General News
12 April, 2026
In good faith
IN GOOD FAITH: We have just passed another Easter. Once again we have remembered the account of how our Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ, was unjustly tried on false charges and sent to His death on a Roman cross.
But amongst the rich tapestry of characters that we hear about in this account, there is one who is often glossed over far too quickly, and yet who is certainly worthy of our attention. He is the Centurion who was present at the foot of the cross.
In Roman times, a Centurion was a soldier who was in charge of 100 men.
They were responsible for training, discipline, tactical decisions and equipment readiness, and served as the link between the enlisted men and the officers.
You might say that they were the “Sergeant-Majors” of the Roman Legions.
It so happened, that on the day of Jesus execution, this particular Centurion was on duty. In all likelihood, he had previously overseen many such executions, as this was an unfortunate part of the Centurion's duty.
He would almost certainly have been present at every stage of the gruesome process, from the trial to the execution.
But this time it would be very different.
Instead of the pleas and protests and the later screams of pain that previous victims would have given, he would have noticed that Jesus remained silent the entire time.
As we read in Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open his mouth.”
Matthew 26:63 confirms Christs silence during His trial.
The Centurion would also have had the responsibility of carrying the sign that displayed the accusation against Jesus as He carried His cross.
Now, the signs of most of the condemned criminals would have displayed something like ‘robber’, ‘murderer’, ‘rebel’ or some other such crime. but in this case, the sign displayed the crime against Jesus as being “King of the Jews”.
Certainly, this would not have passed by the Centurions attention.
Once Jesus had been delivered to Golgotha, The Centurion would then have witnessed the miraculous signs that occurred as Jesus hung on the cross.
First there was the mysterious darkness that descended for three hours over the area. It is important to note here that Easter occurs at the Jewish Passover time which is marked by a full moon.
Because of this a solar eclipse is impossible and cannot be used to explain this darkness, although there is some possibility of a lunar eclipse.
Nevertheless, regardless of what caused the timely darkness that descended over the crucifixion site for those three hours, to the superstitious people of the pagan world at that time, an eclipse was always taken to be a bad omen and would certainly have struck fear Into the Romans who were there.
Then there was the earthquake that occurred at the same time and the most likely visible resurrection of many of the saints who were buried in that vicinity, and finally the prayer of Jesus for the forgiveness of his abusers.
All of these observations and events, all happening at the one time, clearly made a huge impact on the Centurion and his men, as we note by his declaration recorded in Matthew 27:54, “When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely He was the Son of God!”
The significance of this realisation is that it makes this Centurion, and those of his men who were with him, the first to recognise and declare Christs divinity following His death. In effect, they were the very first Gentile believers.
The Bible does not record any further details about this Centurion.
However, later traditions of some orthodox churches, arising from a 4th century writing called the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, give him the name of ‘Longinus’ and teach that he left his position as a Roman Centurion to spread the news of Christ, and that he was himself eventually martyred by the Romans for doing so.
The statement that the Centurion made at the foot of the cross was not simply one of Christ's innocence, but rather it was an overt and unhesitating declaration of His being the divine Son of God.
In the same way that he found Christ, we too are all invited to seek after Him.
As is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”