
Why would the man in charge of Jesus death proclaim that he surely was “the Son of God”? Through a brief encounter, this centurion has a lesson to teach all of us.
How would you describe the relationship between the Jews and the Romans?
During this time, there were 20-25 centurions stationed in Israel. Each centurion was in charge of about 100 men. Through the story of the New Testament, we actually meet a few of these centurions.
When Jesus was ministering in Capernaum, a centurion approached Him asking for help…
“Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” 7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! —Matthew 8:6-10 (NLT)
In Acts 10, we meet a centurion named Cornelius who God sent Peter to preach to. Acts describes Cornelius as…
“an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” —(Acts 10:22)
Then in Acts 27, we’re told of a centurion who had Paul as his prisoner… but in that passage we’re told that…
“Julius (the Centurion) treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.” —(Acts 27:3)
What do you notice about these 3 stories?
What general impression do you get of centurions here?
What else do you notice?
Centurions had to follow orders and also give order to their troops. And one of the jobs they would be in charge of was the crucifixion of criminals. And that is where a centurion meets Jesus.
The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. 18 Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 19 And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. 20 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. —Mark 15:16-20 (NLT)
This centurion ordered his soldiers to crucify Jesus. But Jesus was no ordinary criminal.
Assuming this centurion was with Pilate at the trial of Jesus all the way until Jesus breathed his last… What do you think this centurion saw that was different than every other crucifixion he had been part of?
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” —Mark 15:37-39 (NIV)
Why do you think he came to this conclusion?
Sometimes we get caught up in the religious things we do each Sunday to honor God (and there’s nothing wrong with those things). But we can get so caught up with the sermon and the songs and the prayers that we many times don’t think to take the time to see Jesus.
How can we keep Jesus our eyes on Jesus this week?