SermonStudio

Object: a spear


Good morning, boys and girls. Perhaps you remember the moment that we spoke of when the soldier came up to Jesus, climbed the ladder and put a sponge with sour wine to Jesus' lips. Jesus died very shortly after that moment. I don't know how many people who were there that day heard Jesus say it, but after the soldier lifted the sponge to his lips Jesus said, "It is finished." He was dead. It seemed impossible that only a few hours before, he was eating with his disciples and now he was dead.

This was a Friday and only a few hours away from the Sabbath which was the Jewish holy day, like our Sunday. The Jewish leaders didn't want any sign of a dead body or any sort of trouble showing on the Sabbath, so they asked the Roman governor, Pilate, to have the legs of the men who were still on the crosses broken so that they would die sooner. Not only were they beaten and nailed to the crosses, but now they were going to have broken legs.

The soldiers didn't mind. At least most of them didn't care, because they thought this was part of their job. The two thieves who were on crosses on each side of Jesus' cross were not dead, and when the soldiers came to their crosses, they struck them several times across their legs until they were sure that their legs were broken. How cruel, how terribly cruel.

But when they came to Jesus they stopped and looked at him carefully. They could see no sign of breath or any other movement. He was dead. There was no need to break his legs. He was not going anywhere. For a moment it seemed as if they were not going to do anything, just pass him by. But just as the last soldier had taken a step away from Jesus, he stopped and turned, and then he lifted his spear and shoved it into the side of Jesus. As the spear pierced the skin there was a rush of water and blood that covered the point and rushed down the handle. There was no sound, no moan, and the soldiers were satisfied that the one with the sign "King of the Jews" was really dead.

The soldier pulled back his spear and joined the other soldiers who were walking ahead. The friends of Jesus were now also very sure that Jesus was dead. They could think about all the things that he had said and the healings that he had performed, but they could never again talk with him or share a laugh, or a piece of bread. Jesus was dead and there was no doubt about it.

In a little while a man named Joseph, who was a secret disciple of Jesus' and also part of the Jewish leadership, went to the Roman governor, Pilate, and very boldly asked if he could have permission to bury Jesus in his tomb. Pilate agreed and told him to go ahead and do with Jesus what he wanted. Another secret disciple by the name of Nicodemus, asked if he could help Joseph, and when told that he could, he brought a hundred pounds of special ointment and spices to cover the body of Jesus before burial.

With those arrangements made and the time drawing close to the beginning of the Sabbath, Joseph and Nicodemus moved quickly to the tomb in the garden. They wrapped his body in a long linen cloth bathed in the ointment and spices. When that was finished they left quickly but with great sadness in their hearts. As they went out of the tomb there were some soldiers coming to take their place as guards. A heavy stone was rolled in front of the tomb to seal it closed. It was a stone of such great weight that not even several men could move it.

A spear had been the final proof that Jesus was dead. No one could live with a wound like that in his side. Jesus the Christ would never be the same again. The soldier who shoved the spear into Jesus' side never knew that he was piercing the side of the Son of God, but some day it would serve as proof to a disciple that Jesus lived again. Remember that even as Jesuse died, he did so with a prayer on his lips. He forgave everyone who had sinned against God and him. Now we should be ready to do the same. God bless you.