Imagination: Soldiers

I wonder at times about the soldiers who arrested Jesus in the garden. What did they think when He spoke, and they found themselves flat on the ground, temporarily helpless. And then to hear Him say to Peter, "Put up your sword, if I asked the Father, He would send twelve legions of angels to rescue me." (And don't think those angels weren't eager to come.) Think there may have been some nervous soldiers as they tied Him up? And some looking over their shoulders--and maybe even up at the sky--on the trek back to the city? I'll bet it felt like a trek too--"are we there yet?" I also imagine that they may have been a little jumpy as they walked in the darkness. And I wonder if any of those same soldiers were on tomb duty? Quite a weekend, eh? Excuse my imagination but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that at least one of them believed the message on Pentecost or in the weeks that followed. The power of God's loving grace is always at work in
the hearts of men. Always. And often where we least expect it.