“The Characters of
Lent: Thief on the Cross & Roman Centurion”
Following the King James Version, we traditionally refer to
the malefactors crucified alongside Jesus as “thieves.” But,
the Greek word means simply a “criminal” of some sort. The
historian Josephus reports that crime was a serious problem in
Jerusalem during Passover week, when criminals could find easy
targets among the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who came for the
festival. Perhaps these two “thieves” were guilty of common
thievery. In the outlying provinces of the Roman Empire,
non-Romans were routinely crucified, even for minor offenses.
Or, they may have been guilty of much more serious or violent
crimes. Josephus says that gangs of thugs would commit many
murders in the huge crowd gathered for the festival. Whatever their crimes, two criminals are led out to Golgotha with Jesus
and crucified with him there, “one on his right, the other on his left, and
Jesus in the middle.” This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, “He was
numbered with the transgressors.” Matthew and Mark report that as they hung upon crosses dying, at first
both of these criminals hurls insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save
yourself and us!” Mark’s Gospel says of the centurion, “When he heard
Jesus’ cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’”
Apparently, the extraordinary experience of actually witnessing the Son of God
and Savior of the world die upon the cross had that same impact upon one of the
two thieves hanging beside him. For, Luke tells us one of the thieves had a deathbed conversion.
During those six hours they hung upon their crosses this thief was transformed,
from insulting Christ, to praising him and praying to him: “But the other
criminal rebuked him: ‘Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same
sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But
this man has done nothing wrong.’” That criminal is called the “repentant thief” because he ultimately
repents and acknowledges his guilt. In Latin, sincere repentance was
traditionally expressed with the confession, “Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea
maxima culpa”; “My fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.”
We see the sincerity of the repentant thief in the words of his confession: “We
are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.” No
excuses, no waffling; “My fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.” Like those criminals crucified alongside Jesus, we also are guilty, and
we also deserve the punishment of death—eternal death and damnation in hell.
Like the repentant thief, confess your guilt before the Lord. And, like the
repentant thief, turn to Jesus for salvation and eternal life. Jesus promises, “All the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven
them.” We learn from the thief on the cross first of all that it’s never
too late to turn and repent and be forgiven. As 1st John says, “If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “Jesus,” the repentant thief prays, “remember me when you come into
your kingdom.” Jesus answers him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be
with me in paradise.” This is the #1 place where the Bible teaches that
upon death the soul departs the body, and the souls of believers go to be with
Christ in paradise. As Paul says in Philippians, “I desire to depart and
be with Christ, which is better by far.” Paul says in Titus, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we
had done, but because of his mercy.” In the Thief on the Cross we see an
example that salvation is by faith alone. He did no good works to earn his
salvation. In fact, at the very moment he was saved, he was being executed
on account of his evil works. But, through faith alone, faith in Jesus,
his sins were all forgiven. Salvation is a gift of God, and even saving
faith itself is a gift of God, as Paul says in Ephesians, “For it is by grace
you have been saved, through faith, and this from yourselves, it is the gift of
God.” Like the Thief on the Cross, repent, turn to Jesus, trust in him as
your King, your Savior, your Lord. As Paul says in Acts, “Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Like the Thief on the Cross, the
moment you die your soul will depart your body and you will immediately be with
Jesus in paradise.
For the Roman Centurion, Good Friday started as nothing special, just
another day in the life of a Roman soldier. Normally, a centurion was in
command of 100 soldiers, hence the title centurion. But, today he will be
in charge of only five men—four other soldiers, and the victim they were
crucifying. For, there are crucifixions on the docket today, and it’s his
turn as a centurion to oversee one of the crucifixion details of the three
condemned men. It all starts out very routine. The centurion selects four of his
soldiers for the crucifixion detail he is commanding. Since they will be
out all day at the crucifixion sight, the soldiers get field rations for the day
from the quartermaster. This includes a flask of “posca,” the wine-vinegar
that was the Roman soldier’s normal beverage ration. A small sponge was in
the top of the flask as a cork. The centurion himself checks out from the quartermaster some very
valuable army property that must be returned or his pay will be docked: large
iron spikes, to drive through the victims’ hands and feet. The docket for this Friday is a little unusual. Two of the men
are common criminals, so many of which are executed every year during the
festival. But, the third condemned man is rather famous, someone the
centurion has heard a lot about, a very well-known individual named: Barabbas. That’s when unexpected things start to happen. Barabbas is a
notorious prisoner, a terrorist who committed murder in a revolt against Rome.
