Are We Indifferent to Jesus?

1.  The Soldiers at the Cross—Mt 27:26-37,65-66; 28:1-4,11-15

Pilate had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. They slapped him in the face (Jn 19:3)

After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. (Lk 23:26.) They came to a place called Golgotha.

There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. (Lk 23:32–33.) 

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” So this is what the soldiers did. (Jn 19:23-24)

And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

[We know that the crowds and Jewish leaders mocked Jesus at the cross.] The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” (Lk 23:36-37)

[Then Jesus died.] Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. (Jn 19:31-34)

“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 

[The women left] While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. 

2.  Are We Indifferent to Jesus?

The soldiers were indifferent to Jesus. Indifferent means that they were unconcerned. They had no particular or vested interest, no emotional stake in this crucifixion. They had no sympathy with Jesus. The soldiers were callous and indifferent to what was happing at the cross. For them it was just another day at work. They had crucified many people. Nothing new, nothing strange. They went about their task with cold precision. 

They did not care about Jesus. They cared only about themselves. What could they get out of this deal? Some entertainment and fun? Some additional clothes for free? Perhaps some extra money? 

They were looking out only for themselves. Their only concern was staying alive, surviving battles, completing their army career, and hopefully retire peacefully somewhere back home. They obeyed orders, received their army pay, and enjoyed life having some fun along the way.

They did not care about all the politics and stuff that was going on. This was just one more rebel they had to deal with. And like so many before him, this is where it ends, at the cross.

These soldiers were indifferent to Jesus. They were so focused on themselves that they did not see and recognize the truth, the hope, the salvation, the new life that was right before their eyes. While they casted lots for his clothes the Son of God hung naked on the cross for all to see and mock. 

Are we indifferent to Jesus like these soldiers? Even as followers of Jesus we can become indifferent to Jesus that we miss him and the life he has to offer us. Jesus can become just an abstract idea, an object of ritual worship, so much so that we don’t see and experience the living Son of God, the all-powerful Lord who is real, who loves us, who cares for us, is concerned for us.

Last week I ended with some statements. I would like to go back to them, and explore them in light of what we have learned from the soldiers.

First—We can be so jealous of our own interests, that we miss Jesus or reject Jesus. Many people are so focused on and concerned with themselves that they miss Jesus who is right in front of them, calling out to them with love, inviting them to the new life he gives. Or they have seen him, encountered him, but they are indifferent, unconcerned because they care only for themselves. Jesus is boring. Jesus takes all the fun out of life. How many people do you know who think Jesus is boring? They want to live life, do things, “my way.”

Where are you at the cross? Are you indifferent to Jesus? Repent! Turn to him! He loves you as you are! He suffered for you on the cross so that you can have a new, eternal life. There is more to life than this. You can live with love, joy, peace, hope and purpose. Just believe in Jesus Christ. Accept him as the Lord of your life and as your Savior. And you will have life, new, eternal life.

Second — We can be so jealous of our own interests that we become indifferent to Jesus, and we follow him in name only. We follow him half-heartedly. We can become so preoccupied and obsessed with life, family, career, our jobs, our rights, our freedoms, our viewpoints, our politics, that we become indifferent to Jesus.

Instead of taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), we allow our thoughts and minds to be captured by the news media, the Internet, politics, personal viewpoints, money, material things. 

We are overtaken by these things. We become so obsessed with our things and our interests that all our time and all our energy go into these. We spend less and less time with the Lord. We think less and less about the Lord. We spend less and less energy for the Lord and his purposes. And so we become increasingly indifferent to Jesus. We grow distant from the Lord. 

Why do we not take seriously our Lord’s instruction and promise that we must “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Mt. 6:33-34).

Repent, turn back to Jesus our Lord. Make him again Lord of our life. Let go of all those things we are clinging to. Stop worrying. Stop being afraid. Stop looking out for self. Make Jesus and his kingdom our first priority, and all these other things will work out. 

Then — We can become so jealous of our faith that we miss the Lord of our faith. We can become so focused and preoccupied with doing church and ministry that we become indifferent to the Lord of the church.  We become obsessed with the right doctrines, what we believe are the right interpretations of the Bible. We become obsessed with the right forms of worship, with the right ways of doing ministry. We become focussed on methods, tools and strategies. We become preoccupied with maintaining the structures and forms. We forget that the church is not a place or a building but the living body of Christ, the people of God. Jesus Christ is the Head of this body. He is Lord, and he is in charge, and he is doing his work in and through the church.

Have we become so busy with doing church that we have become indifferent to our Lord? We must repent and turn back to him. We should return to and focus on his living Word. We should make prayer our first task. We must pay attention, listen, look and take note where God is working, and then join hands with him and be his servant. We should not try to take over and do his work.  

We do not need need “energetic music, great videos, attractive leaders, or elaborate lighting to be excited about being a part of God’s body. The pure gospel, the living Lord, was enough [for the early church] to put them in a place of awe.” (Chan, 44) Pray, pray and read, spend time in the Word. Jesus our Lord is alive in us, and with us. Focus on him!

Have we become so jealous of, so preoccupied with whatever is our current obsession that we are indifferent to our Lord? Have we become so indifferent to Jesus that we don’t see, feel, experience him anymore even though he is right there in our hearts? Ah, but that is the question, is Jesus still in our hearts? Or have we pushed him out of our hearts, or if not out, to some far away corner in our hearts? 

Have we become so indifferent to Jesus that we don’t hear his voice anymore? Have we become so indifferent to Jesus that we are willing to ignore and disobey our Lord’s commands to love, to forgive, to care for others? 

When it comes to ourselves, our lives and souls, and what Jesus has done for us, it is all praises, hallelujahs and amens. But when it comes to following Jesus, living for him and serving him it is all moans and groans, buts, ifs and excuses. 

When are we going to take seriously Jesus’ words, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matt. 7:21-24)

When will we stop being indifferent to our Lord Jesus, die to ourselves and follow him with radical obedience in all areas of our lives. Everyday we are at the cross, and there Jesus is asking us, “Who do you say I am?” There at the cross Jesus calls us, “Take up your cross, leave everything behind, and follow me.”

Let us repent and turn back to Jesus Christ our living Lord. Let us focus on him and keep our eyes and hearts fixed on him alone, and by his power run this race, live this life with perseverance for his glory.