Soldiers (a Steve Orr Bible reflection for Easter)

In the novel (and film) The Robe, Tribune Marcellus Gallio was “assigned” to a remote post in the far eastern reaches of the Roman Empire—Jerusalem. He was sent there as punishment for an indiscretion he committed in Rome. 

It was an exile—and it was intended to end his career. While there, he was given what should have been a simple job for any high-ranking officer of the Roman Empire’s army: oversee the crucifixion of the Jewish rabble rouser, Jesus. Nothing, however, went as planned—not the plans of his enemies and not his own. Tribune Gallio was profoundly affected by his exposure to Jesus. 

Many real-world soldiers interacted with Jesus, too. He was arrested by them, mocked and abused by them, crucified by them, and, finally, His dead body was guarded by them. Like Tribune Gallio, each of those soldiers, at some point, had to deal with his own Jesus encounter. 

 

Consider the guards dispatched to keep watch over His tomb. However you read the Matthew passage, it comes down to this: They were soldiers, commanded to perform a task by their civilian superiors. To their credit, when they failed in that task—and who can defeat God?—they immediately reported the truth to their superiors. Yes, they were paid and instructed by their superiors to tell a different story. It was a story that, in the view of their leaders, served the national interest much better than the truth. 

 

But eventually, someone talked. 

Yes, even though paid—and, let’s face it, threatened—by their superiors, at least one of those guards, somewhere, sometime, spilled the beans. We have the entirety of the story in the Gospels, "on the record" if you will. So, someone on the inside told someone on the outside.

Those tomb guards had seen things, felt things, and heard things vastly different from most humans in all of history. Their piece of the story was extraordinary in the extreme. 

 

If you were one of those tomb guards—had seen, felt, and heard the things they did that morning—would you give credence to the claim that the person who occupied that tomb had risen from the dead? Could you believe the other things people were saying about Jesus: that He was the Son of God, that He could forgive sins, that His kingdom was a heavenly one, that anyone could enter that kingdom by following His commandments?

 

I think you might. 

 

And I think you, too, might break your silence.

 

Interacting with Jesus changes everything. 

 

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PHOTO: Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

 

BONUS MATERIAL

“GraveRobber” (with lyrics displayed) by Petra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKyhGyTW_TM

 

 

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Friday mornings are a special time for us. It's at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast that we celebrate the Word. We read and discuss the scriptures, pray for ourselves and our community, and there is a lot of laughter to complement the meal. Join us on Zoom* or in person at Our Breakfast Place. 

 

The entry will not be guarded.

Blessings,

Steve

 

*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=s&d=42

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_ResurrectionoftheLord.pdf

 

Jeremiah 31:1-6

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Colossians 3:1-4 OR Acts 10:34-43

John 20:1-18 OR Matthew 27:62—28:1-15

Resurrection of the Lord (April 5, 2026)

 

Table of Easter Lectionary Readings:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/calendar/2025-26/?season=easter

 

 

Triumph (a Steve Orr Bible reflection for Palm Sunday)

In the 7th grade, I ran for homeroom student council representative. I lost. I lost again in the 8th. And the 9th. And the 10th. The 11th grade, though, was a special year for me. Oh, I still lost my homeroom representative race, and to the same guy who had beaten me every other time: Bobby King (not his real name).  

 

Still, something new happened that school year. 

That spring, I became a candidate for Student Council president—and Bobby King was not allowed to run because he was already overcommitted. Finally, I felt, I was going to get mine. I was finally going to get elected, and not only that, elected to the highest office. I felt excited, happy—assured.

 

Election Day: The moment had arrived when the students could make their choice. The polls would open right after the student assembly for candidate speeches. If I had had any concern, it vanished after we finished our speeches. Based on the applause, I clearly had the upper hand. 

 

Then the principal asked the question he had asked every year at this event: “Is there a nomination from the floor?”

 

For the first time anyone could remember, there was. A guy popped out from the side stage, stepped to the podium, and said: “I nominate Bobby King!” From the very back of the auditorium, Bobby stood and slowly walked down the sloping aisle toward the stage. As he passed each row, students rose to their feet, wildly cheering and applauding. By the time he mounted the stage, it was obvious to everyone that he would be the winner.

 

I was watching it all slip away—and I hated it. 

 

I wish I could tell you that I’m the hero of this story. But the truth is that I was crushed—and I was angry. I felt that everything I had worked for had been stolen from me, and not just for that election, but for all those years leading up to this. With each rising row of students, shouting accolades and praise for their chosen leader, my envy and jealousy also rose. And rose. And rose. His triumphal procession to the front infuriated me. I was forced to just watch as it all fell apart before my eyes. More than anything else in the world, I wished him gone.

