Shining innocence



Luke 23:1-49

What did the Centurion say? Did you notice? Did it feel that perhaps we had got the words wrong. In all the movies about the crucifixion, the Centurion says 

“Truly this man was God’s Son”  - that is what we find in Matthew & Mark.


But the words that he says in Luke are “Certainly this man was innocent”. Perhaps he also said “this man was God’s Son”. But for Luke the most important statement the Centurion makes is about Jesus’ innocence. In fact if you read Luke’s account of the crucifixion, Jesus’ innocence shines out. 


This is in contrast to 3 minor characters in this story who are guilty:

Peter is guilty of lying about whether he knows Jesus.


Barrabas has been imprisoned for insurrection and murder. Even though he is guilty Pilate releases him. 


And the second thief on the cross acknowledges his own guilt. 


Contrast those figures with the repeated declarations of Christ’s innocence. by Pilate, the one pronouncing judgment on him, on no less than three occasions declares Jesus to be innocent

Pilate also maintains that Herod did not find Jesus guilty. 

The dying thief on the cross recognises Jesus’ innocence. 

Jesus’ innocence shines in contrast to these individuals. Jesus’ innocence shines in the midst of a corrupt system. 

In Luke we find justice denied - everyone knows the right thing to do, but they don’t do it. They all know he is innocent, the system is supposed to condemn the guilty and release the innocent. But a small handful of powerful people were able to engineer his death. 

Innocence in the midst of individual and systemic guilt and corruption.

The story of the crucifixion is not one of Jesus vs the Jews. 

This story is about God and the human condition. We are in this story. We are guilty on a personal level. We are part of a guilty and corrupt system. This is not an irrelevant story about a man who lived 2000 years ago in completely different times. 



We watch the news and see, in our world, our country, our community, violence and corruption. Greed, war and injustice. And we are a part of this world and a part of those systems. 

There is nothing new under the sun …  We resist the love, mercy, and truth of Jesus Christ. We silence the honest voice. We condemn the innocent agitator. We pursue our own agendas for the sake of expediency.

And yet there is something new which shines in the darkness - the goodness and innocence of Jesus is ever new and as always it calls for a response from us. 


See, from his head, his hands, his feet,

sorrow and love flow mingled down.

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,

or thorns compose so rich a crown?


Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were a present far too small.

Love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all.

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