Part 1 Friday Afternoon - The Roman centurion

The Nail
Part One Friday Afternoon
Chapter Two The Roman centurion...

Look, as far as we were concerned it was another job. This is a rat-hole of a place to be stationed and, believe me, at this time of year there are troublemakers aplenty who need their wings clipped. And the religious ones – they’re the worst. So, just in case you’re getting too comfortable on that fence of yours, think for a moment what the consequences would have been for us if we’d said no.

But I have to tell you, this one was different.

First of all the crowds. There’d been unrest, a sort of can’t-put-your-finger-on-it something in the air all week. Everyone felt it. And it was all to do with this bloke. This Jesus, the one we nailed. Yet last Sunday – less than a week ago – you would have thought he was God himself come into Jerusalem. Everyone was smiling and cheering. It was a right old carry-on. They even started tearing down branches from the trees, and waving them like they were banners.

But it quickly changed. And who is the first to notice? Muggins, here. It’s always us, ’cause whenever there’s trouble we’re called in. He goes to the temple...

Taken from The Nail by Stephen Cottrell