Good evening. I invite your attention to the
gospel according to Matthew chapter 27. 27th chapter of the gospel
of Matthew. Let me tell you a story. You probably know that Your pastor
and I have made, over the years, quite a few trips to the Caribbean. I had ministered there for some
years and came to Louisville to pastor in 1993 and was invited
to go back to the Caribbean for ministerial visits and usually
asked to take a friend with me, and your pastor was I suppose
the best traveling companion I had. He and I made quite a
few trips. And we would preach sometimes
during the day and almost always in the evening and spend the
rest of the days in fellowship. On one occasion, we were talking
about preaching and I told him, I said, Todd, I said, I must
ask you to forgive me for a message I preached to your church some
time ago, and I did not have to complete the sentence. Todd
said, oh yes, worst message I ever heard you preach. You remember
it, do you? And I will remember. Faithful are the wounds of a
friend. That is a, it's a sore rebuke
to be told you missed the gospel. And I did, on that occasion,
right here, I did. It was a New Year's Eve. I missed
it completely. And I have vowed to never miss
it again. I have tried. I often wonder
if I ever preached the gospel. I do try. want to preach Christ,
endeavor to preach Christ, desire to preach Christ. And tonight,
I'm going to try one more time to preach Christ. In Matthew's
Gospel, chapter 27, verse 54, we read of a centurion and those
with him. These were four Roman soldiers,
the centurion and those with him. They were guarding Jesus. And they saw the earthquake and
the things that had happened. And when this happened, they
feared greatly, saying, truly, this was the Son of God. Now that is my text. Truly, this
was the Son of God. And that is the topic and the
title of my message. Truly, this was the Son of God. These words were spoken by the
centurion. You will see in that word centurion
a striking resemblance to the word century. They come from
the same word, century meaning 100. A centurion was a very high-ranking
Roman soldier in charge of about a hundred men. This centurion
was in charge of those who were with him. There were at least
four of them, probably more. They were there sent to execute
Jesus Christ on that cross of Calvary. And they were there
to do their duty and then to watch him die and to ascertain
that he did. But some things happened. We
read that in the text. Some things happened. And these
things that happened caused them to fear greatly. And caused him,
with the agreement of the others, truly this was the Son of God. That's what he said. Truly, this
was the Son of God. What was it that caused this
man to say, truly, this was the Son of God? He had not believed
it just a few moments before, but now something has happened
and he is convinced that truly, this was the Son of God. What happened? What happened?
Come with me. We're going to go back to about
the year 30 AD. I'm going to take you to the
judgment hall of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. He had been
sent to Rome to govern the province of Palestine. And he's in charge. The Romans controlled the land.
They were having authority over the Jews at that time. And Pontius
Pilate, the Roman governor, was the highest ranking man in the
land. Jesus of Nazareth had been tried
by the Jewish authorities. They had permission from the
Romans to make trials of their own affairs, religious and political
affairs, but they had certain rules that they had to follow
and certain guidelines with regard to the death penalty and certain
restrictions. The Jews and the Sanhedrin, the
ruling council of the Jews, had tried this Jesus of Nazareth
and found him, they said, guilty and worthy of death of blasphemy
because he said, I am the Son of God. They sent him to Pontius
Pilate because Pontius Pilate had power with the death penalty. Pontius Pilate received Jesus
and he examined him and he said, I find no fault in this man.
His wife warned him, have nothing to do with this Jesus of Nazareth. I've had a dream. This man is
a just man. And Pilate knew that the Jews
were envious of Jesus and particularly the Sanhedrin, the ruling council.
He wanted to release Jesus. He said, I found no fault in
him. But the Jews demanded crucify
him and, well, Pilate reluctantly acquiesced to them, and he delivered
Jesus to his soldiers, the garrison of soldiers, and evidently this
centurion was in charge of those to whom Jesus was delivered.
