Himself. He could have said, “Challenge accepted,” called down the angels, and saved His own life. But He loves us too much to have done that.
John 19:23-24 tells about how some of the soldiers passed the time waiting for Jesus to die by dividing His garments and casting lots, or gambling, to see who would keep the seamless tunic Jesus had been wearing. Jesus then cries out (some of the gospels attribute the phrase, “It is finished”) and dies.
At that moment, Luke 23:44 tells us that the sky turned dark. Matthew 27:51-53 describes how the curtain of the temple tore in two from top to bottom. Keep in mind, this isn’t your ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill living room curtain. This curtain was a couple feet thick- no human, not even the strongman teams that tear apart phone books with their bare hands, could have tore this curtain. I believe it was ripped from top to bottom to demonstrate that God was removing the barrier between man and God and restoring our relationship with Him. These verses also speak of an earthquake that split rocks and opened tombs allowing some of the bodies of the saints to rise and enter town. Mark 15:39 tells of a centurion, possibly the direct commander of our soldier, declaring, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Then we’re told in John 19:31-37, that the Jews wanted to ensure the crucifixion was over before sunset. After all, they couldn’t have these bodies hanging on crosses as they celebrate a holy Sabbath. They requested that the legs of the criminals be broken to expedite their deaths. The soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves, but realized Jesus was already dead and didn’t need His legs broken. Just to be sure, a soldier takes a spear and pierces Jesus’ side and out pours blood mixed with water. John includes a verse assuring us that he is presenting a trustworthy, eye witness account of these events. Read John 19:35.
On Saturday evening, we’re told in Matthew 27:62-66 that the Jews approached the Romans one more time to ask that the tomb in which Jesus was buried be guarded. They were concerned that since Jesus had declared He would rise again in three days (terrible blaspheme), His disciples may come to steal the body and declare that Jesus is alive, a lie that would be worse than the first. The Romans agree to seal the tomb and provide guards to make sure it’s not disturbed.
Which brings us to Sunday morning. We return to what we had read at the beginning of this message. Matthew 28:1-4 tells how Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were heading to the tomb so they could finish preparing Jesus’ body for a proper burial. On their way, an earthquake is caused by an angel who had come down from heaven. Its appearance was like lightning, which terrified the guards, who trembled and fainted, appearing as dead men. The angel rolled the stone away and took a seat as Jesus walked away alive. When the women arrived, the angel announced that Jesus is alive, conquering death and overcoming sin.
Now, if I were the Roman soldier, I’d be rethinking my life right about now. I’ve seen how Jesus conducted Himself while arrested, even healing a man. I watched Jesus endure the accusations and mocking at His trial, I ensured Jesus died on the cross, and I witnessed Jesus come back to life. What could stop me from believing? It’s hard to picture, isn’t it?
Maybe Matthew 28:11-15 will shed some light (read). This passage provides three excuses why our soldier turned away from choosing faith:
1. He wanted to maintain a reputation. It was easier to endure the shame of falling asleep on his watch than to risk what people might think of his “crazy” story about an angel and resurrected people.
2. He wanted to stay out of trouble. Because his “prisoner” had escaped, the soldier’s punishment should have been death, but the priests assured them that if they followed their instructions and spread a false story about what had happened, they’d assure that the governor wouldn’t execute their sentence.
3. He had a love for money. The priests gave the soldiers a nice sum of money for their trouble in helping to spread the false narrative.
Now, it’s Resurrection Sunday, the day we focus on and celebrate our risen Savior. Why look at this narrative from the perspective of a Roman soldier who decided to ignore the evidence? I see his perspective as a warning to all of us today. We may not be eye witnesses to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but there is plenty of reliable evidence that has been provided for us. (Read Romans 1:18-20, point back to John 19:35, then read John 20:30-31). We need to act on the evidence presented to us. On Pentecost Sunday, Peter presented the evidence of Jesus Christ to the crowds that had gathered. (Read Acts 2:37-38) Over 3,000 were added to their number as the church was born that day. We need to be like the people at Pentecost, not the Roman soldier.
I’ve got one other person I’d like to tell you about. In his book, The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel writes about his interview with Charles Templeton. Templeton had been a friend and partner with Billy Graham back in the late 40s into the 60s. Here was a man who had been declaring Jesus as Lord to thousands at a time at crusades all over the world.
But then he allowed himself to be pulled away from the faith. He got caught up in some of the scholarship of the day and began to question the trustworthiness of the Bible and things like the creation narrative. His biggest stumbling block was not being able to accept that a loving God could allow bad things to happen to good people. He recounted seeing a picture of a mother holding her dead child as a result of a famine. He maintained that a good God wouldn’t let people deal with things like Alzheimer’s. Eventually, he declared himself to be agnostic, meaning that he won’t proclaim there is no God, but he can’t make himself believe in God either. In the interview, it became apparent that Templeton himself was suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Eventually, Strobel asked Templeton how we would assess Jesus today. His answer caught Strobel by surprise. “He was the greatest human being who has ever lived. He waws a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the intrinsically wisest person that I’ve ever encountered in my life or in my readings. His commitment was total and led to his own death, much to the detriment of the world. What could one say about him except that this was a form of greatness?”
And yet, he couldn’t admit that Jesus is God. Then he really caught Strobel off guard with these words- “I…miss…him!” This Resurrection Sunday, do not be a Charles Templeton, do not be a Roman soldier. Don’t let another day go by or you may find yourself saying I missed Him! Seize the opportunity, declare Jesus to be your Lord and be baptized. Come forward as we sing our song of invitation.
