Mark 15:39
Truly this man was the Son of God
He stands facing the cross and speaks after the death, not before. What convinces him is the manner of the dying rather than any rescue from it.
People of the Bible
The centurion at the cross
Ran the execution, watched it to the end, and said the thing none of the religious men in the crowd would say.
He commands the detail that carries out the sentence, which means he is a professional at this and has seen it many times. He is the one Pilate later sends for to confirm the death, and Mark notes that Pilate marvelled the man was already gone, so this centurion is also the official witness that the execution was complete. Nothing about his life before or after is recorded, not his name, not his unit, not what happened to him.
Scroll down to the storyThe movements, in the order the text gives them.
The story of The centurion at the cross
- 01
- 02
Matthew 27:54
They feared greatly
Matthew has the whole watch join him. The earthquake and the things that were done are what they saw, and fear comes before the confession.
- 03
Luke 23:47
Certainly this was a righteous man
Luke keeps the verdict in the language of a court. The soldier who carried out the sentence delivers his own, and it is the opposite one.
- 04
Mark 15:44-45
Pilate asked him whether he had been any while dead
The governor will not release the body on hearsay. The same officer is the one whose word lets Joseph take it away.
Why it matters
The confession is placed exactly where a reader least expects it. Mark has him standing over against him, seeing that he so cried out and gave up the ghost, and saying truly this man was the Son of God. Matthew adds the earthquake and the fear. Luke reports the sentence differently, certainly this was a righteous man, and adds that he glorified God. In Mark’s gospel, which opens by calling Jesus the Son of God, the first human being to say it out loud is the officer running the execution.
9 songs
The music
Every song in the catalogue whose passage falls inside these chapters.
Matthew 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42
A Stone at the Door
Matthew 27:1-31; Mark 15:1-20; Luke 22:63-23:25; John 18:28-19:16
Behold the Man
Matthew 27:32-56; Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:16-37
It Is Finished
