Surely this man was the Son of God

a man looked up at the cross on which jesus hung this man was a roman soldier stationed in jerusalem israel he was responsible for policing the local jewish population many of whom despised him to them he was nothing more than a filthy uncircumcised gentile a heathen invader he'd been steeped in a religion of whimsical angry gods that needed to be constantly pacified his job had made him and cruel yet this roman centurion who oversaw the barbaric crucifixion of jesus made this statement about him surely this man was the son of god you would have expected these words to come from the lips of the jewish religious leaders yet they were uttered by the most unlikely person what was it that convinced this hardened soldier that jesus was the son of god jesus disciples believed this you know at this point in time they didn't dare confess it in fact one of them had shamefully denied knowing jesus at all yet this roman centurion made a voluntary confession that jesus was the son of god why did he do this why did he do this there are three striking things this centurion must have noticed about jesus he noticed jesus's moral integrity his purity he noticed jesus's love and he couldn't fail to have noticed the supernatural events surrounding jesus's death the first the centurion would have seen of jesus would most likely have been when he was interrogated by the roman governor pilate he would have been aware of the accusations leveled at jesus he would have also been aware that pilate the roman governor had found jesus innocent of all charges the roman governor piler had given in to the demands of the jewish people whose leaders had whipped them up into a hate-filled frenzy they demanded that a notorious criminal barabbas be freed and jesus be crucified it must have surprised the centurion that jesus made no protest whatsoever no protest that barabbas being freed instead of him most other men would have lost all dignity and in a desperate attempt to save themselves would have pointed violently at barabbas and shouted you've got the wrong man he's the one you want he's the revolutionary he's the criminal take him instead jesus remained dignified in the face of false accusation he kept his integrity he didn't lose his temper or tried to defend himself i doubt the centurion had ever seen a condemned man behave like this centurion was tasked with supervising the torture and crucifixion of jesus he would have been present when the roman governor pilate gave jesus over to the roman soldiers for their amusement for their entertainment to be insulted and abused whether the centurion took an active part in this or not he was just as guilty as the next man he made no attempt to stop his men from mocking jesus from placing a crown of thorns on his head plucking the hairs from his beard and spitting in his face whilst other men would have cried out for mercy jesus didn't say a word whilst other men would have lost all self-restraint and blurted out one foul expletive after another jesus said nothing when the soldiers eventually hammered the nails through jesus's hands and feet there was no resistance from jesus no verbal abuse no hint of blubbering self-pity in the face of unimaginable pain and humiliation jesus retained his integrity jesus's pure and dignified behavior couldn't have gone unnoticed by the centurion immediately after they had nailed jesus to the cross and lifted him in the air the centurion witnessed something even more extraordinary he heard jesus say father forgive them but they do not know what they are doing it was as if jesus was saying father i am now suffering and dying so that sin is like these soldiers [Music] may be forgiven most people in jesus situation would have only been able to think about themselves [Music] but jesus showed more concern for the eternal fate of these soldiers that had tortured and crucified him than he did for himself how could a victim show such love for his abusers through jesus compassion for these soldiers we get a glimpse of god's amazing love towards those who've offended him we can see why the apostle john who was also present at the cross could say these startling words god is love whatever else the centurion may have seen or heard there are some things he couldn't fail to have noticed while jesus hung on the cross there were a number of supernatural events some have referred to these events as god's own commentary on what was happening in the gospel of luke we read something remarkable it says the sun's light failed there was total darkness now this wasn't a known phenomenon like a total eclipse this was something completely extraordinary this was something supernatural a darkness which must have been terrifying to the centurion and the other soldiers and everyone else who was there did this unnatural darkness symbolize the dark cloud jesus was under when he became our scapegoat when he bore the punishment and shame our sins deserve there are many other things the centurion may have noticed about jesus and other supernatural events that he would have experienced however the thing that ultimately convinced him that jesus was the son of god we find recorded in mark's gospel chapter 15 verse 39 where it says when the centurion who stood there in front of jesus heard his cry and saw how he died he said surely this man was the son of god jesus shouted his final words on the cross he said in a loud voice further into your hands i commit my spirit now a dying man's voice isn't loud it's weak trembling and feeble it tapers off as they breathe their last breath the centurion was shocked to hear jesus shout just before his death but this wasn't the only thing that astounded him ordinarily it would have taken days for a man to die on a cross but jesus was dead within six hours six hours what the centurion witness was jesus's voluntary death jesus submitting to death rather than being taken by it this was no mere man dying but god not long before jesus was arrested he said to his disciples i lay down my life that i may take it up again no one takes it from me but i lay it down of my own accord jesus chose the exact moment of his death cornelius is a well-known roman centurion who became a christian a follower of jesus but as for the centurion at the cross we don't know was this as far as he got he saw who jesus was and openly confessed it but did he become jesus his follower did he experience the forgiveness that only jesus can give did he trust jesus to make him right with god did he trust the son of god with his soul like the centurion have you seen who jesus is have you noticed his moral integrity his purity have you noticed his amazing love towards sinners have you looked into the remarkable supernatural events that punctuated his life and death please take the time to find out more about who jesus is and what he has done for you on tuesday the 15th of june at 7 pm southland community church is going to open its doors and we're going to start a seven-week christianity explored course christianity explored is done in a friendly relaxed and unthreatening safe environment it's an opportunity to find out more about jesus to bring questions and explore what the christian faith is all about if you're interested in taking part please reach out to us using the contact details at the end of this video

Channel: Tony Brown

Views: 20,449

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Id: OWBczLCy70k

Length: 13min 31sec (811 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 12 2021