The Soldier That Saw The Last Minutes Of Jesus On The Cross.

the soldier that saw the last minutes of Jesus now the Centurion and those who were with him keeping God over Jesus when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening they were terribly frightened and filled with all and said truly this was the son of God Matthew 27 53-54 Amplified Bible it was the centurion's job to ensure that the crucifixion was carried out correctly and without any complications he was usually in charge of a hundred soldiers at the time of the crucifixion he was a career Soldier whose courage and intelligence had helped him

rise through the ranks he would be a soldier of the highest order he would need to be both cold and efficient to succeed in this position this man had to follow the orders of his superiors the scene of the crucifixion of Jesus was so remarkable that even a hardened Roman Centurion acknowledged that this was the son of God this realization meant Jesus was innocent of the crime Jesus was on the cross for that very reason the Centurion must have had a mix of emotions he just realized he had supervised the crucifixion of an innocent man

this was not the whispered words of a frightened recruit or the quavering words of a conscript who was easy to manipulate those were the reasoned conclusions reached by a seasoned veteran a man who watched countless men suffer horrible ends and was responsible for putting them to death this Centurion was well aware of the strong condemnation of the Jewish religious leaders that had put Jesus on the cross for blasphemy his commander-in-chief Pontius pilot had sustained the conviction for Jesus is making that claim but the Centurion forsakes the condemnation and declares Jesus's claim why because the arguments

in favor of Christ were overwhelming we must remember that this man had no doubt supervised many crucifixions yet there was something extraordinarily different about this particular execution what did he see several scenes from the events of the arrest trial and crucifixion of Jesus combined into a compelling statement the first was the response of Jesus to the Injustice that he had been forced to endure at the hands of his own countrymen through arrests and trials this man had no doubt supervised many crucifixions the high priest stood up and said to Jesus have you no answer to

give what is it that these men are testifying against you but Jesus kept silent and the high priest said to him I call on you to swear a binding Oath by the Living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ the son of God Jesus said to him you have in fact said it but more than that I tell you regardless of what you do with me now in the future you will see me revealed as the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the Clouds Of Heaven

Matthew 26 62-64 have been Jesus's response to the torture he had suffered at the hands of the Centurion and his men then the governor's soldiers took Jesus to the praetorium and they gathered the whole Roman cohort around him they stripped him and put a Scarlet robe on him as a king's robe and after twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand as a scepter kneeling before him they ridiculed him saying hail Rejoice King of the Jews they spat on him and they took the

Reed and struck him repeatedly on the head after they finished ridiculing him they stripped him of the Scarlet robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him Matthew 27 27-31 one could think of the dignity with which Jesus responded to the lynchmon that demanded his blood as a sheep silent before the slaughter scripture records no response by Jesus to the mob's cries but the chief priest stirred up the crowd to get him to release Barabas for them instead again pilate answered then what shall I do with him who you

call the king of the Jews they screamed back crucify him but pilate asked them why what has he done that is evil but they screamed all the more crucify him so pilot wishing to satisfy the crowd said Barabas free for them and after having Jesus scourged he handed him over to his soldiers to be crucified Mark 15 11-15 Jesus's concern was for their forgiveness not his Escape the mercy of Jesus toward the people who rejected him and the soldier that crucified him including this Centurion his response father forgive them Luke 23 34. and Jesus was

saying father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing and they cast lots dividing his clothes among themselves while they gambled for Jesus's possessions Jesus's concern was for their forgiveness it was not for his Escape what a powerful statement Matthew 27 35-36 and when they had crucified him they divided his cloves among them by casting lots then sitting down there they began to keep watch over him to guard against any rescue attempt if all those did not convince him he saw something else he saw Creations response we read the earthquake and the

Rocks were split nature itself was shaken by the death of the son of God Ben's Hearts did not respond to the agonizing cries of the dying Redeemer but the Rocks responded the Rocks were rent he did not die for rocks yet rocks were more tender than the hearts of men for whom he shed his blood Spurgeon there was thick Darkness over the whole land now the scripture was fulfilled Amos 8-9 Amos 8 9 Amplified Bible it shall come about in that day says the Lord God that I shall cause the sun to go down at

noon and eyes you'll darken the Earth in broad daylight the people who have often demanded of Christ a sign from heaven and now they had one but such a one has signified the blinding of their eyes at this point in the afternoon it'd be 12 o'clock and the Darkness would continue until the ninth hour which would be three o'clock this otherworldly Darkness appeared when the Sun was shining the brightest because the moon was now full it couldn't have been created by an eclipse because you can't intervene between the Earth and the sun when it's full