But, to everyone’s surprise, the governor sets him free, and in his place the
centurion will be crucifying another famous person he has also heard so much
about, a Hebrew rabbi named Jesus. Usually, it is the centurion who prepares the wooden plaques listing
the crimes of the condemned men, to be carried in front of them as they bear
their own crosses out to the place of execution, and then posted above them on
their crosses. But, for Jesus, the governor himself has a very unusual
notice specially prepared. It reads, in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek: “Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” As is customary, the soldiers severely flog all three prisoners before
leading them out to be crucified. Since crucifixion is such a slow,
painful way to die, it is actually considered humane to weaken them first so
that they will die more quickly. Since most of the common soldiers under the centurion are actually
local recruits from nearby Syria, bitter enemies of the Jews, in addition to
flogging the Hebrew rabbi Jesus, they also brutally mock and make fun of him as
the King of the Jews, dressing him up like a king in a purple robe, a crown of
thorns, and a wooden staff like a scepter, then mockingly paying him homage,
spitting on him, and savagely beating with the staff. Out at the execution place, the place the Hebrews call Golgotha, the
soldiers nail the three victims to their crosses. So many times the
centurion has heard crucifixion victims either proclaiming their innocence or
cursing their torturers. But, he never imagined he would hear a man cry
out as he was being nailed to the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do.” All three victims are offered wine mixed with gall or myrrh, a mild
narcotic to help deaden the pain. But Jesus refuses to take it. The four soldiers who crucify Jesus divide up his clothing, the
customary bonus for soldiers assigned to the dreaded crucifixion detail.
But, the undergarment is seamless, woven in one piece. Such large pieces
of cloth were rare and valuable. Roman soldiers often gambled and played
games of chance, perhaps they even brought some dice or other games along with
them that day to pass the time. And so they fulfill the prophecy in the
Psalms, “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” It is the third hour, 9:00am, when they crucify Jesus. Darkness
comes over the whole land from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, noon to 3:00pm.
The classical Greek author Phlegon wrote a book about unexplained natural
phenomena, titled, “Questions of Nature.” He reports: “In the spring of
the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad there was a great eclipse of the sun, greater
than had ever been known before. For at the sixth hour the day was changed
into night, and the stars were seen in the heavens.” The 202nd Olympiad is
equal to the year 33 A.D.! At the ninth hour, 3:00pm, Jesus cries out in Aramaic, “Eloi, Eloi,
lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Those standing around the cross watching Jesus die don’t realize he is quoting
from Psalm 22 with this cry, and instead think he is calling out for Elijah. Because Elijah had been taken away in a chariot into heaven, it was
popular Jewish folklore that at the time of death Elijah would come, like a
friendly “grim reaper,” to take you to heaven in his fiery chariot, like the old
spiritual, “Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.” So,
when those around the cross mishear Jesus’ cry, and say, “Listen, he’s calling
for Elijah,” what they mistakenly think is that Jesus in his agony is begging to
die. Because the most gruesome part of crucifixion detail is taking the
victims down from the cross after the crucifixion and extracting the nails, the
soldiers respond sarcastically, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.” When Jesus says “I thirst,” one of the soldiers takes the sponge out of
the mouth of their beverage flask, soaks it in the wine-vinegar, and lifts it to
Jesus’ lips. Then Jesus cries out, “It if finished. Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit.” What effect do all these events have on the Roman centurion? The
Gospels report, “He PRAISED God and said, ‘Surely this was a righteous man.
Surely this man was the Son of God!’” Isaiah says, “We observed him stricken by God, smitten by him, and
afflicted. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds
we are healed.” As you ponder the events of Good Friday, like the Roman
centurion praise God that his righteous Son died for your salvation. That is the lesson of the Lenten story of the Roman Centurion.
Amen. Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
|