Wednesday September 29, 2010

Read Mark 15:16-16:39

The scene of Jesus’ crucifixion and death had many intricate and amazingly glorious details. Who among the throng and the crowd could not have noticed this one concerning the Roman centurion that knelt to confess Jesus as Lord?

As a Roman soldier assigned to the Jesus’ case, he would have no doubt seen Jesus much earlier that day. It’s highly probable that he was in the arrest party searching for Jesus and bringing Him in as a captive.

It’s possible that he was there guarding the captive during the interrogation. Maybe he joined in the insults and the mocking. Maybe he laughed and cajoled Jesus as He wore the crown of thorns and endured the whipping.  Maybe he partook of the several beatings that Jesus received.  It’s probable that he mocked and insulted the Lord of Grace.

Whatever role this Roman centurion played, we can be sure that he had witnessed the entire panoply of events - the arrest, the interrogation, the whipping and beatings, the carrying of the cross, the involuntary addition of Simon, the nailing, the darkness, the splitting rocks, the dead bodies raised to life, the darkness, the tearing of the curtain in the temple and Jesus’ last words before His spirit departed.  At the crucial hour of 3 in the afternoon, he stood in front of a pathetic and bloodied victim of Roman brutality and Jewish connivery. Being a Roman soldier he had no reason to get emotionally involved. He had no reason to trust this figure hanging from the cross. He had no reason to change his mind. But watching this Jesus die was just too much to bear. When he had seen all that transpired, this soldier confessed, “Surely this man was the Son of God”.

There in lies the victory that Christ wins every time another sinner repents and believes in Jesus. Whenever another person turns to the Lord for salvation that cry is heard again, ‘Surely this man is  the Son of God’.

Prayer:-

m Pray for three people that you would love to hear say, “Surely Jesus is the Son of God”. Pray that God would grant them faith and repentance in Christ Jesus. Pray that God would be pleased to use you in relationship with these people, to bring them to Himself.

m Pray that every church in Australia would come again to realise that our mission is to make disciples throughout all the world. Pray that those churches who have turned askew from this mission would repent and come back to it. Pray for a revival to start in your congregation and to flow outwards.