The Roman Soldier

THE ROMAN SOLDIER

I was in the barracks when the 
Colonel sent for us. 
We were in his office in 5 minutes- 10 
of us in the Strike Force. 
He quickly gave us the brief: we were 
to go with our commanding officer, 
a Captain to go effect an arrest that 
evening. 
The Subject of Arrest was a Man I 
had heard a lot about.
I heard He raised people from the dead!
I heard He healed sick people!
He turned water into wine!
He fed multitudes with little food!
He walked on water!
All manners of tales had been woven 
around this Man- I had no idea which 
was fact, which was fiction. 
But today, the government wants 
Him arrested and my team was picked 
to carry it out. 
I did not know what to think. 
I glanced at the other nine, none 
showed any emotions. 
We were well trained not to show any 
emotions, no matter what we faced- 
even death.
Incidentally, none of us had ever met 
the Subject, but His reputation had gone 
well before Him. 
We even heard He healed the 
Aide de Camp of one of our Generals. 
He is regarded as a prophet, 
He is regarded as the Messiah, 
He calls himself the Son of God. 
This is the Man we are going to arrest.
We got the signal and proceeded. 
We were all 2nd Lieutenants, just 
got back from an advanced military 
training course. 
This was going to be our first mission 
together. 
I guess they want us to put in practice 
what we learned at the course. 
We had no idea what to expect, so we 
were prepared for the worst. 
We were fully kitted for battle. 
Better to be over-prepared than 
under-prepared! 
The Subject was in a garden that evening. 
We arrived there by 9pm. 
The Intelligence Report was that He was 
there with His army of insurgents. 
One of his close knit allies had been
turned and was leading the team 
directly to the criminal
We looked from a distance: we could 
see Him on His knees, bowed over. 
I guessed He was praying. 
I took the binoculars and scanned the 
garden: I saw 3 other guys at the other 
corner, apparently sleeping. 
I didn’t see anyone else. 
Where were they? 
In hiding? 
Are they aware we were coming and 
they hid themselves? 
How did they know? 
Is there a snitch in the military? 
All kinds of thoughts went through 
my head.
A few minutes later, He got up and 
walked to the three. 
He woke them up. 
In that moment, the Captain gave
 the order. 
We stormed their hideout 
The Subject stood there and turned 
to face us. 
He wasn’t as intimidating as I had 
expected! 
As we were about to cuff Him, one of 
the three men with Him drew a sword 
and woosh! 
I felt warm liquid pour down the side 
of my head: my ear had just been cut 
off! 
I saw it on the floor. 
I screamed and cocked my gun and 
aimed at the man. 
The Subject said, “Hey! Calm down!” 
Suddenly i felt a numb sensation around
my ears
The pain dulled and my reflex was calmed
He did that just by speaking softly to me
He picked my ear from the floor and 
somehow fixed it back!
We all looked at each other in shock as 
the three men ran away. 
He was left alone, in the middle of 
heavily armed soldiers. 
The Captain read Him His rights: 
You are under arrest, you have the right 
to remain silent- anything you say can 
and will be used against you…” 
I was just staring at Him, holding my ear. 
We cuffed Him and led Him to the van 
and drove off to headquarters. 
It was easier than I had thought. 
We handed Him over and our job was 
done. 
I went back to the barracks and checked 
the ear in the mirror: no scar, so sign, 
nothing! 
I actually started wondering if I had 
imagined the whole thing!
I could not sleep that night. 
The Subject’s trial was live on TV, so 
I tuned in to watch. 
It went on for a few hours and He 
was found guilty and sentenced to 
death by crucifixion. 
Immediately i heard the judgment
I cringed
I don’t know whatever this guy might 
have done, but whatever I felt about 
Him before today changed after my 
ear experience!
Next morning, I was assigned to arrange 
a team of soldiers to flog Him. 
Seriously? 
Flog a Man who fixed my ear that was 
cut off? Hell no! 
I asked to be reassigned.
 I couldn’t imagine myself involved in 
flogging this Man! 
I was reassigned to supervise Him carry 
His cross to the place of crucifixion. 
I could not refuse this- I saw it as a 
milder task. 
After the flogging, He was given the 
cross to carry to Golgotha, the place 
where crucifixions are carried out. 
He would walk a few steps and fall down. 
It got to a point I knew He could not carry 
the cross any further, so I got someone 
else to carry it for Him.
He was nailed on the cross and raised up 
between 2 other men sentenced to the 
same punishment. 
I watched as He hung up there. 
After a while, the entire sky turned dark 
as night: It was just 12 noon! 
Everybody was wondering what was 
going on. 
The darkness continued till 3 pm. 
Then He said: “I’m thirsty!” 
I quickly rushed to get a sponge and 
soaked it in vinegar and raised it to His 
mouth for Him to drink. 
As soon as He did, he said, “Father 
into your hands I commit my Spirit.”
And He died.
And an earthquake shook the whole area. 
My commanding officer, the Captain 
came up the hill where the crucifixion 
took place. He stood in front of Him and 
looked for a few minutes. 
He sighed and said, “Indeed, this man 
was the son of God!’
I couldn’t agree any less…