A Church for Roman Soldiers?

Last Sunday was Easter.

To my surprise, there was a great deal of television programming of a religious nature.

Even the channels I count on for documentaries seemed to follow suit.

Many I had seen before.

Some I had not.

Among those I had not seen before was one that I found one particularly interesting.

This one centered around an underground Christian church.

This church was underground both figuratively and physically.

This place of worship was in the back of a cave and was used by Christians perhaps in the first century not long after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The inscriptions carved into the walls and rocks made it quite apparent that Christians used this cave as a place of worship during a time period when the persecution of Christians was rampant.

Yet there was something else remarkable about this place of worship.

You see, the inscriptions also lead archeologists to believe that a particular group of people worshipped Christ in this cave.

Roman soldiers.

History makes it plain that Christians were indeed persecuted by Roman soldiers in the first century of the church.

Yet here was a place where some Roman soldiers actually gathered together in order to worship Jesus.

Even the maker of this documentary seemed to find this difficult to believe, but I do not.

It is not just because an educated archeologist proposed this.

It is not just because of the inscriptions found in the cave.

It is not just because a cave would serve to hide they themselves from persecution.

I also believe this because of Scripture.

In Luke 7, Jesus is requested to heal the slave of a centurion.

This same centurion was highly regarded by the elders.

As Jesus neared the home, the centurion sent friends to meet Jesus and deliver a message.

Luke 7:7-8 (NET) - "That is why I did not presume to come to you. Instead, say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it."

Verse 9 tells us that Jesus was amazed by his faith.

At the crucifixion of Jesus, there was another centurion present who witnessed the events that transpired on that day.

He also saw Jesus die.

Notice the centurion’s reaction to what he witnessed.

Mark 15:39 (NET) - Now when the centurion, who stood in front of Him, saw how He died, he said, "Truly this man was God’s Son!"

Even though persecution of Christians in the first century by Roman soldiers is a historical fact, both Scripture and archeological evidence indicate that some of them had their lives turned around in a remarkable way and became believers in Christ.

Persecution is not confined to the past.

Many Christians around the world are persecuted for their faith today.

We are to pray for them,

We should also pray for those that persecute them.

After all, those that don’t know Christ are those with the deepest need.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, April 20, 2012.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I’ll be back here on Friday, April 27, 2012.
Schedule subject to change.