... he stood before the soldiers.
What had he ever done to deserve this posting? His brother got to fight in the wars against the barbarians and here he was stuck; nurse-maid in this lousy province. He couldn't wait until troop rotation took place. It had been over ten years since he had last seen Rome.
If it wasn't for the distraction these prisoners provided he would go crazy with boredom.
He looked over the latest unfortunate victim. Looks like he had already met the wrong end of a spear or two. Someone had worked him over pretty good. He looked tired. Better than what he would look by the time his friends had finished with him.
He wondered what his story was. Probably some political thing. Better not to know. It really didn't matter by the time they were handed over to the soldiers; flesh was flesh, regardless of what it was before.
Already his buddies were beginning the fun. There would be some shoving, mocking, a bit of mind games. Then they would strip him down and begin with the fists. After they tired of hitting him they would start in on the whips and chains. That's when it would really get messy.
He would rather be out fighting against other soldiers. At least then it was a fair fight. What they did here was just entertainment. He still didn't have a stomach for the scourging. He was a seasoned soldier but it was too hard to see a man's flesh ripped from his back like that.
He looked over the prisoner again as the first fist landed squarely on his jaw. His buddies are bowing to him as if he were a king. This, a king? Ha! Doesn't matter much now what he claimed to be.
He heard a deep rasping laugh escape from his mouth as his fist proved to be the fifth one to find its mark. He actually allowed himself to smile as his blow sent the prisoner falling onto his back. In about an hour there wouldn't be much left of that back.
He stood over him, pondering what tomorrow would bring.
Poor guy. It didn't matter much any more what he had claimed to be.
He would be dead soon enough ...
Showing posts with label condemned. Show all posts
Showing posts with label condemned. Show all posts
Friday, April 18, 2014
Passion Week: Condemned
... he stood before Pilate.
By the looks of it, he didn't have an easy time of it with Herod. Maybe the robe was a bit much. The poor guy. I wonder if he really thinks it is all still worth it.
So, he's back and I need to do something about this. I have no real crime to charge him with. It's not like he led some revolt or even spoke about overthrowing Rome. There is nothing except this claim to be king. Am I suppose to crucify every madman in Israel?
Now my wife is at me, something about a bad dream. That's not like her. She's never tried to interfere with official Rome business. I really don't have a good feeling about this man or this situation.
But there is this thing about releasing a prisoner for their Passover. Surely if this man is as popular as Caiaphas would have me believe then it should be no problem to have this matter dealt with. If I give them a choice between a murderer and a prophet surely they will choose their beloved prophet, even if he is a madman.
It looks like everyone is ready.
“Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
What's this? Another message from his wife? In the middle of this?
He read: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
Meanwhile he did not notice the chief priests of this land weaving through the crowd, whispering, gesturing. It seemed all too much for Pilate. The priests, Herod, his wife. What was it about this man? He just wanted the whole thing to be over with.
"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”
“Barabbas.”
By the looks of it, he didn't have an easy time of it with Herod. Maybe the robe was a bit much. The poor guy. I wonder if he really thinks it is all still worth it.
So, he's back and I need to do something about this. I have no real crime to charge him with. It's not like he led some revolt or even spoke about overthrowing Rome. There is nothing except this claim to be king. Am I suppose to crucify every madman in Israel?
Now my wife is at me, something about a bad dream. That's not like her. She's never tried to interfere with official Rome business. I really don't have a good feeling about this man or this situation.
But there is this thing about releasing a prisoner for their Passover. Surely if this man is as popular as Caiaphas would have me believe then it should be no problem to have this matter dealt with. If I give them a choice between a murderer and a prophet surely they will choose their beloved prophet, even if he is a madman.
It looks like everyone is ready.
“Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
What's this? Another message from his wife? In the middle of this?
He read: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
Meanwhile he did not notice the chief priests of this land weaving through the crowd, whispering, gesturing. It seemed all too much for Pilate. The priests, Herod, his wife. What was it about this man? He just wanted the whole thing to be over with.
"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”
“Barabbas.”
What? Did he really hear them right? Did they really call for the release of the murderer? Maybe they don't understand what this means for Jesus.
“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?”
“Crucify him!”
He stopped breathing.
How can this be right? These people are calling for the crucifixion of one of their own? He'd never heard of such a thing.
He gave Jesus a sideways glance. What is it about this man?
“Why? What crime has he committed?”
I have to reason with them.
“Crucify him!”
The crowd was getting out of hand. If he didn't do something quickly he could lose control here. That's all he needed. Better this man die than to have to deal with a riot.
Well, everyone is guilty of something.
“I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your responsibility!”
“Let his blood be on us and on our children!”
Whoa! This is getting a bit much.
Looking to the guard he nodded. As they led Jesus away he washed his hands in front of the crowd to make sure they got the message.
