Matthew 27:50-54
I remember a particular vacation trip when I was a child. My mother was intent on mailing home postcards to friends but she needed to find a post office to buy the stamps. My dad told her to look for a post office and he would be happy to stop. So, as we sped along the road, time and time again my mother would say, “There’s one!” and point behind us. Once we had passed the post office it was a little too late to stop.
As our examination of different views of the cross continues we come to the centurion, the Roman officer in charge of the squad of men who executed criminals. In Matthew’s account of the crucifixion, what happens as Jesus dies? What is the importance of the temple curtain being torn? Why do you think holy people rose from their graves (verse 52)? What realization do the centurion and the guards come to?
Today’s passage begins with the death of Jesus. He cried out a final time and his spirit left him. Then amazing things happen; the temple curtain opens, a symbolic reminder that the separation between sinful man and holy God is removed. There is an earthquake and holy people who have died experience the resurrection we can all expect. And that is when the centurion realizes that Jesus truly was the Son of God. But it is a little too late at that point.
Why did he miss out? The centurion was caught up in doing his job, performing the duties of an executioner. And being focused on his work and his obligations to the government he served, he missed out on seeing who Jesus was until it was too late.
We may not be surprised that the centurion missed Christ’s holiness. He was, after all, a Roman soldier who probably had never encountered Jesus. But we may be surprised that so many people called “Christians” miss out on who Jesus is because they are distracted by the many things in their lives. It is important that we experience Jesus and that we be aware of these experiences. The focus of our faith should be on Christ and who he really is. We should not allow ourselves to be distracted in our lives, to miss out or have a wrong view of the cross.
DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you remove or overcome the things that distract you from Jesus?
No comments:
Post a Comment