What if the clearest proof of Jesus is a changed life? /// Encounter: Part 5

We're so glad you've chosen to listen to our online experience! Here at Plum Creek, we’re all about changed lives, changing lives; and what that simply means is that what Christ has done in us is not just for us, but it’s for us to share with others in our community and around the world.

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If you're using this teaching for a Home Groups setting, we've included discussion prompts to help guide your conversation:

1. Picture yourself in the centurion’s place at the foot of the cross and talk through what would have stood out to you enough to shift your perspective about Jesus.

2. As Doug pointed out, what are some ways people build up “armor” like the centurion did, and what does it actually look like for Jesus to break through that in real life?

3. Reflect on the idea that Jesus did not die like a victim but surrendered with purpose and discuss how that changes the way you view both the cross and your own struggles.

4. Look up Luke 23:34 or Luke 23:46 and talk about what Jesus’ words in that moment reveal about His heart and authority.

5. If a changed life is still the clearest proof that Jesus is alive, share where you have seen that personally or where you are hoping to see it in your own story.

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Wondering what Plum Creek Church is all about? Watch this video.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Flam Creek Church podcast. We're so thankful that you're listening along with us this way. If you're a returning listener, welcome back. If you're new or newish, we'd love to become part of your listening rotation. So be sure to subscribe and follow to be notified when new episodes are available. Now, before we get into the message, we want to remind you of one thing. We really believe that if Jesus is right about God, about life, about the soul, then it only makes sense to rearrange our lives around what he says is true. Because if you choose to follow Jesus like that, it really does change everything, including the lives around you. Okay. Let's posture our hearts for what God has in store. This message.

