A Change of Heart

  

Have you ever witnessed someone’s changed heart? We have all seen this, and when it happens, it is stunning. We meet a person with whom we are dealing, perhaps in some transaction, who is very cold toward us; however, somewhere along the line, the person’s heart changes. We believe God touches people and changes them.

It is wonderful to experience a change of heart from unbelief to belief. At the cross, the Roman soldiers experienced such a change of heart. Look at this remarkable picture: When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt 27:54).

What changed these hardened Roman soldiers? What brought them to this place where they concluded Jesus was the Son of God? These men saw the mocking insults hurled at Jesus just hours before. He was told to come down from the cross if he was the Son of God.

The crucifixion had been no more than a routine execution, one these soldiers had routinely performed on many occasions. However, on this occasion, the soldiers concluded that Jesus was the Son of God. He was not the common criminal they believed he was. They had treated him as such by nailing him to the cross and gambling for his robe. But they came to believe he indeed was the Son of God! Matthew tells us what they saw and how they felt. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt 27:54).

Matthew believes their confession followed the divine display of several supernatural signs. There was an earthquake and darkness at midday. Witnessing the quake, the strange darkness, and Jesus’ courageous death opened their eyes.

These soldiers were “filled with awe” of what they saw and heard. They had only moments before nailed Jesus to the cross, but now they have come to believe he is God! They heard him pray: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” They heard Jesus when he answered the thief who asked to be saved, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” They heard him pray, “Father, into your hands, I commend myself.”

At the foot of the cross, these soldiers had a change of heart. The same men who executed Jesus by nailing him to the cross now have the faith to believe that he is the Son of God. These soldiers reacted the same way the disciples reacted when Jesus calmed the sea. They believed that he was the Son of God, and they worshipped him.

God On A Donkey

Jesus gave instructions to two of his disciples. They are told to go to the village of Bethphage and find a mother donkey and her colt tied up. They are to untie them and bring them to Jesus. They are not told what the donkeys will be used for, only that Jesus needs the animals (Matthew 21:1-11). Jesus also tells them if anyone asks you what you are doing, “Tell them the Lord needs them.”

We wonder if Jesus had some prearrangement with the owner. Did an angel visit him during the night, explaining what would happen? Was the man simply a follower of Christ? We don’t know. We know that what Jesus told the disciples to expect happened precisely as he said it would.

The Lord told his disciples that he needed the donkeys. He did not need them to ride because Jesus had walked all over Israel from one end to the other. The reason Jesus needed the animals was to reveal who he was. They time had come to announce that he was the Messiah.

Matthew is the only one of the four Gospel writers who quotes Zechariah; this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (Matt 21:4-5).

Five hundred years had passed since Zechariah wrote those words. Jesus asked for a colt, and he was brought one and sat on it. Jesus fulfilled the prophesy of Zechariah. Matthew says, “They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on” (Matt 21:7). The donkey had never been ridden before but was steady under the Messiah.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday, announcing that Israel’s Messiah had arrived, just as Zechariah had said he would. By mounting that small animal, Jesus said, “If you want to know to whom the prophet was referring, he was writing about me.” 

He had begun his ministry in his home town of Nazareth the same way. He went to the synagogue where everyone would have known him. He took up the scroll of Isaiah, read it, sat down to teach, and said, “Isaiah the prophet was writing about me. I am the Messiah. The people were so offended they tried to kill Jesus.”

Today, people will admire Jesus as a good example, a teacher who taught sound moral principles to live by. But Jesus will not have us thinking he is just a good teacher. He is the Messiah, or he is a lunatic because his claims were either valid or outrageous. But the gospels do not show us a lunatic or fanatic. On the contrary, they show us a man who is balanced in every way. When Jesus rode that donkey into Jerusalem, thousands believed and received him as the Messiah. What will you do?