A sermon preached on Good Friday, 29 March 2024,
at the Anglican Church of St Thomas, Kefalas, Crete

The readings were: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (the Fourth Servant Song); Psalm 22; and John 18:1-19:42 (the Passion according to St John).

Centurion: what is next on the docket?

Ah, right. That Galilean. Bring him in.

So, you are . . . Jesus of Nazareth. It says here that you have just been condemned by an extraordinary meeting of the Sanhedrin, and they request that I, Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, put you to death.

Ah, I see. You claim that you are the King of the Jews. Well, that is a problem. You see, there’s really only one ruler here, and that is Rome, and we cannot have anyone setting themselves up against us. We might have kings under us – Herod the Great was one of ours, you know, nasty piece of work he was. We’ve got one of his family up your way, a tetrarch, although everybody calls him king to his face. You probably know about him, also named Herod. Well, whatever they call themselves, they only rule because we say so. Same with the Sanhedrin. We use them to govern Judea, but we appoint the high priest, and if on the council give us any trouble, out they go.

So, are you the King of the Jews? Tell me, because I am not a Jew. Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me, so you must have done something to really upset them.  So tell, me, what have you done?

What’s that? You are a king? Your kingdom is not of this world? Well, that’s rather airy-fairy, isn’t it? I must say, it’s pretty gutsy of you to call yourself King of the Jews when you haven’t any followers, much less an army. What do you expect, that your god will somehow come down from heaven and install you on the throne, and defeat the legions of Rome? If you think that, you’re crazy.

Well, you just might be crazy. It says here that you said that you would tear down the Temple and then after three days build it up again. Yeah, like that’s going to happen.

Sorry, speak up. What’s that you say? Truth? What is truth? I’ll tell you what truth is – it’s whatever Rome says it is. And at the moment, I am Rome in this place, so I am truth.

Where are you from, Galilee, right? You could beg for mercy. After all, you’re probably harmless. You never had that many following you, and those that did have scattered like sheep. I was told one of your followers turned you in, right? What, do you refuse to speak to me? Too proud to ask for mercy from Imperial Rome? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?

Alright, look, today might be your lucky day. So, there’s this thing I do on this feast of yours where I release a prisoner. It shows that we are merciful, not all that bad. But there’s this other guy, a bandit, a revolutionary, that some people think I should free, too. Let’s see if the crowd wants you or him.

Behold the man!

Oh, bad luck, old chap, they wanted the other guy. So, it’s off to Golgotha with you. We do need to set an example that Rome cannot be trifled with, and crucifixion is so very good for that. Useful to teach a lesson to slaves and other conquered peoples. Must keep order.

So, you’ve lost. You do understand that, right? Whatever you were trying to do has utterly failed.

You’re not very talkative, are you? Well, you won’t be talking at all in a few hours. Soon you will be silent forever. You’ll be forgotten and just a pile of bones, end of story. Just another troublesome religious rebel, like that John the Baptist that your King Herod took care of. Meanwhile Rome and the Emperor and our gods will go on and on and on.

Although, I must say, the way you’re bearing up and the way you look at me almost makes me believe it could be otherwise. But, of course, that would mean that I am in the wrong. But that never happens, I’m usually right. Might makes right, you know.  So, off you go. Pray to your god, and die, just like those innocent lambs they are sacrificing all day long, right?

Well, that’s over and done with. All right, centurion, what’s next?