Kurt's Story

SPEAKER_02 0:58

What a joy to celebrate Easter weekend with you. If you're newer to Plum Creek or maybe this is your first time, I just wanted to say right out of the gate, we're honored that you chose to come this weekend and celebrate Easter with us. Whether someone invited you or brought you, maybe you just came because it's Easter, or maybe this has just been a season of life for you where things have been a little bit heavy. I just know this for a fact. You're not here by accident. So thank you so much for coming. For the last several weeks, we've been in a series called Encounter, and we will finish this series today. The heart behind this series has been these moments all throughout the Gospels where Jesus has these encounters with people. And this has kind of been the mantra that we've been talking about. An encounter with Jesus is a personal direct experience with him that reveals who he is, confronts what we believe, and demands a response. And we've been looking at uh stories throughout scripture where different people have different stories and different circumstances, but have a moment with Jesus. And every time people encountered the real Jesus, they could not stay the same. Something happened to them. So today on our Easter weekend, we come to what I find to be one of the most surprising encounters in the whole gospel. And I'm so excited to teach this part of the Easter story. This encounter wasn't with a disciple, it wasn't with a pastor or a religious leader, it wasn't a worship leader or some kind of lifelong church-going person, but rather it was with a seasoned warrior, a battle-tough Roman centurion who was overseeing Jesus' crucifixion and who stood at the foot of the cross the entire time that Jesus was being crucified. And here's what makes this moment so powerful. We sit here today knowing Sunday's coming, right? This guy had no idea that Sunday was coming. We know the stone is about to roll away, that the grave is about to break loose, and we know that the resurrection is about ready to change everything. But to this decorated military stud that was standing at the foot of Jesus' cross, he literally had no idea what was about to happen. So I want to turn with you to Mark chapter 15. If you have your Bibles with you, uh, or maybe your smartphones, you can swipe there or you can follow along on the screen. In um Mark chapter 15, we're gonna start at verse 33. And this is the story of Jesus' death on the cross. At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock. Then at three o'clock, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and he said these Hebrew words, which mean, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought that he was calling for the prophet Elijah. And one of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so that he could drink. Wait, he said, let's see whether Elijah comes and takes him down. Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last, and the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, This man truly was the Son of God. He had an encounter on this day that is very unique. Why is it so unique? Well, I want to focus on this thought today. The cross helps you see clearly. And that is exactly what happened in this story. But here's the big idea that I want us to carry all the way through this message this weekend. The cross revealed who Jesus is, the resurrection proved it. That's Easter. Now let me say that one more time. The cross revealed who Jesus is, the resurrection proved it. So before we get to the centurion, I want you to notice something. When you read this gospel story of the Holy Week, you begin to see that all of the narratives in people's lives, there's these unique responses to what's taking place. There's people responding to Jesus. Now, some mock him, some scorn him, some brutalize him, and some abandon him. See, everyone is kind of having these responses to what's taking place in the story. And in one of the most ironic reversals in all of Scripture, the clearest confession at the cross comes from the most unlikely mouth. Not a disciple, again, not a religious leader, but a Roman centurion, a hardened military man, a man formed by war and loyal to Rome, a man who had seen likely more death and violence than most people could even imagine. And standing there, having watched Jesus die, he's the one that makes this statement. I can give you the short version of what Mark's gospel is trying to communicate to us. The insiders mocked Jesus, the outsider confessed Jesus. And there's a little Easter warning for all of us in this story. You see, it's possible to be close to church and then religious language and maybe Christian culture and still miss Jesus. While somebody who you would never expect sees him clearly. Now let's talk about this man for just a moment. This Roman centurion was not a ceremonial title that he had. This was a battle-tested officer, like special ops kind of guy. Hardened military man, promoted because of his grit, because of his discipline, and his courage under pressure. And he was likely there to oversee the detail of this execution, to keep order, to make sure that the sentence was carried out properly according to Roman law. In other words, he was not just there watching the crucifixion takes place taking place. He was overseeing the Roman execution team. And this matters because, again, this is not a man that's easily moved by violence because violence was part of his life. This is a man who's not shocked by suffering because he had seen these things time and time and time again. This is not a man who had never seen someone die. It was just part of his daily routine. And he'd likely seen more death than most, and he'd likely supervised more crucifixions than many people ever would have even seen. This man was not casually observing the crucifixion. This centurion had seen and been around a lot of this kind of thing for the bulk of his career. What he had not seen, friends, was this a man die like Jesus did. Friends, what was it that impacted the centurion in this way? What was it that kind of made a hardened Roman officer, a man loyal to the Roman Empire, a man likely overseeing this crucifixion, look at Jesus and make this statement? This man truly was the Son of God. What was it? What was it that broke through the armor of this hardened centurion? What got past the categories that very likely he had learned to kind of put up around himself to survive a thousand other deaths? You see, Rome had trained this man how to do hard things and how to carry these things out. The cross wasn't just a means of execution, by the way, in the Roman Empire. It was actually a weapon of terror. Of course, we know and we've seen and we've read the stories. Rome used crucifixion to torture a body, right? That's what they did. It disgraced the person, but here's what we also need to know: the crucifixions were purposefully done to also intimidate the crowd. It was the Roman Empire's way, one of their many ways, to rule by instilling fear in their subjects. Because every execution on a cross was meant to preach this message very loud and very clear. Rome is in control. But at Jesus' cross, something was so different. Something broke through the tough armor of this centurion, slipped through the cracks of his hardened heart. And whatever it was that broke through, it changed him. So I want to show you what I think it was, actually, that that broke through to him in this narrative of Jesus on the cross. I think it came from what he saw, what he heard, and what he felt in this moment. The first thing that I observe is that it was Jesus' composure that broke through. This centurion, like I said before, had seen men die by the way of the cross many times before. Lots of men. He'd seen panic, he'd seen pain, he'd seen the rage, the terror, and even the cursing that was typically part of crucifixion scenes. He had seen many men absolutely unravel under the weight of this, of the crucifixion. It stripped a man down. It exposed them at a very guttural level. It humiliated them. It pulled out the worst of those that were being crucified. But not Jesus. Even while enduring unimaginable agony, Jesus carried himself differently than anyone he had ever seen go through this before. He did not die like a victim who had lost control, but rather he died like a king who was still in command. And church, don't miss this. It's all of these things that start breaking through this hardened warrior. You know, he had seen lots of death, but he had never seen anyone behave like Jesus did. As a matter of fact, think about what he would have seen. Imagine with me what he would have heard. That would have been in such contrast to anything he'd experienced before. For example, when Jesus is literally hanging on the cross in Luke 23, 34. He makes this statement, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. Who says that? Who says that? Who prays for the men killing him while they're killing him? That's not normal, that's not ordinary, that's not how crucifixion typically goes. Or how about in John chapter 19, verse 30, when Jesus is on the cross and he says, It is finished. Don't miss what Jesus said there. He did not say, I am finished, he said, it is finished. The work, the mission, the assignment. And then in Luke chapter 23, verse 46, Jesus says this, while those very last breaths are being breathed. He says, Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands. Do you hear the authority in that? Do you also hear the trust in what Jesus is saying? So different than anything this centurion would have seen before. This man is not a man collapsing in defeat. It's not a man losing control. This is a man surrendering, surrendering himself with purpose. Most dying men, they gasp in defeat. Jesus declared completion. And all of this begins to mess with the centurion, getting past that rough exterior, cracking something open, and a man who had learned to shut it all down just to survive. Because standing there at the foot of that cross, he was watching a man in agony, still forgiving, still trusting, still praying prayers for in leading those around him, still carrying himself with dignity, with