SURPRISING ’STARS’ OF THE PASSION
Part 6: The Centurion
Rev. Todd G. Leupold, Perth Bible Church, Easter Sunday AM 3/23/2008
INTRODUCTION:
As I certainly hope everyone has realized by now, today is Easter – Resurrection Sunday! It is the day in which we commemorate that day of days when Jesus the Christ, son of God and Savior of the world, resurrected Himself from physical death! It is truly an amazing and miraculous event.
But is it genuinely unique? Does Jesus’ bodily resurrection really warrant the 2000+ years of ’hoopla’ and honor that has been credited to Him? The Bible tells us of others – Lazarus, a young girl, a young boy, many at the time of Jesus’ death – who were brought back from life, but we don’t have a special day to commemorate their resurrections. The Bible even tells us of a prophet named Elijah who God took up to heaven without ever experiencing physical death. In our advanced, technological world today, it has become almost expected to hear the occasional account of someone who had been declared medically dead but then lived.
So, even accepting the truth of Jesus’ bodily resurrection, what really makes His so much more special and different from all others? As we examine God’s Word this morning, it is my prayer that we will all greater see and understand that His resurrection and it’s meaning is so infinitely wonderful and unique, because Jesus Himself is so infinitely wonderful and unique! The key to discovering this, however, is not in the empty tomb but about the cursed tree. Through the eyes, heart and spirit of our next “Surprising Star of the Passion” we too may observe and experience this life-changing truth here this morning!
SCRIPTURE: Luke 23:33-49 (emphasis on vv. 44-48)
To better understand this we will, as I already mentioned, try to examine it anew through the Centurion whose life was so profoundly affected at the cross.
First, WHO WAS “THE CENTURION”?
We are not told his name, because his name is unimportant. What is important is the kind of person he was and this made him a particularly interesting and important witness.
A “centurion” is an experienced Roman soldier who has been placed in command over 100 of the world’s best-trained and most feared soldiers.
The ancient historian, Polybius, recorded that centurions were chosen for their command based on proven merit over years of military service and were known not only for their courage and prowess in battle, but also for their cunning, intelligence, and strength of both body and mind.
He was obviously, then, a man much accustomed to violence, death, and political assassinations.
He himself was a professional killer who had likely long ago learned to numb himself to the sufferings and deaths of others – no matter who they were, why or how they died.
The fact that this Roman Centurion was at the Place of the Skull tells us that, at least for a time, his unit of soldiers were assigned to ’crucifixion duty’ in Jerusalem. He then was the captain or commanding officer in charge of keeping political order in Jerusalem, and handling the prisoners right down to their execution. This Centurion and his soldiers, then, were not only veterans of war, but veterans of crucifixion!
It was likely these same soldiers under the command of this same Centurion who earlier mockingly dressed Jesus as a farcical king, beat Him, teased Him, whipped Him to the very edge of death, spat upon Him, nailed Him to that rugged cross, mocked Him there, gambled for his garments and challenged His person.
Finally, the Centurion would have been a Gentile. In other words, he was not trained or learned in the ways or words of the One True God.
Second, WHAT DID HE EXPERIENCE?
For all of the experience this soldier of soldiers had with war, violence, and crucifixion, as routine and boring as these events likely became, this Roman Centurion soon discovered that THIS one was profoundly different from and more important than any other!
In his book, No Wonder They Call Him The Savior, Max Lucado writes:
“If is true that a picture paints a thousand words, then there was a Roman centurion who got a dictionary full. All he did was see Jesus suffer. He never heard him preach or saw him heal or followed him through the crowds. He never witnessed him still the wind; he only witnessed the way he died. But that was all it took to cause this weather-worn soldier to take a giant step in faith. That says a lot, doesn’t it?” (pg. 77).
In another of his books, Six Hours One Friday, Lucado describes what he believes it must have been like for this Centurion (read excerpt as presented in Nelson’s “The Cross: An Anthology”, pp. 222-223).
Jenny Rosania, a staff writer for InTouch Ministries, explains:
“But this Galilean was like none the Centurion had ever seen. Stripped naked, whipped, bleeding, with a crown of thorns gouging His skull. The Galilean didn’t fight as the others. Nor did He beg or curse. Soldiers tried to steal His dignity but couldn’t. Even after they had cast lots for His cloak and had coated his dry tongue with vinegar, the Galilean wasn’t condemning and He never pleaded for mercy.
“In fact, this Galilean called Christ did something that tore at the Centurion’s stone-cold heart. He forgave. In all the Centurion’s years of watching people die on crosses, Jesus was the only One who ever offered mercy to him. Jesus forgave him. Even though he stood for everything that put Christ on that splintered Roman cross Jesus forgave him . . .
“The the Galilean cried out, ’Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit’ (Luke 23:46). And it was over. He no longer labored. His Spirit’s moment of release led to chaos as the earth began to quake and tombs burst open. . .” (ibid, pg. 228).
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 27:50-54
Third, HOW DID HE RESPOND TO HIS ENCOUNTER WITH THE
CRUCIFIED CHRIST?
