Mark 15:1-39

Jesus' death is full of ironies. The sequence of events is oddly juxtaposed to the actual realities present. For instance, Jesus was accused and convicted of the crime of blasphemy. Blasphemy is the crime of speaking against God or showing disrespect to God. But Jesus is God! Had he spoken blasphemously against himself?

Then there was the crowd. The very people who had hailed him as the king of the Jews on Palm Sunday, wanted him dead on Good Friday. Why did they want him dead? Because he claimed to be the king of the Jews. How ironic that the same crowds that yelled, "Hosanna," now yelled, "Crucify him."

And what of the way Jesus was treated. He was treated as a common criminal, yet he was the only innocent human on earth. In fact a murderer was set free so that Jesus could be killed. He was taunted, persecuted, and killed by the very people he came to save. Ironically as part of this mistreatment soldiers gave him a crown and a cloak and to bowed down to him.

These ironies highlight for us the truth of who and what Jesus was and is. Perhaps the most significant of these ironies is the last one. The only one to notice who Jesus was, was a Gentile. It was a Roman Centurion who faced Jesus and said, "Truly this man was God's Son!"

How did he know? What did that centurion see that made him realize this truth? Everyone there witnessed the same events. They all saw him nailed to the cross. They all saw the blood and heard the cries. Others in the crowd were close enough to him to see everything that this Centurion saw. The other soldiers who mocked Jesus, the crowd that had said, "Crucify;" they all saw the same events. Yet they did not come to that conclusion.

This is a significant question! Don't dismiss it. After all how many people throughout the ages have come face to face with the crucified Christ and not come to that same conclusion. How many have said, "There died a noble man," or "There died a prophet," or "There died a good moral teacher," but never said, "Truly this man was the Son of God." There are so many people today who know of Jesus' death on the cross who don't say, "This man was God's son." If we knew what that Centurion saw, maybe we could show it to them. If we could just point to whatever it was that drove him to that conclusion then others would say, "This man is the Son of God."

What was it that led a Roman centurion, of all people, to this most profound conclusion? He was a Roman, a Gentile. To him, Judaism was just some provincial oriental religion. He had probably worshipped Zeus or Athena all his life. Yet this Pagan Roman said, "this man is God's Son."

How did he know? You know what I believe? I think it was the cry Jesus gave right at the end that made the centurion see the truth. In verse 37 it says that Jesus gave a loud cry and took him last breath. Then in verse 39 it says that when the centurion saw he breathed his last he said, "Truly, this man is God's Son!"

So what was so special about this loud cry Jesus gave right before he died? Many people cry out in pain or agony right before they die. But this was no cry of pain. It was a cry of victory. The centurion who knew about military campaigns and conquests could see the victory. At the moment of Christ's death this military man could see the divine strategy that used the death of an innocent man to conquer God's foes. And in amazement he said, "Truly, this man was God's Son."

What was the victory that Jesus had won? It was a victory over death. Victory over physical death: the separation of a person from their breath. Through his death, by breathing his last, he brought eternal life to all who would accept him. But it was also victory over spiritual death: the separation of the human from God.

Something significant along these lines took place at the moment of Jesus' death; at the moment of his victory. Did you notice? At the moment Jesus' died it says that the veil in the temple was rent in two. In the temple there was a veil that separated the Holy of Hollies from the rest of the temple. It separated the people from the holy presence of God. By Jesus' death that veil was torn open. People, once kept from God, now had direct access to God. Through Christ the alienated sinners of the world could see God face to face. Through Jesus the Gentiles and outsiders could come directly to God.

This was the victory that Jesus won: a victory for us against the forces of evil that would separate us from our Heavenly Father, a victory that ensured, not a mere political peace, but lasting inner peace for all who would accept it, a victory that saved not merely physical existence but saves the soul from eternal death. This marvelous victory of victories is what the centurion saw in Jesus' death. It was this victory, which caused him to say, "Truly, this man was God's Son!"

Do you want to see this victory - in your life? Then just give your life to Christ. Ask the crucified Christ into your heart today. And through his death he will give you victory over sin and death. Then publicly profess that belief in Jesus. That is what the young people in the confirmation class will be doing next week. They will be publicly professing their belief in Jesus as the Son of God. They will be claiming their part of the victory that Jesus won for us all on the cross!

But many of you have given your life to Christ. Yet you don't feel victorious in your life; instead you feel defeated. That is normal. I am sure Jesus' disciples felt defeated right after Jesus' death. They didn't feel victorious. The problem is people believe the Devil's lies. The Devil tells people, even born again Christians, that they are not victors because they don't measure up by the world's standards of victory. But the truth is that we are victors over sin and death and the Devil.

The best example of this is the cross itself. Most people thought Jesus was defeated when he breathed his last. I am sure even the Devil thought he had won. But the truth was much different. You see God takes what the world calls defeat and turns it into victory. God's Son Jesus took death on a cross and through it offers you eternal life. Do you know any one who can perform such a miraculous feat? I do! May I introduce you to him? His name is Jesus. Truly this Man is the Son of God!

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