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The Right Perspective
Matthew 27:54
There’s this awesome painting from the 1500s. It was made by a German artist called Hans Holbein. It’s called The Ambassadors, and it depicts two diplomats in front of a desk. And on this desk is all sorts of instruments, books, a lute. But there’s also the strange design at the bottom of the painting. It’s hard to tell what it is at first, but if you view the painting from the right angle, you can see it’s a skull. It’s a sign that all of us, whether young or old, rich or poor. Some day we have to face death. It’s a painting full of meaning and detail, but to get it all, you have to view it from the right perspective.
This Lenten season, we meditate on Christ’s death for us, and it’s interesting to note, as he faced all this mockery and this derision by the crowd, how he did it all willingly. The Bible also tells us when Jesus breathed his last the earth shook, the veil in the temple tore in two, and those who were dead in their graves rose up out of them. (Matthew 27:51-52) And in this chaotic scene, we hear the reaction of those guards posted at Jesus’ cross. Matthew 27 verse 54 tells us
When the centurion and those who were guarding Jesus with him saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54)
With all the excitement in the scene it’s easy to miss just how fantastic these words are. In no small part because of who was saying them. You see, the Jewish people had long been expecting a Messiah. The Old Testament told them all about it, and yet at the same time, they expected a political messiah, someone who would save them from the oppression of the Romans. A great earthly king. But Jesus didn’t fit this bill. He was a humble carpenter’s son. He spent his ministry preaching to the different towns and all of Israel. And because of that, the people rejected him. They handed him up to the authorities, and on Good Friday they nailed him to the cross.
But these non-Jewish centurions, they felt the earth shake underneath them. They saw the sky blacken as he was dying, and they realized that they had killed no common criminal. Truly, this was the Son of God. The question is, how do we view Jesus today? There are some who think he is a kind of guru. How to teach us how to live a good and moral life, but nothing more. There are others who view him as a kind of advocate for political or social change. Yet still there are others who see him just as a historical figure.
The Bible tells us a different story. It gives us a different perspective. It tells us about Jesus, who had come to save us from our sins. As he was being mocked upon the cross. He bore the insults patiently. More than that, he bore the sins of the people as he bore the sins of the whole world. Jesus faced the wrath of God, and because of that, we no longer have to fear because of God’s wrath. He even endured the abandonment of the father so that we would never face it. Because of what Jesus has done, because he had died for us we who enter into the church by faith have a completely different perspective. Now we see a loving God who cares for us, who through Jesus sees us as his sons and daughters. Heaven has been opened for us, and because of that, we no longer fear what happens after death.
Jesus’s message of forgiveness was for the non-Jewish centurion, just as it was for the children of Israel, just as it is for you and me. Jesus has cleansed us from our sins through death, and on the last day we will see Jesus coming from heaven, descending from the clouds, and he will take us to be with him forever in heaven. Truly, this is the Son of God.
