Day 19: The Centurion's Confession

Naomi Brown (Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47)

Today we look at just two lines of Scripture. When the centurion witnessed the death of Jesus, he praised God and said, “Truly this was the Son of God,” and, “Surely this man was innocent.”

Two lines. But imagine being that centurion. He would have witnessed many criminal deaths. Death was in his job description, and yet something about this death made him think, something is different about this one.

Was it when he saw Jesus interacting with the criminal hanging next to him?
Was it the way Jesus took every beating and mocking?
Was it when the ground shook?
Was it when the sky went dark for three hours?

The Jewish leaders, who were meant to know the Torah and understand the prophecies, pushed for Jesus’ death. Yet it was the Gentile, the one who wouldn’t have known these things, who recognised that He was the Son of God.

Something in that moment caused him to have a revelation of who was in front of him, and he praised God. The word praise here describes “the active ascription of glory, honour, and praise to God; it means valuing Him for who He really is.”

We don’t know what happened next in this man’s life. But what we do know is that in that moment, he had a revelation of Jesus and his life would never be the same!

Activation

When was the moment you first encountered Jesus? Or when did you first have a revelation of who He is and what He has done?

Take a moment to reflect on that.

Ask Jesus to give you an even deeper revelation of who He is and what He has done.