The New Covenant Faith
Lesson Text: Mark 15:6-15, 25-39
Thought to Remember: The New Covenant Faith
Lessons learned:
“Truly, this man was the Son of God.” What do you think led the centurion to this conclusion? When you read about the crucifixion, do you come to the same conclusion?
I ask these questions because, in my study of Scriptures, I notice that a soldier, on many occasions, provides insights we tend to overlook. The New Testament mentions several centurions as follows:
- The centurion at Capernaum (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10)
- The centurion at the crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47)
- Cornelius, the centurion in Acts 10
- The centurion who guarded Paul in Acts 27
These accounts suggest at least four distinct centurions listed in the New Testament. A centurion in the Roman guard was a military officer in charge of a century, a unit of approximately 80 to 100 soldiers. Yet, each centurion noted above played a significant role in the Kingdom's development on Earth. The centurion at Jesus's crucifixion offers us an insight that many spectators overlooked. Because of this centurion's careful observation, Mark recorded his words so that we understand that "Truly, this man was the Son of God." Why?
This particular centurion witnessed the entire crucifixion of Jesus from the 3rd to the 9th hour, during which there were three hours of total darkness from noon until 3 p.m. Since he was a centurion, he probably was in charge of the crucifixion system. Roman used this method of execution primarily as a means of punishment, deterrence, and public humiliation to assert authority and control over conquered peoples and rebellious individuals. Most Roman citizens who received the death penalty were beheaded instead of crucified. Therefore, crucifixion was a punishment intended to deter non-citizens from committing crimes against Roman. So, this centurion was well aware of the crucifixion process and how men agonized over the process. Yet he witnessed a totally different process at Jesus’ crucifixion.
First, he observed a phenomenon in the external atmosphere: total darkness for three hours at midday. No sunshine when the sun is shining at its highest peak of the day, such a spectacle acquired the attention of everyone, especially when you are watching the agonizing deaths of an innocent person, with the methodology of producing a slow agonizing demise of excruciating pain.
Secondly, the centurion witnessed the manner of death. He could vividly hear Jesus “so cried out” and gave up the ghost while remaining conscious until the end. This action alone demonstrated that Jesus’ voluntary surrender of His life (laying it down) rather than it being taken from Him, fulfilled His own prophecy.
Thirdly, Jesus cried out with a loud voice twice, once saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sbachthani” and again before breathing his last breath. Jesus spoke his native language, Aramaic, which the spectators mistakenly thought he was calling out to Elias (or Elijah). Unbeknownst to the majority, Jesus fulfilled Psalm 22:1 by portraying the righteous sufferer's appeal to God and the ultimate victory through sacrifice. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? (Psa 22:1 KJV) Is it possible that the centurion spoke Aramaic, and he knew exactly what Jesus was saying when he cried out loudly?
Fourthly, at the very moment of Jesus’ death, an earthquake occurred, and the temple veil was torn in two from top to bottom. If you witness someone’s death, simultaneously experience the earth move under your feet, would you too wonder about the correlation of the two? As for the religious leaders, they too witnessed the rending of the Temple veil. This two-story-high curtain was torn from top to bottom, signifying the end of the Old Mosaic system and the opening of a new way to God through Jesus' flesh. Without knowing what had happened in the Temple, the centurion, standing and watching Jesus on the Cross, openly declared Jesus' divinity. Truly, this man was the Son of God.
If the centurion acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God, why was it so difficult for the others who witnessed His crucifixion to acknowledge the same? Yet, today, we face the same choice, nothing more, nothing less. Either we acknowledge Jesus’ death as our substitute sacrifice for the atonement of our humanity, or we deny it like the Jewish leaders, and suffer the consequences of an unrepentant life unworthy of spending eternity with Jesus in His Kingdom.
