So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

Mark 15:39

Open our eyes

As we enter the season of Advent, remembering to have an attitude of gratitude is something we must focus on. It isn’t just for Thanksgiving but the whole season, ideally our whole year. This morning at Bible Study, I discovered a beautiful picture of grace portrayed at the cross. We often focus on the two thieves debating over Christ but overlook the others on the scene. Let’s draw our attention to the Roman centurion.

Jesus was crucified with the description, The King of the Jews. While hanging on that cross, He was ridiculed by His own people. He never fought back; He endured that pain for the joy of what was to come (Hebrews 12:2). He loved humanity to the point of dying for us. He remained on the cross not because He chose to commit suicide or because those three spikes kept Him pinned to the wood. Instead, the gravity and judgment of our sins laid on Him as the sacrificial Lamb held Him there. It was His choice to die. But the Jews were blinded to this. All they saw was a blasphemer and morally good man who was disrupting their religions. As they walked past and ridiculed Him with insults and shameful accusations, the Roman centurion stood there doing his duty.

His Words Fulfilled

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

John 12:24-25

Jesus knew what He had to do. He was constantly preparing the disciples for what was to come; they just never listened because they didn’t want to hear it. They wanted Jesus Christ to fulfill their wishes – to be King. Instead, He came to do the will of His Father, our Father. Jesus told the disciples that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, there is no produce, no harvest. You must put that grain in the ground before you can reap a harvest. So was it with our Lord. Jesus understood this principle, and He also knew what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 11:11

I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

Romans 11:11

At the intersection of the cross, we have the Jewish people despising their King, a thief who sees his spiritual condition and has no doubt heard about Jesus, and a Roman centurion doing his job and standing watch. As Jesus is alive, the thief, more than likely Jewish, admits His need for Christ. But as soon as Jesus dies, the Roman centurion sees, and his eyes are opened. The picture that Christ died for all is marvelously woven into this passage of Scripture, yet we often overlook it. Jesus came so that we might have life abundantly (John 10:10), and on the cross His blood was shed to an abundance. In Him we have life. But only through His death is there an opportunity for us to live freed and claim that abundance. The Roman centurion saw this and proclaimed, “Truly this Man was the Son of God.” Notice he never said King of the Jews – that was for the Jewish people to identify with. Instead, he says what Jesus is to the Gentiles – He is the Son of God stepping out for Gentiles, the spiritually unclean.

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Son of God

From what I’ve seen in Mark, the only places Jesus is called the Son of God or claims that identity is when He speaks to the disciples, when the demons call Him out by name, and when the centurion identifies Him as such. That is powerful.

Jesus didn’t need to identify Himself to anyone. He was seen as the Son of God. The demons knew, the centurion knew, and the disciples knew. He knew His time was not yet ready to be fulfilled, but He kept doing His Father’s work and pointing to Him.

Y’all, I want to get this through to you. The Roman centurion was the only one besides the demons and the disciples who named Jesus as the Son of God. It was the very moment when the grain of wheat, Jesus, died that he saw it for himself. Wow.

Grace and faithfulness mixed into a scene that is often overlooked.

He is so good.