 

That right there? The envy, the anger, the jealousy, the fervent wish that none of this had ever happened? That is what the religious and political leaders of Israel felt when they watched Jesus descend from the Mount of Olives in a triumphal procession into Jerusalem. 

 

We see it all in this week's two Matthew passages. Those leaders felt it all belonged to them, and they could not abide the thought someone else would take their place, that someone else would have all that power. They wanted Jesus gone, and they set in motion a plan to make it happen. 

 

Not pretty then, not pretty when I was in high school, and not pretty now. Do we, like the leaders of Israel, want to keep hold of the power? Are we trying, even now, to push Jesus from the lordship of our lives?

 

Or, do we embrace “the stone that the builders rejected” as our cornerstone? 

 

It is entirely our choice. 

 

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PHOTO: Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

 

BONUS: 

For the full story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, first read the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9-17. Then read all three of the Gospels that report it: Matthew 21:5ff, Luke 19:28ff, and John 12:12ff.

 

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Join us at 8:00 Friday on Zoom* and at Our Breakfast Place for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We'll be feasting, getting our hearts and minds prepared for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and all that leads up to Easter. There’s a great breakfast menu, and the spiritual food is the very best.

 

There will be no nominations from the floor.

 

Blessings,

Steve 

  

*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

SCRIPTURES FOR PALM SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Liturgy of the Palms (March 29, 2026)

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=l&d=33

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_LiturgyofthePalms.pdf

 

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Matthew 21:1-11

 

Liturgy of the Passion (March 29, 2026)

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=l&d=34

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_LiturgyofthePassion.pdf

 

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 31:9-16

Philippians 2:5-11

Matthew 26:14-27:66

 

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Defeating the Biggest Monster (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

When I was young, kids my age often assembled plastic models from kits: cars, ships, airplanes, jets—even the occasional rocket. As for me, I saved my few dollars for something truly special: I built models of monsters. 

 

The Aurora Plastics Company signed a deal with Universal Studios to create model kits for some of the studio’s most famous movie monsters. 

My first was the Wolf Man. By the end of my tween years, I had painted and assembled Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and, of course, the one from the novel that started it all: Frankenstein. 

 

I don’t imagine Mary Shelley envisioned such a future for her creation. When she conceived Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, it was on a dare: a competition among soon-to-be famous writers to see who could dream up the scariest tale. The results were all quite interesting. It was Mary’s tale of science gone wrong, though, that galvanized the public and created the most famous monster of all. 

 

The resurrection of the dead has been on people's minds as long as people have been dying—but the power to do it has never been ours. In Mary Shelley’s time, many thought electricity was the way: It was the cutting-edge science of her day—an idea that (eventually) led to today’s heart defibrillators. 

Still, in the nonfiction world, electricity can only do so much. There remains a point beyond which people do not return to life. In this week’s John passage, that point was long past when Jesus finally came to Bethany. Lazarus was already four days dead. Not even modern medicine could have brought him back to life. 

But Jesus could. 

Shelley’s monster was a complete fabrication, just like my plastic ones. Not all monsters are made of words or plastic, though. Some are quite real. Take death, for example. For most of us, it’s the biggest monster of all. We fear it. There is one, though, for whom a monster, even death, holds no fear. 

All of this week’s scriptures address resurrection and redemption. The two are inextricably tied together. Every redemption story is a Jesus story and every resurrection is a Jesus resurrection. Jesus is redemption and resurrection; neither exists outside of His person. 

 

Like Ezekiel’s valley of bones and four-days-dead Lazarus, only the power of God can infuse us with the “breath of life.” Jesus lives to inhabit both the means and the ultimate method of our escape from death.

 

He is not just alive: He is life.  

 

 

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PHOTO:

https://basementofthebizarre.com/2021/11/01/the-basement-toy-box-the-aurora-monster-model-kits-gone-but-certainly-not-forgotten/

 

About the film Frankenstein:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021884/

 

About the novel Frankenstein:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein

 

 

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Life moves pretty fast. Pause and join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet on Zoom* and in person at Our Breakfast Place. The fun starts at 8:00 and is supposed to stop by 9:00 ... and sometimes it does. 

 

Food, fun, fellowship, prayer, scripture, and the free flow of ideas. What an hour!

 

Bring all your parts. 

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=l&d=29

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_FifthSundayinLent.pdf

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Psalm 130

Romans 8:6-11

John 11:1-45

Fifth Sunday in Lent (March 22, 2026)