Luke 24:1-12
As I came in, I heard you, singing Jesus’ praises. I heard you shouting your Hosanna’s and Alleluia’s. If you only knew as I know. If only, you too, could have been there. I was one of the men in the cohort of soldiers who saw to Jesus’ scourging, who ridiculed Jesus, who marched Jesus to Golgotha, who crucified Jesus and who returned late into the night (each night) to guard Jesus’ tomb. I was among the men who were put on high alert so as to protect Jesus’ tomb. The religious leaders in Jerusalem put it into the governor’s head that Jesus’ followers were going to steal the body and claim he was resurrected. Honestly our watches were, for the most part, tiresome, and boring. No one, so much as came near the tomb. The threat was unfounded.
But as this one night folded into daylight, we experienced a great deal of excitement; there was an earthquake, or so it seemed. Something happened and it caused the stone that had been rolled up against the opening of the tomb (in order to keep it sealed), to roll away, leaving the tomb open. The Centurion, who gave us our orders, was not going to be happy; the group of us went immediately to the stone to roll it back. And then! Have you ever walked through a cemetery and thought that you saw something move? I looked toward the tomb and I saw movement, not outside the tomb but inside. When we went over to the tomb, we saw that Jesus (the body) was no longer lying on the slab; his burial cloth was pushed to the side; the cover that went over his face was rolled up. Understand this, I was the one who pushed my lance into Jesus’ side; I was there when they took him down off the cross; I checked him myself; he was dead.
I’m not paid to battle the dead. I was scared, more scared than I had ever been in battle. Nobody of human origin pushed aside that stone; no one entered Jesus’ tomb to take away his body, yet the tomb was open and the body was gone. Again, fear took me over; we were all of us baffled and scared. It was like we were frozen in place. A few women came to the empty tomb, carrying all kinds of burial stuff, they looked in and it was empty, and then they looked in again and there were two men in dazzling robes standing there. From what I could hear these men were reassuring the women that Jesus had risen from the dead. I watched, more scared than before, and as the women left the men disappeared. Finally, we could move; we looked at each other, then we ran to report what had happened. We were laughed at, by our fellow soldiers; the Centurion checked us to see if we had been drinking. Thankfully, the Centurion was only mildly concerned about this crucified Jewish prophet, Jesus; he saw the assignment as a nuisance assignment. He didn’t even report us; I learned later that the Jewish leaders, when they were told what happened, paid the Centurion to report to the Governor that the body had been stolen.
I have to admit it though; I was really shook-up by the whole experience. In my off time, I went looking for answers. I was told that Jesus had been seen by his followers, that he had eaten with them and talked with them. As time passed and I heard more and more of these reports I found myself starting to believe; people were telling me all about Jesus and after a time I even submitted to be baptized. I myself never saw the risen Jesus, except maybe for that movement I saw in the tomb, it might have been Jesus or an angel, I don’t know, but I saw enough, I heard enough from the people, I met and learned to trust those who did see the risen Jesus. After retiring from the military, I became a regular part of the Christian community; we called ourselves “The Way”. Life is strange, I went from being a stranger to a persecutor, from persecutor to executioner, from executioner to witness. Yes, I shared my story as well. And from witness I became a kind of disciple and then a real follower of the Risen Jesus.
God is good! Jesus forgave all that I had done to him and the community of faith accepted me. I helped put Jesus to death and Jesus saved me anyway. Jesus, God’s Son, the preacher and prophet, the healer and miracle worker, cares even for me. He cares also for you. He died for us all. So, sing your hosanna’s and alleluia’s with gusto!
And, thank the Risen Lord for all he has done for us. Jesus Christ is Risen today!