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unjust Roman Judicial system, who carry out their brutal work
with extreme arrogance and cruelty. And from the other point of
view, it reveals the soldiers as the witnesses of God’s revelation in
Jesus. A holistic approach to the Gospel of Matthew helps us to
understand the struggles and situations of the soldiers ‘within’
the empire, and their progression in the faith (to get rid of the
empire) as they journey towards the cross.

The Re-Imaging Cross
The Cross, according to Jon Sobrino, is the outcome of
an incarnation situated in a world of sin that is revealed to be a
power working against the God of Jesus. The Religious Empire
and the Political Empire shattered the image of God by enslaving
and exploiting people through their unjust laws and rituals. In
doing so they did not realize that they were also disfiguring God’s
image in them. It is in such a situation ‘Incarnation' reiterates
God's image through Jesus in confronting and unmasking the
imperial images and asserting the image of human dignity. In
the words of Robert Charles Sproul, an American Theologian,
‘The most obscene symbol in human history is the Cross; yet in
its ugliness, it remains the most eloquent testimony to human
dignity.’ The soldiers’ encounter with the cross in the Gospel of
Matthew helps them realize the mask of Roman Empire that they
were imaged with, and also encourages them to unmask their
masks of repression, and disfigure the exploitative repressive
system of Roman Empire.

Conclusion

The soldiers, whose journey towards the cross began
with mocking and spitting at Jesus culminates in the profession
of faith in Jesus as ‘Truly the Son of God.’ This transition from
persecuting soldiers to professing soldiers is commended as a
remarkable conversion experience. Further, their affirmation of
Jesus as Son of God proclaims Rome's defeat. Warren Carter

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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People