As he watched this tragic figure leave, he couldn't help but feel a profound sense of sadness.
What does it matter? I did what I could...
Friday, April 26, 2013
Living The Extraordinary In The Ordinary
Is this going to be an ordinary or extraordinary day for you? According to Scripture every day should be extraordinary as you carry out the mission of Jesus Christ. Yes, you are on a mission, not to please yourself but to make disciples for Jesus. The first step is for them to hear your testimony and to understand the situation they are in. The problem is, we are not very good at what Jesus commanded us to do.
Unfortunately we are too caught up in church "stuff", disagreements, spouting off personal doctrine, or just pursuing the "american dream". We have generations of people who do not understand that they are a condemned people, heading to certain death. In fact, the Church has toned down over the years so that church has just become a community that we belong to, one that defines who we are. But the world doesn't need to know who we are. These dying generations need to know who Jesus Christ is because he is the only one who can rescue them from their doom.
This is the reality:
When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. (2 Timothy 4:1)
Every person you see today, unless they know Jesus, is condemned and heading for judgement. It's just a formality because without Jesus covering them they are already condemned. It is simply the passing of the sentence that awaits them. How can we live with this knowledge? How can we not be overwhelmed with sorrow for them? How can we not be desperate for them to know? I'll tell you how: It isn't our reality.
I don't care how we try to excuse it away, Jesus is not our reality. This world, with all its pleasures and trappings is our reality. We say the right words, read the right books, quote the right verses but we are still caught up in the affairs of this world. Our anchor is still in this place. We are still dependent on what this world considers to be valuable. Our minds and hearts are polluted and Jesus is nothing more than an emotional concept. How else can we explain how the majority of Christians can die without ever leading anyone to Jesus?
We convince ourselves that we care because we feed the homeless, build hospitals, run clean water projects, give money to orphanages. These are all great projects of compassion that should be part of our mission but they should only lead to the heart of our mission. If we forget the heart then we will have well dressed, well feed, well cared for sinners standing in judgement before God, being condemned for eternity. Above everything else, and I mean everything, must be our compassion for the lost souls and compassion drives us to present Jesus to everyone.
You and I are only play acting. We have taken on a role and we are fulfilling it to the end and it doesn't do anyone any good. "He will judge everyone" should move us to action, reaching out, pursuing, testifying, telling others about the great news, that they too can be sinners saved by grace, a new creation, gloriously saved from the coming destruction. How many are going to hell because we don't take Jesus at his word and because we are too busy with ourselves? Everyone of us should be convicted of the fact that our neighbour needs Jesus and we should be provoked by the love of Jesus to do something about it.
So, ordinary or extraordinary day?
Unfortunately we are too caught up in church "stuff", disagreements, spouting off personal doctrine, or just pursuing the "american dream". We have generations of people who do not understand that they are a condemned people, heading to certain death. In fact, the Church has toned down over the years so that church has just become a community that we belong to, one that defines who we are. But the world doesn't need to know who we are. These dying generations need to know who Jesus Christ is because he is the only one who can rescue them from their doom.
This is the reality:
When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. (2 Timothy 4:1)
Every person you see today, unless they know Jesus, is condemned and heading for judgement. It's just a formality because without Jesus covering them they are already condemned. It is simply the passing of the sentence that awaits them. How can we live with this knowledge? How can we not be overwhelmed with sorrow for them? How can we not be desperate for them to know? I'll tell you how: It isn't our reality.
I don't care how we try to excuse it away, Jesus is not our reality. This world, with all its pleasures and trappings is our reality. We say the right words, read the right books, quote the right verses but we are still caught up in the affairs of this world. Our anchor is still in this place. We are still dependent on what this world considers to be valuable. Our minds and hearts are polluted and Jesus is nothing more than an emotional concept. How else can we explain how the majority of Christians can die without ever leading anyone to Jesus?
We convince ourselves that we care because we feed the homeless, build hospitals, run clean water projects, give money to orphanages. These are all great projects of compassion that should be part of our mission but they should only lead to the heart of our mission. If we forget the heart then we will have well dressed, well feed, well cared for sinners standing in judgement before God, being condemned for eternity. Above everything else, and I mean everything, must be our compassion for the lost souls and compassion drives us to present Jesus to everyone.
You and I are only play acting. We have taken on a role and we are fulfilling it to the end and it doesn't do anyone any good. "He will judge everyone" should move us to action, reaching out, pursuing, testifying, telling others about the great news, that they too can be sinners saved by grace, a new creation, gloriously saved from the coming destruction. How many are going to hell because we don't take Jesus at his word and because we are too busy with ourselves? Everyone of us should be convicted of the fact that our neighbour needs Jesus and we should be provoked by the love of Jesus to do something about it.
So, ordinary or extraordinary day?