authority, and a strange and yet holy peace. And for the first time, something gets this man's attention and it begins breaking through. But, church, it wasn't just the way that Jesus carried himself that began breaking through. It wasn't just Jesus' composure. Now the centurion is not only hearing something differently, he's also witnessing something with his eyes. Something happening around the cross that made this moment even harder for him to explain away. Because what started breaking through in Jesus' words and demeanor now gets reinforced to happen in the natural world around him. What do I mean by that? I also see that creation broke through in this moment. If you've read this story, you know I just read it. In Mark chapter 15, verse 33, at noon, darkness falls across the entire land for three hours until three o'clock. Darkness hit. In the middle of the day. Three hours. Just let that settle in. This centurion had stood near crosses before, seen the men suffer, scream, and die, but he'd never seen creation responding to what was happening while someone was on the cross. This was not ordinary. This is not just another criminal. This is not just another execution. And church don't miss this. What had already started breaking through on the inside from what he had heard was now being reinforced by what was happening on the outside. Matthew's gospel gives us even more detail. In Matthew chapter 27, verse 51, it says that while Jesus was on the cross, breathing near his last, the earth shook and rocks began to split apart. In other words, this wasn't just emotion. This, what was happening, it never happened. Something very different is taking place. It couldn't be missed. It was observable by all of those that were there. This wasn't just a man having a moment. This was this cumulative now of what he saw and what he heard and what he felt standing there at the very foot of the cross. And this military man can barely take it all in. Now look, you must see this in verse 39. When the Roman officer who stood, look at the words, facing him. So he standing there facing Jesus saw and listened to the words how he had died. Not just that he died, he saw how he died. It was way more about how Jesus walked through this. It was the manner of his death, his composure, the words that he used, the things that he cried out, the surrender, the darkness that filled the earth that shook. It was all pressing in on this hardened man all at once. And it was all starting to get past the armor of his calloused heart. And then Mark tells us something incredible that happened in verse 37. Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And then listen to what Mark details. Very important. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. This centurion likely did not physically see that at that moment because he was at the cross. But but Mark includes it because heaven is making a declaration in this moment. The barrier is coming down. Access is opening. Something has changed. Because in the old temple, what would have happened was there would have been a curtain that would have prevented those that weren't the high priest to go into this place called the Holy of Holies. This death is not tragic. This death is accomplishing something. The cross was not just the place where Jesus died, it was the place where access to God was opened. The veil that once said, stay back, was torn open by the very death of Jesus. Mark wants us to know that heaven was interpreting this moment. This was not a Roman execution, this was a divine opening. This is not just a death, this was now new access to relationship with our Heavenly Father. This was not just the end of a life, this was the beginning of a new way for us to have access to and come back to God. And by now, the centurion is no longer just watching an execution. He's standing in the middle of a moment that's pressing in on him from all sides in every direction. It was Jesus' composure that has broken through, and creation itself broke through. And now in this final moment comes, one last cry, one last breath, one last uh act of surrender, and watch what happens next. It's gonna shatter what little resistance this tough man has left. Jesus' surrender breaks through. In Mark 15, 37, then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. Don't rush past that because if you've ever studied what a crucifixion looks like and how you actually die when you're on a cross, it's not like that. As a matter of fact, what happens is you can't breathe anymore. Literal breath of life is taken from you. Men who were crucified typically did not die with strength in their voice. They died weak, they died fading, they died gasping, they died slipping away. But not Jesus. He doesn't fade out, he cries out. Even in his final breath, there's still strength, intention, and authority. Jesus is not being dragged into death, he's yielding himself to it. Jesus is not losing control, he's laying his life down. And you have to remember what Jesus said. Just rewind with me just a little bit to when Jesus was teaching in John chapter 10, verse 18. And when Jesus himself says this, no one can take my life from me. Look what Jesus says. I sacrifice it voluntarily. This crucifixion was so very different. The cross was not taking something from Jesus, Jesus was giving himself on purpose. As this centurion is standing there supervising, he sees and experiences something he'd never seen before. A man dying, but a man dying on purpose. A man suffering, but somehow in the midst of it all, he is still sovereign. A man breathing his last, but doing this like heaven and earth were still under his command. And then Luke tells us what that final surrender sounded like. In Luke chapter 23, verse 46. Father, Jesus says, with his last breath I entrust my spirit into your hands. Did you catch that? There's no panic in that. That's not despair or confusion or defeat, but this is trust, this is purpose, and this is surrender. This is not a victim collapsing, this is the Son in complete trust of his heavenly Father. It's not the sound of defeat, but rather the sound of completion. This is not Rome taking the final word, this is Jesus giving the final word. And for this centurion, this was the final blow to every category that he had established to protect himself. Because he'd seen men die. He had seen people terrified. He had seen men die cursing Rome, cursing fate, and cursing God. But he'd never seen a man die like this, friends. He'd never seen a man forgive while he was literally bleeding. He had never seen a man crucified care for those around him. He'd never seen creation respond to death like it did when Jesus died. And he'd never seen a crucified man cry out with authority instead of collapsing in weakness and the culmination of everything that this centurion sees is recorded in Mark's gospel. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he died, he exclaimed, This man truly was the Son of God. Did you catch that? Facing Jesus as he breathed his last. He wasn't at a distance. This man did not hear rumors about this or hear some kind of secondhand information. This is him there in that very moment. He was right there, close enough to hear it, close enough to feel it, and close enough to watch all of what we've been talking about unfold in front of him. And his response to all of this is not another soldier that ranks high giving a command, but rather it's a heartfelt confession. Surely this man was the son of God. And friends, that is stunning information. Why? In the Roman Empire, do you know who God was? Caesar. To whom he was loyal. To whom he was required to have allegiance to. I don't know what the implications were for this soldier on that day, but this is serious stuff. This Roman centurion, the representative of Caesar, a man trained, highly trained and decorated to enforce the power of the Roman Empire, looks up at a crucified Jesus and gives him the title that belongs above every empire. Not Caesar is the Lord. Jesus is the Son of God. And in that moment, the cross does what only the cross can do. It reaches past the armor. It gets past the calluses of this hardened heart. It breaks through the lies and the numbness and even his allegiance. And most importantly, what it does in that moment is it changes a man. This man truly was the Son of God. The least likely of anyone to make this statement comes from that man. And here's what I love the centurion makes his confession, remember this, before the resurrection. He's still standing at the cross. He's not at an empty tomb. He doesn't know Sunday like we know Sunday. And yet he sees enough to say this man truly was the Son of God. The centurion made his confession at the cross, but Easter morning's gonna prove it soon. Good Friday made the confession possible. Easter Sunday would have made it undeniable. The empty tomb is heaven's exclamation point. The resurrection is the Father's validation of the Son. Death did not win, son does not get the final word, the grave does not get the last say. And maybe you came here today needing to hear exactly what I've shared with you today. Because some of you came in carrying grief and regret or shame, perhaps some kind of addictions or disappointment or questions that you don't have answers for. But friend, take it from me. No, take it from the most unlikely eyewitness of all. Jesus is alive. Which means grace is alive and forgiveness is alive and mercy is alive, and that means that hope is alive for you and I still today. The story is not over. The cross revealed who Jesus is, and then the resurrection proved it. And church, I don't want you to hear this today and say, you know, the proof stopped 2,000 years ago. You know what I love most about the story of Jesus? It's that he's still changing lives today. Jesus is still alive. He's moving and he's opening eyes and he's changing hearts. And sometimes, just sometimes, for you and I, the clearest proof that Jesus is alive is a changed life. And just like the Roman centurion was an unlikely witness at the cross today, I want you to hear a story from a man who hadn't stepped into a church in over 40 years. But when he did, he encountered Jesus.

