Jesus was a

Prisoner of War (POW). The saga of a POW intrigues us for two reasons:

that which happens to him or her takes place in secret and we want to

hear the details of the punishment and heroism.

Jesus was a

POW of the Roman government. For good reason. From what Jesus was saying,

he presented a not-so-small threat to the Roman Caesar who claimed all

rights and respects to the title of Lord and yet the Palestinian purveyors

of Jesus were calling him Lord. We have an informational/media problem:

to whom do we give the title of "Lord?"

Again Jesus

was a POW of the Jews. They had been fairly successful in hunting down

and bringing to Sanhedrin justice all the upstarts who claimed to be the

newest and last messiah for the books. For you see, once you have a Messiah,

rules and regulations don't carry much value. The Jewish Pharisees and

Sadducees were in business making up new rules and having them printed

(They must have owned the Jerusalem printing press). Take away the "rules"

business, they would be out of business.

The Jews demonstrated

they preferred a notorious rule-breaker on the streets like Barabbas than

a rule-keeper like Jesus. In fact, the Jews, when given the choice by

the Roman government to release one POW to observe Passover, guess which

one they decided? Right! The rule-breaker for he keeps them in business.

Jesus was a

POW of all the hate, envy, injustice and every other sort of viciousness

found in the human spirit. He was a POW of Cain of first beginnings. He

was a POW of every dictator and ruthless leader of every generation. He

was a POW of every drug cartel.

Yet, as our

POWs are released and returned, we hunger for their stories of faithfulness

to their flag, Commander-in-Chief, and their country. We would be embarrassed

to hear of anything else. Were our POWs to come out and reveal, "We

let them know anything they wanted; after all, our necks were on the chopping

block," we as Americans would be very disappointed although understanding.

I am sure that will not be the case. Our POWs have a long heritage of

courage and valor and faithfulness.

Now, take a

look at POW Jesus. The record now reveals he "opened not his mouth."

He kept his mouth shut. He did not betray the wealth and power of heaven

to those who wanted it only for selfish purposes.

POW Jesus stayed

true to his character and to him who sent him on this mission. Although

his body could be broken, his spirit refused to be broken or decoded.

When they could

not get anything more out of him, they strung him up on a cross. Until

this time, the cross was a symbol of derision and embarrassment. For a

family to tell that a son or daughter had died on the cross would have

been to share the ultimate in humiliation. Not this son, however.

Because of

his story of faithfulness, courage, and sacrifice, this POW Jesus transformed

the cross into a new kind of symbol: one of love and hope. For you see,

his last words indicated the fulfillment of his mission on earth: "Father,

forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

Even today,

we do not know what we do. We lie, cheat, and kill. Yet, because of one

POW and the way he took his punishment, we are forgiven.

John Hatcher is pastor of

Outreach International

Center

1091 South Jeff Davis

Drive

Fayetteville, Georgia

30215

770-719-0303

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