Matthew 27:54: “So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!'”

January 25th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

There is no greater miracle than when God transforms someone, in a heartbeat, from a hardened sinner into a humble saint. This is one of the greatest evidences of the power of Jesus’ work on the cross, that those who started the day abusing Jesus ended the day witnesses of His true identity. The capacity of the cross to change humanity is displayed in the reaction of the centurion’s heart to what he saw at Calvary. All 3 of the synoptic Gospels record the life-changing rescue of the centurion on Golgotha that day. Mark records that the centurion was standing opposite Jesus, meaning he was very close, giving him an up close and personal eye view of that world changing crucifixion.

What made him see the goodness of Jesus that day? In part it was because he saw Jesus loving while all the other people were hating. Those who passed by were mocking Him, but Jesus was blessing. One of the 2 thieves was cursing his executioners, but Jesus was asking for their forgiveness. He could have called ten thousand angels to His rescue, but of course He didn’t. In part, it was probably just being that close to God the Son at the moment of the great exchange, the sacrifice of His life for ours, that revealed to the centurion that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

It must have been very troubling to the centurion to only realize the truth after Jesus was dead. We are all very much like the centurion. We also come to the cross only to discover that we ourselves are guilty of crucifying the Son of God. We are responsible for nailing Him to the cross that day, because God the Son died for us! But He rose again, and it is because of His death and resurrection that we can have a personal relationship with God right now, and will spend eternity with Him. May the weight of that amazing truth never fail to drive us to our knees in worship and thanksgiving!

“LORD, we worship You, the God of Love, with our lives this day.”