Thursday, September 13, 2012
It Is Good To Remember
Let's not kid ourselves, there has been big changes in our lives since we repented and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. Stop and think about what you we were before Jesus:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 2:1-2)
Don't sugar coat it, call it what it was. You used to belong to the false prince, the dark lord of the rebellious mob, those who are the enemies of God. We were filled with nastiness; nothing more than foul dumb beasts. We thought we were free. We thought we were the captains of our own destiny. We thought we were so intelligent, beautiful and wise. Yet, all that time we were actually ugly, twisted and unnatural to what God had created us to do.
It's good to remember where we came from.
Sometimes we forget. We forget and we look down at those we are still there, who are still disobedient. We look down and consider ourselves better than them. We point fingers and tell them to behave themselves while forgetting what it was like to be them. Forgetting that no matter how much we tried to change ourselves we couldn't. Of all the people on this earth, we should be the ones with great understanding, compassion and love for those who belong to the false prince:
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (v.3)
Enemies of God. That's what we were. Objects of wrath. Deserving death. Deserving God's righteous judgement. God's enemy. Deserving to be removed from his creation. From his thought. From his memory.
It is good to remember.
But let's stress the "were" here. We were the enemy of God. We were objects of wrath. But something changed all that. Someone changed all that. And he didn't change it after we had cleaned ourselves up. He didn't change it once he thought we had earned it or deserved it. While we were still sinners, deserving death, he changed everything:
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
There you go: because of his great love for us. Jesus went into the enemy's camp, not to slay us but to save us. He rescued us from the darkness; he showed us the way out; he broke the bonds and gave us the capacity to choose. We chose wisely. We chose Jesus and that has made all the difference.
That is an important point we must remember: we were dead in our transgressions when Jesus died for us. We were disobedient enemies of God when Jesus died. There was no redeeming quality, nothing good, nothing in us that provoked God to act on our behalf. It was simply because he choose to love us that God acted to rescue us. He loved us when we were in the same condition as our unsaved neighbour. It means he loves our neighbour and everyone else who remains dead in transgressions.
Because Jesus loves them we must love them. It is our purpose for remaining here, to allow Jesus to glorify himself through us so that others will be saved. We need to stop condemning the objects of God's affection even though they remain the objects of wrath. Understand God's great love and compassion for those who are his enemy. It shouldn't be hard to do. Look at what he did for you. But always remember, we can't save them. The only one who can rescue them is Jesus, and he desires to glorify himself through us for this purpose. Understand your purpose.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 2:1-2)
Don't sugar coat it, call it what it was. You used to belong to the false prince, the dark lord of the rebellious mob, those who are the enemies of God. We were filled with nastiness; nothing more than foul dumb beasts. We thought we were free. We thought we were the captains of our own destiny. We thought we were so intelligent, beautiful and wise. Yet, all that time we were actually ugly, twisted and unnatural to what God had created us to do.
It's good to remember where we came from.
Sometimes we forget. We forget and we look down at those we are still there, who are still disobedient. We look down and consider ourselves better than them. We point fingers and tell them to behave themselves while forgetting what it was like to be them. Forgetting that no matter how much we tried to change ourselves we couldn't. Of all the people on this earth, we should be the ones with great understanding, compassion and love for those who belong to the false prince:
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (v.3)
Enemies of God. That's what we were. Objects of wrath. Deserving death. Deserving God's righteous judgement. God's enemy. Deserving to be removed from his creation. From his thought. From his memory.
It is good to remember.
But let's stress the "were" here. We were the enemy of God. We were objects of wrath. But something changed all that. Someone changed all that. And he didn't change it after we had cleaned ourselves up. He didn't change it once he thought we had earned it or deserved it. While we were still sinners, deserving death, he changed everything:
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
There you go: because of his great love for us. Jesus went into the enemy's camp, not to slay us but to save us. He rescued us from the darkness; he showed us the way out; he broke the bonds and gave us the capacity to choose. We chose wisely. We chose Jesus and that has made all the difference.
That is an important point we must remember: we were dead in our transgressions when Jesus died for us. We were disobedient enemies of God when Jesus died. There was no redeeming quality, nothing good, nothing in us that provoked God to act on our behalf. It was simply because he choose to love us that God acted to rescue us. He loved us when we were in the same condition as our unsaved neighbour. It means he loves our neighbour and everyone else who remains dead in transgressions.
Because Jesus loves them we must love them. It is our purpose for remaining here, to allow Jesus to glorify himself through us so that others will be saved. We need to stop condemning the objects of God's affection even though they remain the objects of wrath. Understand God's great love and compassion for those who are his enemy. It shouldn't be hard to do. Look at what he did for you. But always remember, we can't save them. The only one who can rescue them is Jesus, and he desires to glorify himself through us for this purpose. Understand your purpose.
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