Message // Part 2

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Growing up, we were in the Catholic church. And, you know, I didn't understand it, and I never really grasped it at all, and I always try to get out of it. At 16, lost my dad. I was kind of angry, and then a little bitter because God took my Superman. Losing him was uh devastating, just to say the least. And I still get emotional about it today. Going through life without him was tough. That's when it kind of pushed me away from the church. And that was the last time I went, and really hadn't been in the church for almost 40 years. Tried to stay far away from him, to be honest. I was lost and there was no comfort or comforting moments, and didn't I didn't want anything to do with it. Fast forward 40 years working hard and trying to become something, concentrating more on being successful. Four years of ups and downs and just trying to do it on my own. It was just it was a struggle. I mean, it's life's a struggle. I got married and had a child. She's now 27 and been divorced now eight years and uh remarried and have two children, six and three, all girls. My wife Kelly kind of planted seeds like if we have children, I want them in the church. And I was like, sure. You know, I'll do whatever to make everything happy and give them a good life. And she's like, I think I found the place. And she said, Plum Creek, right down the street. I said, yeah, I'll go. And um, you know, basically I was coming for the kids. You know, make her make Kelly happy. And uh, I had no idea what I was getting into. When I walked in the door, I felt like I got goosebumps. Then then we sat down and the countdown was going. Kelly reached over, then hands me a Kleenex, and I'm like, you know, what's this for? She goes, you'll find out. She goes, you'll see. So the music starts, the worship starts, and it blew me away. Doug gets on and starts talking, and it's like I'm on a s in a spotlight. And like, and he's like, he's talking directly to me. And then it started hidden. And a few minutes into it, I grabbed that climax and then I'm starting to wipe some tears, kind of hiding it. And uh before long I'm s I'm like in a full sob. Like the the spirit hit me. It was the moment that I understood where Christ was in my life. Like a snap of the finger. And it's I don't know, it's it's never been the same. Leave that I was carrying death for my father and going through life with failures and he was believed. I never realized that he was there the whole time. I mean my video by myself. My life is your happiness. It's kind of distress my life. Sure, there's absent and life still happens. But with him, it makes it a little easier. It is easier with you. I think we helps me through this one. I mean my life. Kids can be still in the world. I like the one that's like a one-healistic. I'm gonna be a little bit of a little bit. I like this bells, it's never been The fire, if you will, is still burning. All I want to do is learn more about him. And then I feel like I want to tell everybody. If you're coming in here thinking that you're not good enough or you're not worthy, it's the farthest from the truth. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody. He died on the cross for you. Give him a chance. Put him in your life. It will change your life. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