God's quick intervention undoubtedly brought about this Darkness astronomy knowledge was rudimentary at the time flagon also mentions an earthquake which aligns his story closely with the sacred record the creature could not bear the wrong done to its creator therefore the sun withdrew his rays that he might not behold the Deeds of the wicked the darkness occurring at such a critical moment can signify several things first Darkness was associated with Antiquity with Mourning Darkness was also associated with the death of Great Men both Gentile and Jewish readers could understand Darkness as a cosmic sign that accompanied

the death of a king in addition Darkness was a sign of God's judgments the tombs were opened and many bodies of the Saints God's people who had fallen asleep in death were raised to life and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered the Holy City Jerusalem and appeared to many people Matthew 27 52-53 Amplified Bible coming out of the graves after his resurrection these first Miracles wrought in connection with the death of Christ were typical of spiritual Wonders that will be continued till he comes again Rocky Hearts are rent Graves of sin

are open those who have been dead in trespasses and sins are buried in sepulchers of lust and evil are quickened and come out from among the dead and go unto the holy city the New Jerusalem Spurgeon but notice that it was not until after the resurrection of Jesus that the occupants of these tombs were raised and went into Jerusalem where they appeared to many the Bible does not say whether these risen Saints died again or went to heaven with the Lord Jesus clearly the Centurion was shocked to be witness to such a dramatic event during

the last hours of Christ especially since he had never previously seen such a thing this made the impact on him almost immeasurable the sanjorian had seen heard and felt all of the events of the crucifixion and death of Christ as a result he and his troops became very frightened in spite of the fact that the Centurion and his group of soldiers had learned to cope with fear they were now experiencing sheer Terror Jesus not only made an impact upon rough and hardened men like the Roman Centurion but he also made an impact on women even

women like Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene is the formerly demon-possessed woman who followed Jesus From Galilee there were also many women there looking on from a distance who had accompanied Jesus From Galilee ministering to him among them was Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and Salon the mother of zebedee's son James and John Matthew 27 55-56 if he was one to faith in Christ he came as a pagan and like the thief on the cross who believed was saved as Jesus hung upon the cross how simple and basic all who are saved

are saved because of the death of Jesus on the cross so the cross began to do its work immediately and that work has continued for two millennia it is that powerful cross and the love displayed there that moves hearts even the hardened battle weary heart of a career soldier from Death To Life an old saying is the ground is always level at the foot of the cross it was in the first century and it still is today the foot of the cross is where everyone poor and Rich finds level ground to kneel and embrace the

Christ who died for them truly this is the Son of God we have heard and we have believed the journey must not end there we must have the passion to know him deeper Philippians 3 10 and this so that I may know him experientially becoming more thoroughly acquainted with him understanding the remarkable wonders of his person more completely and in the same way experience the power of his resurrection which overflows and is active in Believers and that I may share the fellowship of his suffering by being continually conformed inwardly into his likeness even to his

death dying as he did May that same desire burn in our hearts so we might honestly know the one who loved us and gave himself for us one can't but wonder about how coming into contact with Jesus affected the soldiers lives did they become Christians the pulpit commentary relates the tradition that the centurion's name was longinus and that he became a devoted follower of Jesus preached the gospel and died as a martyr this is just tradition we do not know if this happened but we do know that the truth has a way of holding on

to a person's heart the cross of Jesus has the power to change the individual the centurium began as a Roman officer overseeing a crucifixion but ended the day acknowledging that Jesus was the son of God [Music] one Corinthians 1 18 for the message of the Cross is foolishness absurd and illogical to those who are perishing and spiritually dead because they reject it but to us who are being saved by God's grace it is the manifestation of the power of God but we preach Christ crucified a message which is to Jews a stumbling block that provokes

their opposition and the Gentiles foolishness just utter nonsense but to those who are the called both Jews and Greeks Gentiles Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God 1 Corinthians 1 23-24 it's your move what a powerful thought God has already taken the initiative in Salvation Christ died for you now it's your move Jesus gave up his life so we could have hours back he died like us so we could live like him he not only pleased his father but received us as a bounty as a substitute for sinful Humanity Jesus suffered

the withdrawal of the father's Fellowship horrible as this was it fulfilled God's good and loving Plan of Redemption a classic poem from throned upon the awful Tree by John Ellerton in 1875 States throned upon the awful tree king of grief I watch with thee Darkness veils thine anguished face none its lines of Woe contrace none can tell what pang's unknown hold thee silence and alone silent through those three dread hours wrestling with the evil Pals left alone with human sin Gloom around thee and within till the appointed time is nigh till the Lamb of God

may die [Music]