The soldiers took Jesus and under orders of the centurion, they
scourged him. And under the Roman method of
scourging, they would have tied him to a stake or to a post. They would have taken a whip,
probably a cat or nine tails with pieces of bone and probably
metal that were embedded in the whip, and they mercilessly beat
him. Beat him. plowed his back like
a farmer plows a field. The lashes would wrap around
his face, the lashes would wrap around his chest as there he
was holding on to that post. They scourged him most mercilessly. scourged him so badly that Jesus,
in fulfilling prophecy, said, I can count all my bones. He
could see them. The flesh was exposed. Edersheim,
the Jewish historian, called this the intermediate death. It was as close to death as you
could come without fully succumbing. But they were not done. They
were not done. They took Jesus and beat him
so mercilessly And the scriptures say that he did not open his
mouth. Undoubtedly, this centurion noticed
that, and these other soldiers there with him. They had beat
him mercilessly. Perhaps one said to the other,
did you see anything strange? Yes, he never whimpered. He never begged for mercy. He
never cursed us. He never opened his mouth. Something
strange about this man, Jesus. Then they conducted a mock coronation
of Jesus. He was wearing the common man's
garment. They removed it and stripped
him of his clothing. They found a robe of scarlet or dazzling red, put
it on him. He's a king, needs a robe. So
they put that robe on him. He's a king, he needs a crown.
So they took a twig of thorns and plaited it into a crown and
crushed it to his holy brow. He needs a scepter. They took
a reed, put it in his hand, and then they began to mock him.
Hail, King of the Jews. And all this time, Jesus never
said a word. He took their punishment. He
took their mocking. He said nothing. They spat on
him. They took that reed, his own
scepter that they had given him. They beat him further, crushing
that crown of thorns further into his brow. Plucked the beard
from his face, spat on him, and beat him with the palms of their
hands. And he never uttered a sound. Never said a word. Never opened
his mouth. say there's something strange
about this man, is there not? Yes, there is. He has not whimpered. He has not begged for mercy.
He has not cursed his tormentors. Something strange about this
man. They led him then to pallet,
still wearing the robe they gave him. The scriptures declare that
his visage was so marred that no one could have recognized
him. Pilate does not want to crucify him. He knows he should
not, but he brings Jesus out still wearing that scarlet robe,
that crown of thorns, his face beaten so badly, the spit on his face, mingles
with the blood that pours from the stripes on his face, runs
onto that robe. Underneath that robe, the blood
is oozing and flowing from the wounds of his back and his chest
and his stomach. And as we said, he's beaten so
badly, you could not have recognized him. wants the Jews to know that they've
got nothing to fear. And he says, behold, the man
got nothing to fear from this fellow. Look what we've done
to him. He thought that would placate
the Jews, but it would not. He was pointing to him and saying,
you got nothing to fear. And that centurion undoubtedly
said, that's the truth. You got nothing to fear from
this man. We've done all this to him and
there's nothing he can do about it. But the Jews had no pity
on Jesus. They demanded that Pilate crucify
him on the ground that Jesus earlier had said that he was
the Son of God and spoke truth when he said it. And that centurion
and these soldiers undoubtedly looked at one another and said,
Son of God? Him? Son of God? He wants us to believe that he's
the Son of God? Surely they mocked him as they
thought of the words that he had said. looking at what they
had done, unhindered, to the man claiming to be the son of
God and said to be king of the Jews. Pilate, seeing that he
was not going to be able to withstand the demands of the Jews, finally
points to Jesus and mocks him by saying, behold your king. Look what I have done to your
king. Behold your king. Take a good look at him. The soldiers removed that scarlet
robe from him, from this pathetic man, claiming to be the son of
God and king of the Jews. And they led him out to the place
of crucifixion. One of them, probably the centurion,
leading the procession, has a plaque that Pilate had required to be
made. On it was written, this is Jesus
of Nazareth, King of the Jews. And here comes the parade, coming
down the street and Jesus stumbling under his cross and this placard
being held up for all to see. This is Jesus! King of the Jews!"
