It’s a rhetorical question obviously – but how often have you wondered why bad things occur?  Why did God let this happen?  Where is He?  Does He really even exist?  I think it’s more common than any of us like to admit – and we might just have a glimmer that even Christ wondered the same thing once…but more on that later.

Some of you likely remember something made popular when I was a teen.  It seemed everywhere you turned, you could find something with Mary Stevenson’s infamous “Footprints in the Sand” poem.  As the story goes, the narrator dreams about walking along this historical timeline of life that is represented by a beach accompanied by the Lord.  The dreamer notes that there are two sets of footprints for most of the path, but on some really tough occasions in the dreamer’s life, there was only one set of footprints.  Wondering where God was during those moments, the dreamer asks why.  The response is simple.  “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

This morning, one of our associate pastors, Craig Pierce challenged this very human way of thinking by asking us to consider for a moment that God shows up every time, and perhaps WE are the ones who miss it.  The story unfolded in the story of the Roman Centurion who oversaw Jesus’ crucifixion.  It’s interesting to develop who this Centurion was a bit…and I’m going with a light version.  If you can, find a copy of the 1977 TV miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth” and watch towards the end where Ernest Borgnine plays the role as the Centurion.

A centurion was one of the most trusted of Caesar’s army.  As the name implies, they led 100 men.  One particularly trusted centurion was assigned to Jerusalem, a territory with a religious uprising…and a territory not particularly loyal to Rome.  Caesar needed an army there…and a leader there that could help the governor Pontius Pilate get a better handle on the people.

Crucifixions were somewhat commonplace for the centurion and his guards.  Disorderly folks were made an example to try to quiet any uprisings, etc.  When Pilate washed his hands of Jesus’ death – turning the blame back to the masses who called for the notorious prisoner, Barabbas to be released and begged for Jesus to be put to death – the frenzy was probably a bit comical to this Centurion and his guards…after all, they’d seen everything.  So what did they do?  They egged it on a bit more.  The soldiers stripped Jesus down, and put a scarlet robe on him to mock his king-ship.  Then, as the story goes, they twisted a crown of thorns to jam on his head and mocked him saying, “Hail to the king of the Jews!” – spitting on him and hitting him on the head a few times, just to make that crown feel even worse.

If that imagery isn’t bad enough – have you ever stopped to think…what would’ve happened if today’s technology existed back then?  Can you imagine if this stuff had been posted all over Facebook and YouTube?

Anyway, the story is shorter than I’m presenting – but if you’d like it by Matthew’s account, look in Matthew 27.  In verse 45, we learn that God brought about a great darkness over the land during the middle of the day.  Many scientific explanations have been offered, and many theologians have reasoned as to why such a thing may have occurred.  Many theologians say it fulfilled a prophecy in Amos 8:9.  One definition I like most was quoted by Craig this morning (I didn’t catch the source of this quote in my notes):  Perhaps the reason God darkened the earth in those last hours when Jesus took on the iniquities of all of humanity was as simple as this – maybe the moment was so sacred for God that He couldn’t bear for the world to see it.  Or perhaps, we couldn’t handle seeing such a thing.

And then it happened…even Jesus uttered what I eluded to earlier…in verse 46, “My God…MY GOD…why have you forsaken me.”  Where was God?

On that, bystanders stood breathless watching…knowing He’d called upon God – they thought they might be witnessing God save His son.  But after another loud squelch from Jesus hanging on that cross, he died.

Obviously, the story doesn’t end there.  At that precise moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The earth quaked mightily.  Rocks split.  Tombs broke open and holy people were raised to life and ascended after Jesus’ resurrection.  At the height of its intensity, the Centurion exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”  That’s right…the Centurion who had led his men to embarrass Jesus, spat and mocked Him, and was in charge of putting Him to death, became the first convert to believe in Christ after His death.

The Centurion may have been the first to see what everybody had missed.  People wanted to see this “God” swoop down and scoop up His Son.  They were disappointed to see Him die…further pushing down this movement that had developed surrounding Jesus’ ministry.  But the Centurion had a different perspective.

See…during crucifixions, the guilty party hanging on the cross would be mocked horribly just as Jesus was.  It was typical that the guilty would return insult for insult, spit for spit, and curse for curse.  But the Centurion’s first picture that Jesus was different was the mercy He showed for His accusers when He said prayerfully to the heavens, “Father, please forgive them – they do not know what it is they’re doing.”  Second, the Centurion saw just how compassionate Jesus was.  Hanging in pain – it wasn’t just the nails in the wrist and feet folks, scholars talk about how the whole body just sinks on the cross, wilting under its own weight from the skeletal frame – Jesus took the time to show compassion.  Typically, when the pain really started setting in, the guilty would beg and plead for mercy, promise not to repeat offenses, etc.  Not Jesus…He showed compassion not only to those hurling insults at Him, or for those hanging next to Him, but also to His own mother and brother – when in John 19:26-27 He said, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to His brother/disciple “Here is your mother.”  It was a call for the two to stay close to each other and be there for each other in the coming days, weeks, months, and years…to be family.  And then, the Centurion obviously witnessed just how much power God really has – what with the earthquakes, the darkened skies, the rocks splitting in two, and old tombs opening up…at that point, the Centurion became a believer.

In Borgnine’s autobiography, he talks about shooting the scene where he looks up to the cross in amazement to deliver that infamous line about Jesus truly being the Son of God:

Then it happened.

As I stared upward, instead of a chalk mark, I suddenly saw the face of Jesus Christ, lifelike and clear. It was not the features of Robert Powell I was used to seeing, but the most beautiful, gentle visage I have ever known. Pain-seared, sweat-stained, with blood flowing down from the thorns pressed deep, His face was still filled with compassion. He looked down at me through tragic, sorrowful eyes with an expression of love beyond description.

Then His cry rose against the desert wind. Not the voice of Zeffirelli, reading from the Bible, but the voice of Jesus Himself: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

In awe I watched Jesus’ head slump to one side. I knew He was dead. A terrible grief welled within me, and completely oblivious of the camera, I started sobbing uncontrollably.

“Cut!” yelled Zeffirelli. Olivia Hussey and Anne Bancroft were crying too. I wiped my eyes and looked up again to where I had seen Jesus – He was gone.

Whether I saw a vision of Jesus that windswept day or whether it was only something in my mind, I do not know. It doesn’t matter. For I do know that it was a profound spiritual experience and that I have not been quite the same person since. I believe that I take my faith seriously. I like to think that I’m more forgiving than I used to be. As that centurion learned two thousand years ago, I too have found that you simply cannot come close to Jesus without being changed.

What a great quote – “you simply cannot come close to Jesus without being changed.”  If you’re out there wondering where God is today, try coming close to Jesus…you’ll be changed.

 

Father, forgive me…for there are so many times that I simply don’t know what I’m doing.

 

Blessings to you all

Tim