building a community to reach a community

G.K. Chesterton was standing on a London street corner when he was approached by a newspaper reporter. “Sir, I understand you have recently become a Christian.

A centurion was an officer in the Roman army who had approximately one hundred men (a century) under his command. This man would have been a hard man. Calloused. Cruel. Unfeeling. He was used to death. He had participated in it. He had ordered it. He was unmoved by it.

He was mocked then, and He is today. After he was arrested, the soldiers made fun of who Jesus claimed to be. Their sarcasm and cruelty is almost too painful to read. Yet doesn’t our culture continue to mock Him today?

The story took place in Jerusalem on Friday before Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea. An excited crowd had accused Jesus of blasphemy and they wanted the Governor to pronounce the death sentence. Having found no guilt in Him, Pilate wanted His release but didn’t want to further incite the crowd.