And probably turning around and laughing and saying, that's what
we said. This is Jesus, the King of the
Jews. Look what we have done to him. They reached the place
of execution. They reached Golgotha, the place
known as the Skull, also known as Calvary. In an act of mercy
toward Jesus, they took some wine, strong wine. They mixed
it with gall. They were merciful enough to
give it to victims of crucifixion because it would deaden your
senses. They offered it to Jesus. He
tasted it, and having tasted it, he refused it. And undoubtedly,
this centurion and these soldiers said, what kind of man refuses
the vinegar mixed with gall. Does he not know what we're going
to do to him? Does he not know that he's going
to be in the most pain and agony that ever he ever experienced
and yet he refused the deadening vinegar mixed with gall and they
wonder what kind of man is this? They then laid the cross to the
ground, laid him on the tree, and there they took spikes and
nailed his hands into the wood, nailed his feet into the wood,
lifted up the cross, brought it over to a hole that had been
dug into the ground and there dropped it. Now was to begin even worse torture
than he had already experienced. There were three men to be hanged
that day there on their trees and Jesus was put into the middle
because he was said to be the worst of the three. And then
we read that this centurion and the soldiers were going to watch
what happened with these notorious criminals and Jesus, the most
notorious on that middle tree. They parted his garments between
them, casting lots to see who would get them, and then they
sat down to watch him die. They beheld him on that cross, beaten, pummeled, bruised, mangled,
his flesh was torn, and they beheld what was undoubtedly
the most pathetic case of humanity they had ever seen. With the
placard over him reading, this is Jesus of Nazareth, King of
the Jews. His visage or appearance was
marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of
men. He has no form or comeliness,
and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire
him. He is despised and rejected by
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it
were our faces from him. because we could not bear the
sight of what he looks like now. This centurion and these four
soldiers then heard from the lips of Jesus Christ something
very interesting. Jesus prayed, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. Undoubtedly, that you would think
that would have made an impression on these men. Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And the centurion probably
would have said, we know what we're doing, and we know what
we've done, and we know to whom we have done it. It's an interesting
gesture on his part, but We have done this all deliberately. Then
they heard the jeers that were cast at Jesus by his own countrymen
who passed by his cross. They heard the Jews passing by
saying, if you are the son of God, come down from the cross. They heard the Jews, and especially
those of the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
and they said, He saved others! Himself He cannot save. If He
is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross,
and we will believe Him. He trusted in God. Let God deliver
Him now, if God will have Him. For He said, I am the Son of
God. Then the centurion heard those. two thieves, the malefactors,
the notorious criminals crucified with Jesus, and they railed against
him as well. Look at this. Not only as countrymen,
not only the legal authorities, but even thieves and robbers
want nothing to do with this man, this Jesus of Nazareth,
whom we have crucified. Something happened. Some things
happened. Things that this centurion and
these four soldiers had never seen before. Some things happened. First, one of the criminals repented
and said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And
Jesus replied, assuredly I say to you, today you will be with
me in paradise. And undoubtedly, the centurion
would have said, what kind of man is this? He is still convinced
that he is the son of God. He's convinced he's the Lord
of all, the savior of others, and he thinks he's the king of
God's heaven. And he thinks he's going to go
to paradise and take this thief with him. He cannot be drunk,
for he refused the strong drink we offered to him. He cannot
be deranged, for he is calm, cool, and collected, second. Jesus looked down from his cross
and saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved. Jesus said to
the woman, woman behold your son, meaning John. And then he
said to John, behold your mother. And undoubtedly this centurion
would have said, what kind of man is this? He appears to be
unconcerned about his own situation. He's thinking about his mother.
This is one strange man. Then, third, at high noon, when
the sun is at its zenith, it refused to shine. High noon,
and the sun was darkened. This was no ordinary eclipse
of the sun. And the centurion knew this.
