Sermon - Midweek Lent - Matthew 27:50-54

 

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

The Centurion—Matthew 27:50-54

Today we come to our final minor character of the Passion account. 

As with most of these, we know little about this man – not his name, not his origin, really only his job and a statement he made when he observed how Jesus died – “Truly this man was the Son of God”  It’s a notable comment, to say the least!  Certainly, something we can agree with.  And we will unpack this beautiful statement of faith in just a few moments.

But first, let us consider the role of the Roman Centurion.  From the same word that we get the term, “century”, a centurion was a sort of mid-level Roman officer, in charge, officially, of 100 soldiers.  Roughly equivalent to a Captain in today’s military terms.  He would usually be a man of some experience and skill, perhaps even a veteran of battle.  He is a man who both gives and takes orders, to those below and above him, respectively.  And the Roman military was nothing if not orderly.  That was part of what made them such a force to be reckoned with.

Scripture presents us with a total of 7 different centurions.  And with each one there is something to admire.  Consider in chronological order:

The centurion of  Luke 7:1-10, who came to seek the aid of Christ for his slave who had fallen ill.  Jesus says of him, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

Next we have the centurion who had charge of Jesus at the cross, who we especially consider this evening.  He is mentioned here in Matthew 27 and also in Mark 15.

Then in Acts 10 we have a centurion that is named for us, Cornelius, a convert to Christianity through the ministry of St. Peter.  He was a devout man, the first Gentile believer to be baptized by the church.  “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.”

Later in Acts, another centurion is seen taking St. Paul into custody.  Paul tells them he is a Roman citizen, “and when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”  Another centurion who had regard for good order and the law.

In Acts 23:23 we see two centurions taking Paul to Felix and protecting him from the threatened hostility of the crowd.

And in Acts 27:1-28:16 we meet Julius, the centurion responsible for taking Paul to Rome.  He enacted the mission capably and humanely and became interested in Paul, so much so that he saved him from death at the hands of the soldiers in the hour of threatened shipwreck.

Verses 42-43:  The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.  But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan.

So the centurion at the cross is in fairly good company, as his fellow officers mentioned in Scripture are either men of honor and duty, righteous in a worldly sense, or in some cases even converted or seemed to convert to the Christian faith.

But this one at the cross.  What an interesting little anecdote he gives us. Would you say he is a Christian?  A believer?  A God-fearer?

Certainly his witness, short as it is, could indicate the beginnings of faith.  After all, the early Christian creed, “Jesus is Lord” is an even shorter statement of faith.  And Paul says in 1 Corinthains 12, “no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”

And so something more than a casual observation seems to be going on with this man. 

He had surely seen more than his share of crucifixions.  Dozens, maybe hundreds of criminals hung on Roman crosses for various offences.  Like a soldier in war becomes numb to the killing, for this man to crucify three more poor souls must have been just another day at the office.  Until.. it wasn’t.

Jesus’ death was different.  We notice some of the details:

The curtain of the temple was torn in two (and from top to bottom no less).  Did the centurion hear word of this?  Did the news spread?  We wonder.  We can clearly understand the significance of it, though.  That in the death of Christ, we, his people now have access to the very Holy of Holies, for Christ reconciles us to the Father by his blood.  The separation between God and man is no longer, and hence the curtain is torn in two.

Then, what the centurion would certainly have seen, and heard, and felt – the earth shook.  The rocks split.  But this was no ordinary tremor, caused by some Faultline or geographical phenomenon.  This was creation itself reacting and convulsing to the death of the Son of God.  This doesn’t happen every day.

So also for us, who have become numb to sin and death.  Sin is so much a part of us and our lives that we often pay it no mind, it’s just part of the background.  Why doesn’t it shock us, disgust us, drive us to our knees?  Why doesn’t sin, our own sin, rock our world?  Shake our foundations?  What does God have to do to get our attention?

We are dulled, perhaps even to the cross.  We see crosses everywhere, perhaps even with a corpus, a body of Christ depicted upon them.  We wear them as jewelry, we decorate our homes with them.  And perhaps we also pass them by too quickly, without recalling even a little, what these symbols represent to us.  That here, on a Roman cross, the Son of God truly died. For us!

The centurion saw the sun darken, he felt the earthquake and perhaps heard about the torn curtain, and maybe even some holy people rising from death.  These events of nature and miraculous happenings Perhaps he also observed the grace with which Christ died – praying forgiveness for his tormentors, promising paradise to a condemned thief, caring for his mother and friend, and committing his spirit to the Father.  And through all these things the Holy Spirit worked to bring this man to a simple confession – a profound declaration, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

The same Spirit brings you to faith in Christ.  The same Spirit the brings your heart to believe gives you lips to confess the Son of God.  It may also be a simple creed, “I believe in Jesus”, or “I’m a Christian”.  It may be a more thorough confession of our own sin and of God’s forgiveness.  It may be a formal creed or an informal conversation.  But the Spirit inspires and awakens faith, and that faith speaks.

And sometimes just a little confession goes a long way.  After all, the centurion’s simple confession, one little sentence, still speaks to us today through the words of Scripture.  He joins his voice to ours in that great chorus of the faithful who recognize the Son of God in the Son of Man, Jesus, the Christ.

We don’t know what became of the centurion.  Maybe he continued in that confession and was baptized and believed.  Certainly many Romans and Greeks, Jews and Gentiles, priests and solders became Christians.   Or maybe he went back to business as usual, another day at the office. 

But we do know that the cross changes everything for us.  For Christians, Good Friday is never just another day.  Oh, and by the way, there is another day….  Soon, there would be another earthquake, and the Roman soldiers keeping watch over the tomb would faint like feathers.  Angelic power will roll the stone away, and the one who died will live again.  And the church will confess that the Christ who died is the Christ who lives, and his resurrection will prove even more, truly this man was, and is, the Son of God.

As this Lenten season comes to a close:  Thanks be to God for his word, and especially for the account of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Thanks be to God for every little detail, every little facet of the story, by which his word continues to draw us in.  For in these minor characters, we can see even ourselves, and appreciate ever more the Christ who died for us, and who has made us a part of his story.  Glory be to Jesus!  Thanks be to God.  Amen.