The Centurion's Point-of-View: Luke 23:43-47 - Good Friday

 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, "Certainly this man was innocent." (NRSV)

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I couldn’t sleep last night. And when as the sun came up this morning, something wasn’t right.

 

My name’s Longinus, I’m a Roman Centurion from Caesarea. My men and I marched into Jerusalem earlier this week on orders from the governor, to keep the peace during the Passover. When we were summoned before dawn to Pilate’s headquarters, we assumed a riot had broken out.

 

When we got there, however, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The temple guards arrested a man, Jesus of Nazareth. They bound up and chains and delivered up to Pontius Pilate, like he was some notorious fugitive. Except that he wasn’t. He hadn’t taken up arms. He hadn’t started any riots. They said he claimed to be the king of the Jews. This was blasphemy, they said; but that’s their problem, not ours. If anyone was inciting a riot, it wasn’t Jesus. It was the religious leaders.

 

Then there’s the whole thing with this custom, strange as it is, for Pilate to release a prisoner. I think he knew that the religious leaders were trying to manipulate him into doing their dirty work. So, he went to the stockade and brought out the most worthless, bumbling oaf he could find: Barabbas.. He was a troublemaker and a murderer and he deserved to die. It looked to me like Pilate was trying to get gain upper hand: they can have an innocent man released to them, or waste their annual favor on an idiot. Well, they chose the idiot. When Pilate tried to release Jesus, they shouted, “crucify him! Crucify him!”

 

My men and I could’ve shut them up and cleared them away with no fuss whatsoever. But then, one of the priests said something that made Pilate wince: “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against Caesar.”

 

The high priest was trying to blackmail Pilate! We could’ve arrested this guy on the spot for that. But then, Pilate gave the order for us to crucify Jesus. An innocent man… Who’d done nothing wrong… Never before had I seen anyone play a Roman procurator like he was a cheap fiddle.

 

I knew Jesus was innocent. But I’m a Roman centurion. I don’t question orders. I follow them. In my time, I’ve overseen hundreds of crucifixions, and I never gave any of them a second thought until today. The gods chose Rome to bring peace and prosperity to the world, and it’s my job as a soldier to keep it that way. But today, for the first time ever, I saw the blood list in my men’s eyes as they mocked and beat Jesus nearly to death. It’s like they wanted Jesus to curse them, and when he didn’t, they beat him harder.

 

And then, when we led him away, I half expected his people to be coming at us with swords and clubs, trying to set him free. But they didn’t. There were a lot of crying and wailing people we had to force off the streets.

 

By the time we raised up the cross, the noonday sky was beginning to darken. I wanted to get this over with before the storm came. But I couldn’t take my eyes off Jesus. When the religious leaders stood shoulder-to-shoulder with my men, hurling curses and insults at Him, he still wouldn’t say a word, until he said this: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” About an hour later, I heard him cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” By then, I was so anguished, it was as if I was crucified right there with him.

 

By 3:00, the sky was about as black as night. Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” As soon as he died, the ground began to shake. I tell you, it was as if heaven and earth were enraged at what we’d done to this innocent man.

 

Like I said before, I don’t question orders. I follow them. But now, I’m questioning everything I’ve ever wanted, and everything I’ve ever believed. I know I’m guilty of murdering an innocent man. And yet, when he said, “Father, forgive them,” it was as if he was talking directly to me. In that moment our eyes met as he hung there dying, I saw a love in his eyes that no one has ever had for me; not even my own children. The second he died, something came alive in me. I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s something greater than what Rome could ever give me.

 

We say Rome gives peace to the world. What we did today isn’t peace. Jesus is peace. I must find out more about him—because after everything I saw and heard today, he just might be everything he ever said that he was. I’m not going to lose my soul for Rome, especially if it means doing more dirty work for rulers who don’t even have the spine to stand up for the innocent when they see it.

 

Maybe there’s still a chance that Jesus will remember me when he comes into his kingdom.