This sermon series will investigate some persons of interest in the death of Jesus Christ. Each sermon will ask if this person is guilty of the death of Jesus Christ. As we listen and hear the case against each player in the death of Christ, we also hear that the words are for us today. May the Lord bless us as we hear His Word.
This sermon, preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on March 26, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, focuses on John 19:23-30. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this evening is from the Gospel of John, the nineteenth chapter:
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things… After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
Tonight, our investigation, our person of interest, is turned to the Roman soldier, or perhaps even soldiers. Checking them out, according to the Law, is going to be important, because we really need to get to the heart of who it is that crucified Jesus. And, come on, we have this eyewitness account that tells us that they were gambling for clothes and played with sour wine for Jesus.
It’s pretty clear that these Roman soldiers are guilty in the death of Jesus. They put His hands upon the wooden beams, put nails right through them, tied Him down, put a nail into His feet. If anyone is guilty of ACTUALLY crucifying Jesus, it would be these soldiers.
But, we have a problem. You see, there exists a plea in the courts of law called “Superior Orders.” It basically says, in defense of a soldier, that he or she can’t be guilty of a crime for following the orders of a superior officer. This was most famously used in the Nuremberg trials, the trials of a world court against the Nazis for their crimes. Those who committed horrible atrocities against humanity pled innocent in the court based on this idea of Superior Orders. For some, it worked, declared innocent. For others, not so much, declared guilty. While there has been inconsistency in the rulings of judges, they have either affirmed or denied these Superior Orders, the case remains that the plea exists, and that the Roman soldiers in today’s text show to us that they were following orders.
So, these Roman soldiers, are they guilty or are they not? It’s a tricky situation, isn’t it? You see, it then does kind of lead us to thorny issues even in our own society. May someone today serve as a soldier, and if they do, and God forbid, and may He indeed protect our loved ones serving, get involved in a situation where they must follow orders and take someone’s life, are they guilty?
Here is the Christian answer throughout history as to whether or not a Christian can be a soldier: yes, they may serve in a vocation in which they serve and protect their neighbors and country. If they must kill, in terms of guilt of murder, they are innocent, and should they suffer in any way, they may be told over and over and over again that Jesus Christ does indeed forgive and love them. But the reality, in terms of their psychological and emotional states, tells them they are guilty. They sometimes suffer with the consequences of following orders. They sometimes suffer with the hurt and pain they have, and even the hurt and pain they perceive they’ve inflicted upon others.
But these Roman soldiers, do they have guilt and pain here? Do they suffer as they put their unknown Lord to death? Or do they mock Him with sour wine? Do they jeer at His expense? Do they dress Him up as a pretend king, never realizing that the robe and crown He wears, He now wears for eternity as He reigns from the right hand of God? Do they beat Him, spit on Him, yell at Him? Is this sorrow? Is this contrition? Is this them obeying Superior Orders, or are they now guilty of a heinous crime over the God who created them?
For, through the very mouths they use to make fun of Jesus, He gave them breath. By the very hands they use to beat Jesus, He formed them in their mothers’ wombs. Through the very whips they use to open Jesus’ back, He spoke their materials into existence. They took the Superior Orders they received from Pilate to flog and beat Jesus, and had fun with it. They mocked the Lord of Creation, breaking the second commandment to keep God’s name holy, and brought Him to His knees before them, transgressing their orders and taking them to a whole new level.
These Roman soldiers are no longer innocent under the Law, but are guilty and they are guilty to such a degree that we would think there is no relation even to ourselves. For indeed, heretofore, in every sermon, we have found that our guilt stands along side the person of interest.
With Peter, we heard of our denial of the Lord. With John, we heard of our desire for power. With Paul, we heard of our persecution of the Christ. And with each of them, we heard a word of forgiveness from Christ to them. Peter was restored three times, John was baptized into Christ’s baptism, Paul was sent forth as an Apostle to the world to preach the persecuted, crucified, and risen Christ. And so, we, too, heard these words of forgiveness for ourselves.
But what word of forgiveness is there for the Roman soldiers? What word of forgiveness is there for the ones who prepared the high places of honor, to be seated on Jesus’ right and left, next to Jesus, and saved that honor for two criminals, one who ripped into Jesus, mocking Him with the soldiers, and the other who begged to be let into the Kingdom of God? What word of forgiveness is there?
And how do we relate? After all, I have not literally pounded nails into my Lord. But I would have. I did not jeer and mock Him. But I would have. I did not make fun of a kingship that He claimed to have in Heaven. But I would have. I did not strike Him with a whip. But I would have. I did not cry out, “Crucify Him!” But I would have.
I would be guilty of literally crucifying the Lord of All. I would have done these things, and I think we all would have in the same situation. I think we all can identify with the Roman soldiers. How can I say such a horrible thing?
Look into your heart, acknowledge your sin and your sinfulness, and tell yourself the truth. Your sin, each and every time you do it, is a willful and unwillful action, much the same as the Roman soldiers. Though they had no idea what they were doing to God, they still did it. When we sin against God, we may have no idea what we are doing, or even that it is sin, we may even think we are somehow obeying our own Superior Orders, but what we’re doing is showing God the guilt that we have against Him.
You see, we don’t always know that we are sinning. We don’t always know what we’re doing against God or our neighbor, though sometimes, we definitely do. But every sin, whether it’s mocking Jesus to His face, lying about someone, committing an act of treachery, or just simply denying your duty, all sin is the same in God’s eyes. We are all equally guilty, for even the smallest sin was enough for the need of crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, for that, we are guilty.
So, where is the word of forgiveness here? Where is the Word of God for us? Can we just leave our investigation here? Where do we go?
The Gospel of Matthew tells us that, ordering the soldiers around, was a centurion, a commander of 100 men in the Roman Army. This man had seen all that had occurred in the death of Jesus. This man heard the words of Jesus for the soldiers, for the Jews that put Him on the cross, and even for us, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.” This centurion, just as we do, heard the words of Jesus Christ that He desires forgiveness for us, and not wrath. Jesus desire our forgiveness, He desires our salvation, that is why He went to the cross.
And because Jesus desires these things, because this centurion was a witness to the Word of God, because He saw the Word of God die a grisly death upon the cross, because of all these things, the Scriptures tell us that this centurion, this Roman soldier’s heart was softened. The Scriptures say, “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’”
This soldier made the good confession. He made the true confession. He speaks with us, in fact, that this Jesus, this Jesus whom we are guilty of murdering, where we cannot hide under Superior Orders, this Jesus is the Son of God.
I’d like to believe that this centurion, and perhaps even more Roman soldiers witnessing the death of Jesus, were among some of the first converted before Jesus rose from the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father. I don’t know. What I do know is that the free gift of forgiveness, even for these awful acts, came to them just as it comes to us.
The Lord Jesus Christ forgave these soldiers, and He forgives you, for He loves you dearly. The sentence of these Roman soldiers? Guilty, of course, guilty. Of course they are. We saw it clearly, did we not? But, the story doesn’t end there, for if it did, you and I would have no hope, for we are just as guilty as they. The pronouncement is guilty. But the sentence? The sentence they are to have carried out against them? It is given fully to Jesus. Jesus, even as He was being crucified, carried their sentence for them. And He carried that same sentence for you, to forgive us all. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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