“The Spear” by Jim Gallop

Below is a short skit written and presented by a friend of mine,  Major Jim Gallop.
Read, consider, ponder, and revel in Christ’s amazing love for us!

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THE SPEAR

(Scene opens with Roman guard, gazing at the end of his spear in stunned disbelief. He is standing, centre stage, quarter turn right as play begins. Spear is held to display its end before the audience)

Soldier:
My most useful tool….my best friend…..my help in times of trouble….my spear. That is what they told me when I chose to become a soldier……always be aware of the power of your spear.
And, oh, I was aware….how I learned to accurately throw you in battle, how I clinged to you as we defended our legion against Jewish zealots, bent on their preposterous notion that they could defeat the Roman army. We crushed them with our spears, our swords, our shields, and our might.
Our army was one of the mightiest ever seen! Men from all over Italy, armed and always ready for battle! The Roman empire had hold on vast areas of land…..the Meditteranean, North Africa, Europe, Syria, the middle east….all through the power of our weaponry.
I…..well, I was sent to this squalid refuse of a place known as Jerusalem. My orders were to protect Roman interests. “Squash any rebellion against our authority”, they told me, “Maintain control of the people, make them know that Rome still has power here”…….power.

So yes, I knew the kind of bone-crushing power that these weapons held…..but now, I wonder…and, I am confused. You see, they had me stand by to witness someone called Jesus of Nazareth executed. They nailed him to a cross on that hill behind me to make an example of him. They called this Jesus ‘king of the Jews’ to mock him. He was hung on that cross for 3 hours and I watched, oh I watched…..3 hours of excruciating pain for this man, the nails digging into his flesh, the whip marks exposing gashes on his skin, the crown of thorns they had battered down onto his head, making fresh blood drip onto his face. He was in incredible agony, and believe me I have seen agony before….but this sort of agony was not normal. This agony he had, well, it was actually a sorrow….a sorrow for those who were executing him. He cried out to His God saying “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”, He hung there, and did not yell at people for spitting at him, or for tormenting him…he said “father, forgive them.”

After he died, I was told by my commander to thrust this spear into his side to make sure He was dead. I-I hesitated at first, but then as I had always been taught to do, I followed the command. As I thrust this spear into him, blood came out, then water. Blood and water came gushing out of Jesus’ side! It was, dare I say it! It was as if this spear, covered in blood was being cleansed by Jesus on the cross. This spear which was used to keep order and discipline…this spear which was used to make others bow to it….this spear was being cleansed by Jesus, who had called on His God to forgive us. This….this spear (lay down the spear….fade to black)

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Thank you Major Gallop for allowing me to share this today!
Something more to ponder today!