From the moment this Centurion first laid eyes on Jesus at the Palace until the moment of Jesus’ last breath on the cross, this soldier personally observed that this was no ordinary man, and no ordinary crucifixion or death. As a veteran of perhaps hundreds or even thousands of such events, he knew this individual and this event was profoundly different and important!
The problem, or test, of such an experience is that it REQUIRES a response from all! The centurion, too, privileged and powerful as he was, had a profound and life-impacting decision to make. How does he respond to this unique and amazing event? How does he respond to his own personal encounter with the crucified Christ?
He could have chosen to respond the way he had countless times before: block it out, bury it deep and do whatever it takes to forget about it. Or, he could have quietly and privately shed a tear over his role in the unjust death of an innocent and gentle man and then gone back to his normal life. Or, he could have ’written’ this strange man off as the looniest of loons. Or, he could have quit the Roman army and dedicate his life to following the example of Jesus’ kindness in working to eradicate poverty, and achieve world peace. In other words, he could have chosen to respond in much the same way as many of us do this day! Yet, he didn’t. He chose another, better, more meaningful and life-altering response instead!
Let us again pick up in the writing of Jenny Rosania:
“It was true. Everything the Centurion had heard about Jesus’ preaching, healing, and miracles – it was all true. Regardless of Caesar, regardless of the Centurion’s own fate, Jesus was the Messiah. In that moment he could utter only one confession, ’Surely this was the Son of God.’ (Mark 15:39)
“To be mighty in spirit is to recognize who Jesus is. The Centurion did. The Centurion viewed the criminals on crosses as you might look upon a convict on death row. Yet when he saw Jesus, he knew something was different. When he looked upon the Savior, neither his past nor his situation mattered. He simply couldn’t deny the truth. The word of the warrior was that he had seen the Savior. He confessed that he had witnessed the Christ. Two thousand years later it is still possible to look upon Jesus, the resurrected Son of God.
“What will be your confession?” (ibid, pg. 229)
Pastor John MacArthur, in his book The Murder of Jesus, expounds:
“But perhaps the most important miracle that occurred at the moment of Jesus’ death was the conversion of the centurion charged with overseeing the crucifixion. As Christ’s atoning work was brought to completion, its dramatic saving power was already at work in the lives of those who were physically closest to Him . . .
“Until now the uniqueness of Christ had made no apparent impact whatsoever on these soldiers. They were hardened men, and Jesus’ passivity made no difference in the way they treated Him . . .
“But Christ’s death was unlike any crucifixion they had ever witnessed. They heard Him pray for His killers. They saw the noble way He suffered. They heard when He cried out to His Father. They experienced three full hours of supernatural darkness. And when that darkness was followed by an earthquake at the very moment of Christ’s death, the soldiers could no longer ignore the fact that Christ was indeed the Son of God . . .
“When the soldiers around the cross heard Jesus’ exclamation, saw Him die, and then immediately felt the earthquake, it suddenly became all too clear to them that they had crucified the Son of God. They were stricken with terror. It wasn’t merely the earthquake that they were afraid of. Rather they were terrified by the sudden realization that Jesus was innocent – and not merely innocent, but He was also precisely who He claimed to be. They had killed the Son of God. The centurion remembered the indictment of the Sanhedrin (’He made Himself the Son of God; - John 19:7), and having witnessed Jesus ’ death up close from beginning to end, he rendered his own verdict on the matter: ’Truly this was the Son of God!’
“The words were evidently a true expression of faith. Luke says, ’He glorified God, saying, ’Certainly this was a righteous Man!’ (Luke 23:47, emphasis added). So the centurion and his soldiers with him were evidently the very first converts to Christ after His crucifixion, coming to faith at precisely the moment He expired.” (pp. 235-238)
Even before there was any resurrection and the proof of Jesus’ power of life and death, the Centurion had seen enough in Jesus’ person, His character, even His suffering to know that this man was the God-man, Savior of the world who had claimed ultimate victory over sin through His just and indisputable payment on the cross!
CONCLUSION: WHAT WILL YOUR RESPONSE BE?
None of us here this morning were physically present at Jesus’ crucifixion or directly experienced the event as this centurion did. However, through God’s Word and Spirit, each and every one of us has been presented with an intimate, personal experience – presented by God – of Christ Crucified.
Like the centurion that day over 2000 years ago, each of us today faces the same all-important question: How will you respond to your encounter with the crucified Christ?” Will you simply ignore it? Forget it? Drown it away through further separation from and rebellion against God and His Truth? Will you simply be repelled by the injustice and sadness of of it all? Or will you also allow your spirit to be COMPELLED to respond in a way much more significant, meaningful, life-changing and even eternal?! Will you simply shake your head and maybe shed a tear about the cross, or will you also embrace the salvation Jesus has bought you there and therefore not only celebrate or marvel at, but personally live and benefit in His resurrection?!
The decision is yours. The response must be real. And so will the results be – one way or the other!
