The Union County journal. [volume] (Marysville, Ohio) 1875-1951, 1949-04-18

/ was a soldier.
BY repeated contact with the
inhuman, my heart had become
hard and was not easily touched
by fear or pity.
What | did not know was that
God can go right through the
callousness of a mans heart and
touch it where it will respond
That day l was to learn that
God can in a moment frighten
the boldest and most defiant of
men and let them know that He
is God whereas. they are only
men.
Centurion, cruelty these men!
It was about nine o'clock in
the morning when ! received the
command.
We were ready with the i'm
plements Of torture.
From the beginning it was evil
dent that this crucifixion would
be different from any that l had
ever performed.
1t was the Innocent one who
made the difference.
Others about to die were us
ually defiant or cowardly; He was
calm and confident
Others had been vindictive; He
was kind and forgiving.
How grateful he was when we
relieved his beaten body of the
heavy cross.
How sorrowful He was when
he had to warn the weeping wo-
men of the impeding doom of
their city.
How brave he was when he re-
fused the benumbing drink pro-
vided for the condemned.
How composed and submissive
he was when we nailed him to
the cross.
His exhausted body stretched
over the wrought wood lying on
the ground-the open palms that
had often blessed but never
hurt-the sharp iron spikes-the
lifted maller-no, l must not.
A true picture of the cruel
fixion would make all of you
shudder and some of you faint.
|, | can still hear the haunting
blows of the hammer blows.
Others who were crucified, had
often rent the air of Calvary with
shriekS of pain and their scream
ing to heaven for vengeance on
their tormentors, or had made it
blue with their dreadful oaths;
but he was silent.
When finally he did speak, in
a moment of agonizing pain, it
was to pray calmly, not for Him
self, but for us, His pitiless muir
derers, Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do"
That tore to shreds my soldier
ly indifference.
Have you ever come upon
someone praying for you who
did not know that you could
hear-a parent, perhaps, or a
| friend.
Such an experience is deeply
impressive and influential.
Can you appreciate how / felt.
The man / was killing, was
praying for me.
Here was something not hu-
man; it was divine.
Others have done likewise, l
know, but they had his example
and were initiating the divine.
Father forgive them.
My men probably did not even
recognize it as prayer, much
less grasp its significance.
They sat down to shoot craps
at the foot of the cross, more in
tereSted in the clothes of the men
they killed than in the Man.
The coarse hearted crowd, NOR
bidly curious, in the gruesome,
was so intent on ridiculing him,
that it did not hear His response.
The behavior of the mob was
shocking.
Most disgusting of all was the
conduct of the church men.
They had come, not to console
the dying, but to taunt him.
They forgot entirely the dignity
of their office, and celebrated
their victory with malignant sat
iSfaction.
One could hardly blame the
soldiers, the people and the male
factors for joining in the devil
try.
For the highest officers of the
church were leading the way.
Some times / think in your day
the highest officers of the church
mislead the common folks by
their attitude toward this man.
Throughout the taunting, the
noble Christ remained silent.
Then God spoke.
The PhariSeeS and Saducees had
often asked for a sign from
heaven.
Now they got it.
AS noon approached, the bright
sun was looking down on this
scene of horror.
Then it happened.