Did You Have An
Unexpected Conversion?
Good Morning Friends,
Jesus the infant escaped death in a manger and though we might like to keep him there it is not to be for Jesus came for the surprising purpose of redemption. We see the story laid out in today’s scripture. The Centurion who oversaw the crucifixion of Christ had probably seen many people die, but the death of Jesus was different. It started perhaps when He nailed Jesus to the cross and instead of curses and anger received the blessing of forgiveness. Jesus asked His Father to forgive them, to forgive us. No begging for mercy, or claims of being innocent… The centurion had never seen that before. Then Jesus would refuse the wine and vinegar… no dulling of the pain and suffering. This was different. The comments made to the thief on the cross beside Jesus must have caught his attention as well. The thief asked to be remembered and then Jesus tells the thief that, “Today you will be in Paradise.” What an amazing thing for one dying man to say to another. The centurion must have noticed the care Jesus showed for his mother and that those final words were more like a victorious soldier coming home from a mission than the death of a criminal. But there is more. As all this is happening the world became dark and at then, at the moment Jesus’ head came down, the lights came back on and there was an earthquake. Perhaps then the centurion looked back to Jesus’ time before Pilate and his entry into Jerusalem on a donkey to the crowd’s cheers the week before. Perhaps he heard rumors that the curtain in the Temple had been torn. This all must have begun to make sense. That somehow in this death something good and incredible was to come. The death of Jesus, seen through the eyes of the calloused Centurion who crucified Jesus, created something amazing. Did You Have An
Unexpected Conversion?
Scripture: When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘Listen, he is calling for Elijah.’ And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’ Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’ There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
Mark 15:33-41 (NRSV)
To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; ‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!’ Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled; I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me. I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.
Psalm 22 (NRSV)
Message: Ok I know we are still in the joy of the Christmas season but we must not leave Jesus in the manger. We must remember even now that Jesus was born to die. And that Jesus died so that, in the end, every knee should bend down and head confess that He is Lord. That is how Psalm 22 ends. It begins with a lament…a cry for seemingly forsaken help repeated by Jesus on the cross. His cry though is not one of disillusionment or physical suffering, although he did suffer, but a cry of fulfilment of the Psalm he quotes. You see, in the suffering through the cross, as reflected in today’s scripture, the story is told of the example Jesus set and of what it means to be a living sacrifice that makes a difference. Look at today’s scripture. When Jesus died, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom opening up the presence of God to all who would believe. And indeed it starts as a lament but ends as a prayer of praise. Here the soldier’s story is our story too for we crucify Christ every time we sin. The centurion watched as Jesus took all the ridicule without the slightest bit of revolt. The centurion must have noticed that Jesus was calmer than any condemned man he had ever seen. He must have noticed how different Jesus really was…how important this event would be. And the experience spills over into this soldier who was carrying out the order of crucifixion. It comes with an intense emotional connection that is so different from the expected. So too it will be on that day when we join Jesus in Paradise. So envision how you will be remembered and how you will remember Jesus. And imagine the centurion who nailed Jesus to the cross and how he is remembered for sharing with those closest to him his unexpected conversion. His words of conversion acknowledges that Christianity is an intimate, growing relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. It is not a set of doctrines to believe, habits to practice, or sins to avoid. Every activity of Jesus on the cross commands us to experience His love relationship…the redeeming love…the amazing grace of a King who would die for all of us. Friends, Jesus came not just as the infinite in an infant but also came to pay the price to restore our relationship with God even for those who were killing him. The centurion witnessed and acknowledge this conversion. So must we.
Pray we with respect bring more awe and wonder and amazement into the experiencing of Jesus on the cross. Pray we realize that our conversion is attached to a person…Christ. Pray that our fellowship with God is not an empty ritual but a moving experience. Pray our conversion brings a restoration of a fellowship with God incarnate. Pray that though we prefer the empty cross and a full manger that we make an effort to envision Jesus on the cross and see if we do not find ourselves saying with the Centurion that the only conclusion our heart and mind can make: Surely indeed, this is the Son of God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 