Sunday's Sermon: "Truly this Man was God's Son"

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 27:33-54

33And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; 36then they sat down there and kept watch over him. 37Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." 38Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads 40and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." 41In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, 42"He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’" 44The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way. 45From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46And about three o"clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 47When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "This man is calling for Elijah." 48At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him."

50Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, "Truly this man was God’s Son!"

Maybe some of you remember the Merv Griffin Show. It personally was before my time, but I ran across a sermon illustration about an event which took place on that show. There was a time when Merv was interviewing some body builders. As he was standing there looking at these guys with all these muscles, he asked a powerful question: "What do you use these muscles for?"

One guy answered by flexing his muscles in one of those body builder stances. But Merv said, "No, you don't understand. What do you USE all those muscles for?" The guy said, "I'll show you." And he flexed again in another stance.

Again Merv said, "No. You still don't understand my question. Read my lips. What do you USE them FOR?" The guy posed again.

A couple of thoughts came to me as I thought about this question. One of the first is the knuckleheaded body builder who didn’t realize that Merv was asking him if he actually did anything with his muscles at all other than show them off. Did he do any heavy lifting? Did he help little old ladies who couldn’t carry their groceries? Did he use them to move furniture or to lift up cars so that people could change their tires without a jack? Many audience members were probably smacking their heads thinking, "Can’t these muscle bound idiots understand even a simple question?"

Many of you might be thinking such thoughts as well; however, let me also come at it from another perspective. For I happen to think that body builder who was flexing his muscles was thinking something too. I happen to think that body builder was saying to himself, "You knucklehead, Merv. Can’t you see I use my muscles to flex and show off? Can’t you see that I use them to garner attention from other people? This is what they are for–to show off. There isn’t any other use that I have for them. I’ve worked on them to show off. Period." This body builder is probably thinking, "Can’t this television show idiot even understand a simple question?"

If you look at things from the perspective of each person, you will see that each is missing something obvious. Each person is so caught up in his own way and interpretation of the question that each fails to connect and try and understand the other. Each person is so absorbed in what he believes, that he fails to get it. And I wonder what it would have taken for Merv and that body builder to finally get it and see what was really going on?

Oftentimes we as people are so caught up in the midst of our everyday lives that we fail to see what is going on as well. We become so focused and so in tune with our own worries and cares and concerns and wants and desires that we miss some very important things that are happening right in front of our noses.

Take for instance that centurion who stood at the foot of the cross. In many ways, it was probably an ordinary day at the office for him. I’m sure he was not exactly all that happy about being stationed in Israel. When compared to the rest of the Roman Empire, this country probably looked shabby and run down. It didn’t have the beautiful, lush landscape of other places. It was rocky and dry. People struggled to eke out a living, and the religious customs and beliefs were strange to say the least. The people talked often about only one God, and they spoke of a deliverer who was the Son of God. Such things would have been a foreign concept to this Roman centurion when he first got there.

But he had to learn and become aware of such customs and the prevailing news of the day in order that he might keep the peace. Several times he had helped put down a rebellion because some upstart Messiah came along claiming to be the Son of God. He had helped crucify more than one of them, and each died, slowly, painfully, and without much fanfare. Every time thus far, when the head was cut off the snake, the snake died.

This centurion probably expected much of the same with the current Messiah who was hanging on the cross. This one would die, and the movement he had started would vanish into oblivion. Sure, he had heard the rumors about this one who was dying now. He had heard that he was a healer who made the lame to walk and the blind to see. He had heard about this man’s supposed ability to raise the dead. He had heard about casting out demons and other miraculous occurrences. Generally, he dismissed such things; however there was one thing the centurion had difficulty with. Nearly every so called Messiah before had sought to overthrow Rome. Nearly every so called Messiah before had considered Rome and the soldiers an enemy. But this one had supposedly been on friendly terms. The centurion heard about a buddy of his who came into contact with this man hanging on the cross. The buddy had a servant who was deathly ill, and this man had healed the servant. Supposedly, this man even ate with tax collectors and had one such man in his closest circle. That was different, he conceded, but these Messiah’s were a dime a dozen. He shrugged such things off. Why bother? When all was said and done, he’d head back home, enjoy a cup of wine, and try to endure the heat and dryness of this cursed land.

But something eventually happened that shook the centurion to the core. The man hanging on the cross cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some of the religious authorities on hand tried to offer the man some wine on a stick, which the man refused. Within moments, the man cried out once more, and died.

The centurion though to himself, "This is the strangest one yet."

And then the earth shook.

Eerie sounds came from the tombs nearby.

The centurion stood, awestruck. This could not be coincidence. Something really significant had just happened. Something almost beyond comprehension. But something that made sense, if and only if...
The centurion looked at the dead man on the cross and uttered the only thing that helped him make sense out of the whole ordeal, "Truly this man was God’s Son."

Finally, the centurion could see it. Finally, it all made sense. Finally, all the pieces came together.
And I wonder if that centurion ever asked himself, "Why couldn’t I see it before? How could I have missed it? Was I really that dense?"

Unfortunately, yes, he was. He couldn’t see it, and mostly because he chose not to.

But how about us? Do we choose to see it? Do we choose to see that this man who hung on the cross and died did so for you and for me? Do we choose to see that this man who hung on the cross died so that we might have eternal life? Do we choose to see that His Spirit is still living and active in the world empowering His church and His people to do great things? Do we choose to see that calling upon Him as Lord and Savior changes our lives and calls us into new paths of living? Do we choose to see such things? Do we choose to see that indeed, "This truly was and is and will be the Son of God?" Amen.