Amazed Centurion

(Today’s audio reading on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/79b0knTIAqeKyQVw8MJdYC)

The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)

The cross is evidential. A big sort of word I’m using to mean the cross was evidence that led to a conclusion. The supernatural events surrounding the crucifixion led to the  undeniable conclusion that something special was happening. Not a feel good kind of “special”, but something so out of the ordinary, so unusual, so can’t-miss, that one who participated in the act of crucifixion and who was there on duty, was moved to exclaim that the evidence pointed to a divine man undergoing this most cruel form of torture. And by the way, while the Roman officer who was in charge of a group of 100 soldiers gets the headlines on this event in the movies and books, note that the Scripture says that “They [i.e. the officer and the other soldiers] said…” The group of them recognized his divinity, not just the centurion.

As he was witnessing the evidence, and drew conclusions for himself, I wonder if the thought crossed the officer’s mind to try to take him down and revive him? “Hey, guys, we’ve got the wrong man! A bunch of folks made fun of him for claiming he was the Messiah—but I’m thinking that he’s right! All this stuff that’s happening is not normal; we should have given him a longer look! Is it too late to do something?!”

What was his turning point? The total eclipse? Did someone send news of the torn curtain in the temple? Did he hear the conversation about “today you’ll be with me in paradise”? Did he hear Jesus say, even in his tortured state, gasping for air, “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing?” This verse says the turning point was when he saw the earth shake. But was that the last in the line of things that added up for him, and he said, “Ok, I’ve got the message!”

Too late then to call off the torture (and besides, he was already dead when the centurion made his pronouncement recorded in this Scripture). But he was not too late to share the conclusion that he was indeed divine, the God Man. The evidence added up very quickly and was too strong to be denied. For someone to not believe that he was the Messiah, they would have to get past the cross and all of its powerful effects and meaning. And that just wasn’t going to happen for this man. I wonder how many others have let it slip by, failing to reach the same conclusion he did because they ignore the evidence.

Throughout history, God has consistently presented evidence that He is at work, that He is all-powerful, that He cares for His people. If we are open to what He is doing, we will be stunned when we realize the lengths He will go to in order to move us from a point of initial belief to eternal relationship. 

“Father, during this Lenten season, may some friend of ours who doesn’t yet believe that Jesus is the Son of God, indeed come to that conclusion, just as the centurion did who was standing beneath the cross of Jesus.”