From the Bishop’s Desk

April 04, 2011

Dismissed by the Soldiers (Part 1)

Scripture: Scripture: John 19:23-24, “²³Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.  ²⁴They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.”

I wonder what Jesus thought when He looked down at His bloody feet nailed to the cross.  By then His vision would have been blurred, not just from the excruciating pain, but from the blood and sweat that He was powerless to wipe away from His eyes.  It was the most painful, lonely, and desperate moment of His life – or anyone’s life for that matter.  As He hung on the cross for those six hours that Friday, what did He see?  What did He hear?  What did Jesus experience that first Easter?

What He witnessed was a number of people around the cross, who, whether they knew it or not, were answering life’s most important question.  There were a number of different responses.  We often still choose these responses today as we each answer what is still life’s most important question – What will you do with Jesus?

Perhaps the first people Jesus saw were the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross.  As He looks down past His feet He sees the soldiers who had nearly beaten Him to death.  And do you know what He saw the soldiers doing?  He saw them playing games at the foot of the cross.  The soldiers are huddled in a circle.  They are not concerned with what’s happening on the cross above them…He’s just another criminal, just another Jewish rebel.  And so they gamble for some used clothes worn by a carpenter who claimed to be King. 

The most significant even in human history and they are completely oblivious to it.  The Son of God is dying on the cross above them and they’re playing games.  Somehow they completely missed the one thing that had the power to change everything.  They quickly dismissed Jesus on the cross.

The reasons that these Roman soldiers were so quick to dismiss Jesus are the same reasons that people sometimes dismiss Him today.  We are going to look at three reasons this morning that the soldiers and us today dismiss Jesus.  The first reason is, Familiarity – they had seen all this before.  The second reason is, Prejudice – they were turned off by God’s people.  The third reason we will look at is, Distractions – they were focused on other things.