the centurion’s faith

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Mark 15:39

The centurion was a hardened soldier assigned to lead a death squad of Roman executioners. They were ruthlessly, bloody efficient. He had doubtless crucified more Jews than he could remember. He was used to it. It was his job to do Rome’s dirty work of securing the “Pax Romana” at the cost of the fear of state execution. Brutality was his business. And his crew was mercilessly efficient at the grisly torture of crucifixion.

But this tough warrior has an unexpected tender moment of faith when witnessing the death of Jesus. He saw something very different in the way that Jesus died. It got his attention. He is convinced that this man who didn’t just die a criminal’s death, but gave up His life to the last breath, was very different. This was the Son of God! He blurts it out in astonishment.

The text does not tell us that the centurion knew all the details of Christ’s ministry, teaching, healing, or confrontations with the Jewish religious leaders. He may have connected some of those pieces through rumors he had heard, or through what he had seen over the hours of Jesus’ testimony and trials. But what changed this man’s heart was the way that Jesus died. He recognized a saving truth: Jesus died as the Son of God. This is the gospel we believe today. And the centurion’s words rightly summarize the life, the identity, the mission, and the death of Jesus.

O Lord Jesus, Son of God,

You are indeed the only Son of God. Your death confirmed it. Your resurrection forever makes You Lord and Judge over all of us. And like the centurion, I look on Your sacrifice and in praise I know You truly are the Son of God... my only hope... my only worship... my Savior!

Amen