I had this thought as I for the last couple weeks as I've been thinking about the story of this centurion, because you know, scripture doesn't say any more about this guy after that Friday. Nothing else. And I kind of wish it did, don't you? I wish I knew what the implications were for him and how his life changed as a result of this. But in Matthew chapter 28, we do hear about the Easter Sunday morning and that that uh they actually positioned guards at the tomb, right? Because the rumor was that Jesus had said what he would come back three days later. And they were actually fearful that the disciples would come and and and steal the body. So they put some some soldiers, some other soldiers. We don't know their names, and we don't know if it was this guy and some other crew, but likely they would have known each other, right? And so this soldier that is standing at the foot of the cross that says, Surely this man must be the Son of God, likely is gonna hear in a couple of days that this man that he saw die is alive. He's likely gonna hear the report from these other soldiers that something happened because if Friday broke through, Sunday would have made it undeniable. Don't you agree? And maybe ultimately that's why you're here today. You needed to hear the centurion story, the least likely of all to make this statement about this Jesus. Or a story like Kurtz that just says, listen, man, God can get anybody. And if you think you're not able or you've fallen too far or moved too far away, it's it's a story that can still have impact in your life today. It's a Jesus. It's a Jesus who died on a cross with you on his mind. Friends, that is the story of Easter. So what we celebrate this weekend is not just something that we would want to remember, it's something that continues to change lives today. Would you bow your heads with me for just a moment? Perhaps it's for you here today, or perhaps someone that's worshiping with us online in this moment. And you need to know that this story, this Jesus, is so remarkable that the least likely of all, this Roman centurion, would be the one that makes this declarative statement. But the question that you've got to ask yourself is that you too, just like everyone else in the story, you too need to have a response. In my prayer over the last couple of weeks, as we've been preparing for this weekend, is that we would get to this moment, and and you who perhaps haven't taken that step of faith, would say, I needed to hear what this Roman centurion said. And I need to make the same statement he did. That surely this man must be the Son of God. And if that's you here today, I just want you to know that he loves you so much that when he went to the cross, the things that he was doing there were for you and were for me. And today, quite simply, scriptures say that you just need to believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. And you need to speak it with your mouth. So would you do that in this moment? Would you just say, you know, Lord, just like that centurion, I want to make this statement for my life that surely this Jesus must be the Son of God. And today I ask you to be the Lord of my life. I thank you for what you did on the cross. Today I embrace it as having been done for me. Although I know I've fallen short of your perfect perfection, I today just ask for your help and ask for your forgiveness. And then, friend, as you pray this prayer, you must know that these next steps that you're gonna take are just simply to follow this Jesus, to live your life like him, to do what he did, to care like he cared. And Lord, I pray for all of us here today as we celebrate this Easter weekend, knowing that our God is alive. Will you help the story not to just become one that we're too familiar with, but that once again it would stir some things in us as we are reminded of the incredible love of our God and this Jesus that went to the cross, dying this brutal death, but doing it with such dignity and purpose because he did it for me. Lord, I thank you, and I pray that you would be honored in the way that we celebrate this Easter weekend, and all God's people said.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Thanks again for listening. Our prayer is that this message encouraged and challenged you in your journey to follow Jesus. If you'd like to learn more about our church, please check us out online at plumcreek.church or if you find yourself within driving distance of Castle Rock, Colorado, we would be honored to see you in person on a weekend. So until next time, grace and peace in the name of Jesus.