The ManicaPost
Evangelist Peter Madondo
MATTHEW 27:54 reads: “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.”
As if Jesus had never identified himself to these people, they only got to hearken when it was a little too late.
I am writing this article with the full understanding that Jesus has been proclaimed to nearly every creation, but the acceptance rate has remained worrisome. There is undoubted evidence that Jesus is the Son of Man who descended to award mankind with the gift of life (John10:10). Relentless efforts the master Jesus made to make sure that many obey Him unfortunately it was never to be.
The enemy crafted his wicked plan and made every effort to ensure Christ Jesus suffer not only as a human being, but also dealing a killer blow to the movement called Christianity which at that point was spreading like wild fire. Sensibly annihilating a founder of any movement would definitely spell the demise of such a movement.
Jesus was exposed to immense shame, pain and humiliation. They had taken turns to inflict agony on the master as they mock him on Golgotha. Remember this is the very same man who had healed their beloved ones.
He had restored the sight of their brothers, He had even raised their endeared ones from the death and all that had amounted to nothing in their lives. They were overwhelmed by anger and hatred.
The Bible passage quoted above reminds me of how unprepared men can be in their lives. Despite undeniable evidence pointing to Jesus as God incarnate the Roman soldiers and the Pharisees turned a blind eye and chose to do the unthinkable. They killed the man who had brought immense hope in the land of the Palestine and beyond.
It only took the seldom events that unfolded upon the death of Jesus that they realised the man Jesus was not an ordinary person. Many are times that we realise something when it is too late. It is only wise to always know that a stitch in time saves nine. We should not wait for something to happen so that our reasoning will be evoked.
Acts 22:16 reads: “And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptised and wash away your thy sins calling on the name of the Lord.”
This is my humble plea to all as we approach Easter, we should not wait for an angel to descend from heaven and show us the way of Christ. I am even convinced that even if an angel descend we will always procrastinate giving our lives to Jesus.
I am baffled why the Roman soldiers failed to take a leaf from the thug hanging on a cross next to Jesus. He capitalised on the slightest opportunity and today I regard him as one of the most fortunate people.
Having lived a wayward life and only repented on the very last minute (Luke 23:43). Intelligent as the Roman soldiers purported they failed to capitalise on the last minute chance to repentance.
My desire this Easter will be that of seeing many coming to Christ and making right their ways than wait until it is a little too late.
2 Peter 3:9 reads: “The lord is not slack concerning his promise as some man count slackness, but he is long-suffering to us, not willing that any should perish but all that should come to repentance.” The Lord keeps hoping that events like Easter will bring us to remembering the agony of Christ and decide reasonably. It is unfair to wait for a time when we are literally invalid to commit our lives to Christ. We should not wait till it is too late.
While it seems to be the DNA of humans to jostle at the very last moments, I am appealing to you that moments like Easter should play catalyst for us to make timely decisions with our lives. We must work while it is day (John 9:4).
