Read: Matthew 27:45-56
When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (v. 54)
Roman centurions were a tough bunch. In charge of a hundred Roman soldiers, they could afford to show no weakness, and they took no prisoners. They had to enforce discipline both within the ranks as well as within the community. In this case, the community was a dusty, backwater town in a dusty, backwater place called Israel, far from Rome, and far from home. Centurions carried heavy gear on bad roads. Their rations were meager, and their beds were the hardened earth.
No doubt, this centurion had witnessed many floggings and many crucifixions. And no doubt he himself had wielded the whip on the back and the hammer on the nails more than once. On this day perhaps he even scolded the soldiers carrying out his orders to get on with it so he could get out of the heat of the day.
Just another day at work until . . . it wasn’t. The earth trembled and with it so did the hardened heart of a weary centurion who thought he had seen it all. And yet, in the kingdom of God, when the ways of God are distinctly not the ways of the world, the Almighty would use this man to be the first to declare the Messiah’s true identity after his death: “Truly this was the Son of God!”
As you pray, ask the Lord to move your heart in awe of Jesus.
About the Author
Lou Bury is the pastor at Downers Grove Community Church in Illinois. He has the pleasure of serving the Lord alongside a congregation committed to being “the hands and feet of Jesus in the community.” He and his wife Judy have two adult children and two granddogs.
