The Centurion’s Response
Notes
Transcript
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit.
51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
52 Also the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
54 Now as for the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the other things that were happening, they became extremely frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
The Roman Empire had crucifixion down to a science they have been doing it for two to three hundred years by the time of Jesus.
It was their most severe form of punishment and torture.
The Centurion at the cross was assigned this position, this means crucifixion was his job.
He no doubt he had seen many different responses to a cross.
Yet he watched something he had never seen before, Mark 15:39 tells us, “And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw that He died in this way…”
He witnessed an unprecedented response to a cross.
Most would have cursed their accusers, curse their executioners, and even cursed their god, some scream in agony, or call for help, but not Jesus.
The centurion saw Jesus forgiving people and say things not heard from someone hanging on a cross.
When Jesus cried out and died the sun darkened, the earth shook, rocks split.
Then tombs near by were opened and they saw people walking right out of the grave.
When they saw all of this they were terrified to an extreme degree.
A natural and logical question the centurion might have asked himself, “Who was this man?”
The Centurion then stated for the record, the first gentile to do so, the reality of what he witnessed and his response was the man on the middle cross really was the Son of God!
How would you respond?
