Many years ago, a dear friend and second-Mother asked me an intriguing question. That question comes to my mind multiple times each year even to this moment. Paraphrased, the question would be something like:
"If you could hold a dinner party to talk with any ten people, living or dead, other than the obviously invited guests of Jesus and the disciples, who would you invite and why?"
--------------------------------
Dinner Guest #3: The Centurion at the Cross
The Introduction
Now as for the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the other things that were happening, they became extremely frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
(Matthew 27:54)
And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw that He died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
(Mark 15:39)
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He died. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “This man was in fact innocent.”
(Luke 23:46-47)
The History
First, some debunking.
- - - -
This centurion is venerated in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Anglican Communion denominations. He is given the name Longinus, however this identification comes from the intertestamental apocryphal book known as Gospel of Nicodemus.
Intertestamental apocryphal books, such as this so-called "gospel" contain various factors to render them theologically illegitimate, such as:
- written late with the authorship dated to the fourth or fifth century A.D.
- falsely attributed to prominent names as the authors in a deceptive attempt to appeal to authority.
- contains gnostic and heretical ideas.
- contains passages which the aforementioned denominations accept, but which do not align with accepted canonical scripture.
- addresses events, such as Pilate's conversion to Christianity, that accepted scripture doesn't or cannot corroborate that other unsound content calls its validity into question.
Although read and used, apocryphal books weren't officially canonized in the Roman Catholic church until eventually formalized in the early 1500s in response to challenges raised by the Reformers over problematic doctrinal issues to be contained in those books. Challenges such as purgatory, alms to rescue lost souls, indulgences, etc.
Without a corroborating reliable source as to this centurion's identity, I wouldn't readily accept it from this source as authoritative.
- - - -
Now, with that confusion out of the way, let's now look at the time and the scene of these passages. Whatever this man's identity, the [true] gospels attribute intriguing quotes to him.
Let's begin by looking at the varying groups of Jewish culture. The major political, religious, and professional groups were the Pharisees (religious leaders), Sadducees (secular leaders, Roman collaborators), Essenes (religious separatists), Scribes (authorities of religious law), Zealots (nationalist freedom fighters), Publicans (tax collectors, viewed as traitors), and Herodians (Jewish government under Roman authority).
Over the course of history, under Greek and then Roman conquest, many Jews had become Hellenized. So it is more than likely that there were Jews enlisted or conscripted into the Roman military.
[See: This Times of Israel article on a study regarding Jewish soldiers in the Roman military.]
We aren't told how many soldiers were present around Jesus' crucifixion, but it could be assumed that there would be a number of them. Not only were there soldiers for carrying out the execution of three men, but soldiers to secure the area of any potential riot or uprising.
The Person
Whether this centurion was Jewish or Gentile, we simply can't tell with any amount of certainty. But he is another curiously mentioned individual in scripture that the authors (by guidance of the Holy Spirit) felt the need to not only mention him, but to include his declaration.
Regardless of his ethnicity and religious beliefs, while he was there while Jesus was dying, he witnessed:
. Jesus pray for the people's forgiveness.
. A prolonged mid-day darkness
. Earthquake
. Recite relative portions of Psalm 22. If he had been Jewish, that would have been a recognizable, thousand-year-old, Messianic, prophecy passage that described the very scene playing out before him at that moment.
The Conversation
These are some things I'd like to hear in his own words:
+ Was he Jewish or Gentile?
+ When did he first learn of Jesus?
+ Had he listened to Jesus' teachings or people recounting what they'd heard Jesus teach or miraculous works they'd seen Him do?
+ As a centurion (a commander over many tens of men) was he a man who would have been readily known by the original audience the authors were writing to?
+ Did he mean that Jesus was the Son of God bringing salvation through His sacrifice, or that Jesus was a demigod offspring of one of gods of the Roman pantheon?
+ How did witnessing Jesus crucifixion impact the rest of his life?
The Why
It's interesting that Matthew, whose original audience was the Jewish reader, is the only account of the tomb guards and the cover-up. Many assume that the guards were Roman soldiers, but Matthew's account says that Pontius Pilate told the chief priests and Pharisees to utilize their own guard (ie: Temple guards) when they petitioned him to order guards for the tomb. (Matthew 27:62:26) That would make sense as Pilate had already washed his hands of the matter.
Three days later, when the guards came and told the chief priests and Pharisees of Jesus' missing body, Jesus' accusers - Caiaphas, Annas, and many other members of the Sanhedrin - did not have a change of heart or mind about Jesus. Honest and scrupulous persons would at least stop and ponder that strange event, especially when the guards confronted them with a tale that could certainly have meant extreme punishment or their own possible execution.
Instead, the Jewish leaders immediately provided the guards a large sum of hush-money and a story to spread to implicate the disciples as having stolen Jesus' body, with assurance of protection should the governor hear about it. (Matthew 28:11-15)
The centurion, while standing at the cross, had no inclination of Jesus' resurrection three days later. "Surely this man was the Son of God." is such a definitive declaration, I would like to hear just how he came to that conclusion in that moment.
---
---
Posts
