Matthew 27:54 says, “When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw…all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God.’”
The centurion was no stranger to finality. But this crucifixion plagued him. As the hours wore on, he didn’t know what to do with the Nazarene’s silence, with his kindness. But most of all, he was perplexed by the black sky in midafternoon. No one could explain it. When Jesus suddenly sliced the silence by calling out, “It is finished,” it wasn’t a scream. It was a roar—a lion’s roar!
Perhaps it what made the centurion say what he said. “This was no normal man. This was the Son of God!” Had the centurion not said it, the soldiers would have. The rocks would have. Surely he was the Son of God!
