A Centurion's View of the Death and Burial of the Jesus (Mark 15:33-47)
There is something about being in the room with someone when they die that sticks with you.
What would it have been like to see Jesus die in person? How would that experience have changed you?
Mark's gospel began with the affirmation that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God (Mark 1:1), and comes full circle with the confession of the centurion, "Truly this man was the son of God."
This week at Grace, we're going to hear the story of Jesus' death and burial from the perspective of the centurion who was there, who saw Jesus' death and three days later would be a witness (directly or not, we don't know) of Jesus' resurrection.
In John's account of the death of Jesus, right after describing the soldier piercing Jesus' side, John includes an aside, "He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe." (John 19:35) It seems that this anonymous centurion came to faith in Christ as a result of seeing his death for us.
May we come to a similar faith ourselves.
Pastor Bob
33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
- Mark 15:33-47