It was Passover. Passover was at the time of the
full moon. The full moon does not eclipse
the sun. And here at the time of full
moon, the sun is darkened. Furthermore, the sun was dark
for three hours, completely dark for three hours. That is no ordinary
eclipse. This is some supernatural event,
and this centurion knew that. He knew that. The full moon does
not eclipse the sun, and it does not last for three hours in total
darkness in the middle of the day. There's something strange
going on here. Was it a sign of divine judgment? Is God sending down divine judgment
because we have done this? And then he thought perhaps it
was because he heard Jesus say, my God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? What kind of God forsakes his
son? And what kind of man forsaken
by God still loans God as he is God? This is no ordinary man. There's something strange going
on here. Then Jesus said, I thirst. The soldiers dipped a sponge
in a nearby vessel full of sour wine. placed the wine-filled
sponge on a hyssop stick and extended it to Jesus' mouth and
he sucked the wine from the hyssop. And then he shouted, in glorious
victory, it is finished. It is finished, he shouted. reverently bowed his head and
gave up the ghost. Then the sun began to shine and word has come from Jerusalem. You can hear the tumult. The
word is now heard and that the priest was ready to get ready
to go into the temple to make a sacrifice and word comes that
the veil of the temple has been torn in two from top to bottom
when this man said, it is finished. It is as though God himself has
reached down from heaven and taken hold of it and torn it
in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, the rocks were
split, and the graves were open. This became a tumultuous situation,
folks. The sun now shining, the earth
quakes, the graves are open, the veil is torn in two, all
as this man said, it is finished and yielded up the ghost. And
this centurion and these four soldiers, They were watching
all of this. It was their duty. They were
watching all of this. They beheld all these events. The death of Jesus Christ. They
beheld things that were marvelous. They beheld things they knew
were miraculous. The centurion said, certainly
this Jesus was a righteous man. The very words he used Certainly
this Jesus was a righteous man and the four soldiers joined
him in exclaiming, truly this was the son of God. Truly this
was the son of God. What an exclamation. This centurion
and these four Roman soldiers were now convinced that the Jews
had lied when they accused Jesus of blasphemy for confessing that
he is God's son. This is God's son. This is truly
the son of God. They lied. Jesus is no imposter. He is indeed whom he claimed
to be. And their hearts, which formerly
had been cold and hardened against him, were now made soft and warm
and reverent toward him. Truly, this was the son of God. Truly, this confession that these
men made was an answer to the prayer of Jesus when he said,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. This centurion
and these four soldiers, nailing Jesus to that tree, and Jesus,
when he prayed, had them particularly in mind. Father, forgive them,
they know not what they do. Now do you not suppose that if
God answers my prayers, most certainly he answers the prayers
of his darling son? Do you suppose God let that prayer
go without being answered? I am convinced God answered that
prayer and an answer to that prayer was this. The centurion
and the four soldiers saying truly this was the son of God. They were convicted in their
hearts They had killed a righteous man. They had crucified the Son
of God. They were convicted in their
hearts for having done so. Jesus' prayer was answered. I'm
convinced God forgave them. And the blood they shed washed
them from their sins and paid for their redemption. Truly,
this was the Son of God. Was that not the very confession
that the Ethiopian eunuch made when Philip preached the gospel
to him? And as they're traveling along,
the subject had gone from the gospel evidently to the subject
of baptism. And Philip had introduced a subject
to the eunuch, and the eunuch sees water and he says, what
hinders me from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe
in all your heart and with all your heart, you may. And the
eunuch said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Philip
said, that's a good enough confession. Indeed, if you'll consider it,
That is the Christian's confession of faith that he makes with his
mouth. Truly this was the Son of God. And here is a Roman centurion
and four soldiers making it. The confession that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. Truly this was the Son of God. This is the confession of every
sinner whom God saves through the merits of Jesus Christ and
his death and his blood. God saves no one who denies that
Jesus Christ is God's Son. Truly this was the Son of God. John tells us that whoever confesses
that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God,
and there's a centurion. He just said it. with four soldiers. This is a righteous man. Truly
this was the son of God. I fully expect in heaven's glory
to see that Roman centurion. I will not be at all surprised
to see those four Roman soldiers who were there with him telling
me that Jesus Jesus' prayer was answered when he said, Father,
forgive them. They know not what they do. And
I'll say to this, I'll say this to you as well. If this is your confession, I
did not say your mantra. I did not say some formula. It's not that at all. But if
this is your confession, that truly this was the Son of God.
God saves every sinner who confesses it, that Jesus is God's Son. Truly this was the Son of God. I hope and I pray that no one
walks out that door tonight without being able to say, this Jesus
of Nazareth, truly he is the Son of God. a righteous man,
my king, God's son, my savior. And if you've never trusted him
before, trust him right now.