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Roman Soldiers

by Jerry Ousley
8/11/2017 / Christian Living

I generally think of myself as a gentle man. However there is one thing that haunts me from my youth. When I was around fourteen years old I did something that I’ve never been proud of and it was about the cruelest act I ever committed. I was prowling around the woods behind our house with my Daisy BB gun. I had shot birds before and never really thought much about it.

But on this day I happened across a mother dove. She had built her nest in a thick bush low enough to the ground that I could see her. In fact she was right at eye level with me. I could hear a faint cheeping noise from in under her and I knew that she had babies. I parted the leaves and I was looking eyeball to eyeball with that mother dove. She didn’t move. At first I thought it pretty strange that a bird wouldn’t fly away being that close to a human. Then it dawned on me that she was protecting her babies.

I wanted to see them. So I tried to shoo her from the nest but she wouldn’t budge. She never offered to hurt me but she wasn’t about to leave those young doves. I thought maybe I could scare her away with my BB gun so I raised it up and nudged her on her breast with it. She was as nervous a bird as I’d ever seen but still she wouldn’t move. Everything in her was screaming “Fly away! Fly away!” But she wouldn’t.

Then I did it. I’ll never forget how I felt after I pulled the trigger point blank on that mother dove. She jumped and fluttered a bit. I could see red beginning to stream down her breast. But she sat right there and died protecting those chicks. As soon as I pulled the trigger I realized what I had done and I felt dirty all over. Guilt was flooding me. I knew those young doves were done for too. For days I went to check on them and tried to get them to eat worms but they wouldn’t take a bite. I don’t think I will ever be able to describe how I felt. Even today as I tell about this incident I feel the guilt and shame rushing in. I never shot a bird for fun again. In fact I have no desire to even go hunting. It was a cruel thing to do.

That’s what I think about when I think of the Roman Soldiers who executed Jesus. The Roman army was noted for being one of the most heartless and cruel armies ever to walk the face of the earth. To my knowledge the Romans invented the cross. It was a very slow, excruciating and painful way to die. It was designed to not only execute a victim but to torture them for hours.

These soldiers felt nothing as far as I can tell from the reading of the scripture, as they nailed Jesus with those long, rough, thick spikes that went through His hands and feet. These were the points that held Him suspended in mid-air. As the victim struggled to breath they would have to push up on the spike that held their feet to the rough, splintery beam that ran up their back in order to catch a breath. This of course tore and ripped at their feet. Their muscles must have burned and ached as they did this for every breath they took until finally they could do it no more and they suffocated to death.

I’d say not many people feel like they are as cruel as a Roman Soldier. We are horrified to think about the pain that Jesus suffered on the cross. It makes us want to hate them for their inhuman ability to torture and beat men and women.

But our own sinful nature is what actually held Jesus to the cross. He was God in the flesh. He could have come off that cross at any time he wanted. His love for us and His determination to rid us of sin was what drove the spikes in His hands and feet and what held Him to that terrible instrument of death.

It makes me think about that mother dove who gave her life in effort to protect her young. She could have flown but she wouldn’t leave them. Nor will Jesus us. Even though we are guilty and deserved to die; even though it was the cruelty of our own sin that hung Him on the cross, He looks down right into our eyes and says, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing!” And He still loves us.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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