A Shot Herd Round the World

Life changing events are hard to forget, aren’t they?  I think of life changing events as life’s landmarks. I am old enough now to have had several of these so called landmarks.  I remember my first kiss and that’s all I’m going to say about that. I remember the first time I slept alone, in my own room, that is. I remember the first night I spent away from home in college. I remember asking Carolina to be my wife and it’s been 20years now. I thought I would just throw that in there.  These of course were all life changing events for me personally. 

I wonder have you ever thought about what it is about events that makes one event more important than the other.  Why do we remember some things and forget others?  The ultimate question I’m asking is this, “What is it about certain events that we just can’t seem to get them out of our minds?” And of course the answer to that question is obvious. We tend to remember things that bring about the greatest change in us. Amen.

Ralph Waldo Emerson a famous poet who wrote a hymn honoring the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The name of the poem is “The Concord Hymn.”  The first stanza in the poem reads as follows

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The 4^th line of the Stanza states that the farmers of Lexington fired the first shot that started the American Revolutionary War.  Now figuratively or literally does not matter.  The facts are that on April 19, 1775 a shot was indeed fired and because of this single shot a war between 13 Colonies and Great Brittan was ignited.  Literally this single event changed the destiny and shape of the World at that time.  Do you think the guy who fired the first musket ever forgot the day he fired that rifle? I think not.

If you’ve followed my writing style you know I’m going somewhere with this.  I love reading and rereading through the scriptures tracking the life of Jesus.  I especially like paying attention to the impact that Jesus had on people who may have met him for the first time.  Literally, each time you read about a person meeting Jesus for the first time, the impact that single event had on them is quite remarkable.  I want to very quickly look at a view of these examples in scripture. 

First let’s look at the centurion guards who stood at the foot of the cross Matt27:54 “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.” What did these men, soldiers, see that caused them to admit that this man, who they had just crucified, was indeed the Son of God. The scripture gives us a vivid description of what they saw. I promise you that those guards, who witnessed the sky go black, the earth quaking and shaking, who heard Jesus praying, knew that the events they were witnessing were no ordinary events. I’m absolutely sure that many of the soldiers that day left the scene of the crucifixion forever changed.

Second let’s look at Simon the Cyrene, this is the one lone man who helped Jesus the Messiah carry the cross from The Praetorium to the Hill of Golgotha Matt27:32 “And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.”  Now to go from the Praetorium to Golgotha’s Hill was no short journey.  I know Jesus was exhausted from the beating he received earlier that day.  Pilate made every effort to beat Jesus bad enough to avoid actually crucifying him.  However, Caiaphas the High Priest and the other leaders only wanted to see Jesus dead.  So imagine this, Jesus has blood all over his body, his cloths are socked through and through with his own blood, yet Jesus made every effort to carry that cross.  Jesus took every step, with as much effort as he could muster up, even though he had the help of Simon the Cyrene.  Simon could see in Jesus eyes that though he appreciated the help of Simon, Jesus wanted to carry that cross.  Do you think that event changed Simon?  I tell you the truth it did. Simon saw the strength of God up close and personal.  Writing about what Simon witnessed moves my heart to a compassion that I can’t completely explain with words.

Third and finally, I want to look at Pilot. Now here is this governor whose wife at this point has been persuaded that Jesus is indeed a just man. I would say chances are that Pilot’s wife has had a conversion experience.  Now, with that being said, Pilot is faced with the crucifying of Jesus, who, if he didn’t crucify Jesus, would destroy any political future that he had left.  The Jewish leaders knew that Pilot was facing political dismissal from the powers that be because of the political upheaval in Jerusalem already.  They knew Pilot was one riot away from losing his power, authority and maybe even his own life.  Then interestingly enough Pilots’ wife shared some things with him, about this Jewish messiah, that I’m sure he could not get out of his mind.  Pilot of course like many of us did not want to go down this very difficult road.  Pilot elected to crucify Jesus though he knew Jesus was innocent. Pilot knew that the Jewish Leaders just wanted Jesus dead in order to preserve their own power.  I want to show you a passage that stands out to me as it relates to Pilot and Jesus: Matt27:11 “And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.”I believe Pilot is asking this question in all sincerity.  If it’s true that Jesus is indeed King of the Jews, then Pilot knows according to Jewish teachings, that this is indeed prophecy being fulfilled, right before his very eyes.  Pilot is aware of the Jewish teachings. He knows what Herod did when he thought a King was born 30 plus years ago. Pilot is standing face to face with truth and there is no doubt in my mind that he knows the answer to the questions he asks.   

We face a changing world every day and many of the events changing the world I believe are orchestrated by God.  I know God loves each created person who is living or who has ever lived.  Perhaps people like Pilot chose to ignore the God-Change-Moment in their lives.  While others will use the same event as a reason to draw nigh to God.  However, one thing is for sure, when the shot herd round the world was fired back in 1775, the world changed and the people had no choice but to respond to their changing world.  Jesus is changing and preparing this world for his promised return.  My prayer is that maybe, just maybe, the reading of this blog will be the event that God uses to change you.