The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-03-19


the laperS' scales Yes. Julius. his mis-.
sion is tn heal the broken bodies and
to cleans" rs from all sin
Captain julius Ponders.
MethiukS lean see Captain Julius
! sitting there in the Roman barracks.
lis head is resting on his hand Then
! hear him say: oh is Jesus all that?
Is his mission only To help the poor
anI the sick md the suffering? Is his
jflissinn To- cleanse sinful men from an
/ evil past: How my dear mother would
| have loved him How tame are the
rcnatcS the household gods Of my old
Roman home Truly. father and moth
or to the best of their spiritual light
/ made our old homestead yirtuOuS and
| pure. But. oh. what would mother
| have been able to do had she had this
/ Christ for her Saviour" Then me
! thinks | see the centurion anXiouSly
! look into Tiberius' face aud say. Cap
! tain Tibrrill&. do YOU believe that this
jesus will forgive me, even me: Why
my mother died of Il broken heart on
| account of tn" wayWardneSS and vile
ness of my youth, Will this Jesus for
| give me-. even me-" Then | think !
see Captain TihcriuS place his hand
upon Julius shoulder and say: "Yc..,
/ Julius. This Christ can he your Christ
for IN my own hearing after .IrSu,
raised my sick servant ] heard hin.
say to Il great crowd of people who
We're tiocking about him near Lake
Galilee, All that the Father giycth un.
shall come to me. and him that coneth
| to me | will in noWiSe cast out.
But again the scene changes We
are now standing at the foot Of the
cross. This is the crucifiXinn. Here
are the two thieves. the Nnc on tho
right. the other on the left of the eros,
which bears the dying Lord Wonder
come the great multitude. Snc"rin"
and wagging their heads. Here are
the soldiers gambling for the garments
of the dying Saviour BY II strange
coincidence | find that this same Cap
tain Julius, whose conversation we
We're listening to the other night in
the Roman barracks has been detail
/
reference t. the three state criminals
is carried ont Methnks | see hin
standing in the foreground of tn" era
CitiXfon scene looking up ut The face
Of Jesus. This Roman centurion'S
ccuntenance has n troubled look rs
he Cod" that countpnanre seems to
say IF Il" is God. why does he not
come down from the cross and save
himself. as the scofferS are chalIrng
ing him 10 do? Oh. | wish could say
lie was my Lord, Then | might GO
back to Rome and tell my brothers and
sisters and old sinful companions
about him" As the Roman centurion
soliloquiZeS thus it is about - o'clock
noon. Suddenly the heavens become as
black as midnight Then there is a
booming and crashing. as though the
rocks were being Splintered under our
feet and the firm mountains were
shaking from their foundations. There
Is q great cry of agony. | hear the
Saviour call Eli. Eli. Lama Sabach-
THANH which is interpreted. My God.
my God, why hast thou forSaken me"
Then | sec the Roman commander in
fright tremble and crouch as if terror
stricken. | see him arise and stand
straight up and reach ont his hands
toward the cross and cry out, Truly
this was the Son of Go1,'
Another Picture
OF course I'm one sense this sermon i
entirely imaginative. And yet I think
there may be more truth in it than
an imaginative way. SO | will end in
the same way. When l think Of this
Roman centurion. | never picture him
as simply acknowledging Christ as the
Son of God and then going back to his
life of sin. | picture him as resignine
from the Roman army and returning
to the Roman capital, Then | picture
him as one of the Christians Of old
Rome to whom Paul later wrote. Then
| picture him as going out to the old
homestead. to the pure home of his
youth, and telling his brothers and
sisters about his new found Christ
Then | picture the prosecutions com
hiS- Iuti j iHidSlfit DItil Hii bitl iiidH-
bending under the weight of seventy
five years, but strong in faith ami in
fidelity TO Christ He may have been
among 'the saints In Caesars house
hold of whom Paul writes He may
even have been among the Christian
martyrs who were burned under Nero
The change would not have been any
more extraordinary than that which
transformed Saul the prosecutor int"
Paul the apostle. You may say the
story is Imaginative. but 1t Is not IN
reasonable (
In the dark cataCOmbs of ancient
Rome. where G,000.Ou bodies were cit
t0mbed. there Is martyrs grave which
has Oh II this epitaph: While ON his
knees in prayer before the altar OF the
true God they took him and led him
away to execution" wonder whose
grave that was. | have never heard
the name Of the martyr who was buried
there | wonder if it was the grave of
an old man | wonderoif it was the
grave Of Captain Julius. | wonder If
1t was the martyrs grave Of the Ro-