Communion Message
(Truly this Man was the Son of God!)
September 11-12, 1999
Pastor Don Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

As we have from time to time read this particular passage, Paul instructs the church that each time there is the communion service that we publicly proclaim again the story of the cross. We retell the story of Calvary. So what we have done over the last number of months with that invitation we've gone back into the scene at Calvary and from the gospels we have sought for insight for truths that surround that glorious moment between time and eternity. Here's one. Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!" Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down." And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"

One man and one man only is wholly competent to tell us the story of the death of Jesus and that man is this Roman centurion. You see, it was he who sent his band across the brook Hedron in the soft moonlight to arrest Jesus. It was he who guarded Him as He was led to the house of Caiaphas, then marched Him as a dangerous rebel to Pilate, then to Herod, and then back to Pilate again. He overheard the strange parleying between Jesus and Pilate. He superintended the scourging. He looked on when the soldiers mocked Him and it was by his lips that the message of Pilate's wife reached the governor's ears. At his word of command the glittering spears began to move along the way to Calvary. He saw the nails driven in and then he stood with watchful eye and open ear in the strength of his Roman discipline and he marked how Jesus died.

I cannot tell you, and no man can tell you, the precise state of the blessed dead, but surely for all of us it shall be a state in which many things covered shall be revealed. And when the great multitude of the redeemed shall long to know the whole story of the day of the cross, we shall press around this Roman centurion and he will inflame our hearts as he tells us how Jesus loved to the end. Of this man we know nothing certainly until he stands in the light of the dying face of Jesus. That he was a soldier assures us of an ingrained habit of obedience, a perfect courage, an unflinching loyalty, and an honest and greatly simple heart. That he was a Roman soldier tells us that he belonged to the most dauntless army the world has known, whose deeds of valor went back through an almost unbroken record of success through seven centuries, and that he was a centurion tells us that he was a man of middle life who had seen service, who had risen through merit to his high command. For you see no inexperienced stripling was ever appointed to a Roman post of authority. And it may be safely said that among the centurions of the Roman army he was found to be one of honor and bravery.

Now, the question this man allows us to answer is, what a man of good and honest heart with only a Roman's education and with pagan ideas thought of Jesus when he saw Him die. You see he knew nothing about the life of Jesus. He didn't even know who it was who hung on the cross. In fact, he said, this man, that was the word that came from his lips. But as he witnessed the dying of the Lord Jesus, the Roman's contempt was changed into an adoration that broke out into great and memorable words of suggestive confession. His first witness to Jesus is certainly, this was a righteous man. It was the innocence, the moral beauty, the unspotted righteousness of Jesus which dawned upon him. He saw the crucifixion to be that horrible injustice, a judicial wrong, and there the Roman in him spoke for justice was the very breath of life to a Roman. And in spite of the accusations, in spite of the derision, in spite of Pilate's judgment, in spite of the dead weight of native prejudice, the centurion saw with a flash of insight into the character of Jesus.

You see the business of crucifixion was no new thing to him. He had seen the reckless criminals, the coarse murders, and the political assassins hang on a cross, but there was such appealing meekness, such gentle words of blessing, such consideration, such absence of resentment, such heart affecting prayers. Here he saw moral stainlessness that all the annuls of history could not match and a deep conviction seized him and he broke the stillness of that awful moment with his strong soldier-like words, certainly, this was a righteous man. I've thought much of that centurion and I've wondered, will I see him in heaven? What an insight to the day of Calvary that somehow he knew he was in the presence of deity. Somehow eternity pressed hard upon that moment in time and this centurion realized that this was something altogether different than he'd ever experienced, and this Man was altogether different than any other man he ever superintended the crucifixion of, and he left for the centuries to follow his witness, this Man was a righteous Man. And that witness has carried down through time, and ladies and gentlemen, every time you and I stand at Calvary even though we're 2000 years removed, and we bear witness to that scene, we proclaim again the Lord's death till He comes. We leave our witness for this generation and all generation to come because of our participation we're saying Jesus You are the eternal righteous one. You are the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the God of all creation, Master and King. That's my confession as I participate in proclaiming again the story of the cross.

Would you kneel with me please? Lord Jesus we don't have the perception of Calvary that that centurion had. For he watched from the rocky slopes of Calvary a mocking crowd, a jeering religious team. He saw Your blood drop from that cross. 2000 years removed we sit in padded pews and kneel on carpeted floors, and as hard as we try it's hard for us to grasp that moment and all of its deepness, and its eternity. But we'll add our confession today to that of the centurion by our participation. We proclaim, dear Jesus, that You are the Savior of the world, You are the King of kings, You are the Lord of lords. You're my Savior, my Lord, and my God, and we love You dear Jesus. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. With a sense of awe, with deep gratitude, with much joy we proclaim You as our Savior. And everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?