The Roman Centurion
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Share about your first impression of someone who you now know in a radically different way.
โข Share an event, a story, or a quote that changed your perspective on something.
โข What was one act of love that deeply moved you? How did it affect you?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต!โย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ:๐ฐ๐ณ
(Read also ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ:๐ฏ๐ฏโ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฐ๐ฐโ๐ฐ๐ฒ.)
Crucifixion was a Roman capital punishment. In Jesusโ case, He had been brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. It was Pilateโs soldiers who put the crown of thorns on Him and mocked Him, knowing He called Himself โKing of the Jews.โ At the crucifixion, there was a Roman centurionโa commander of a platoon of 80 soldiers in the Roman armyโwho was keeping watch over Jesus. This centurion was a witness to all the events of Godโs love and power at Jesusโ crucifixion and death. Some of these events were truly astonishing. He saw that Jesus, rather than weeping and cursing like others who were to be crucified, forgave His executioners (Luke 23:34). At Jesusโ death, the centurion saw the sunlight fail, the earth shake, rocks break, and tombs open (Matthew 27:51โ53; Luke 23:44). Today, weโll talk about the centurionโs response to the events of the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and how it can apply to us.
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด, ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ!โ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ฎ๐ณ:๐ฑ๐ฐ
After witnessing these events, the Roman centurion was ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ธ๐ฆ and declared that Jesus was ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. Most of the mockery was about Jesusโ claim to be Christโincluding the crown of thorns, the robe, and the sign over Jesusโ head. They had been mocking a man claiming to be King, who was now undergoing a death sentence. Unlike the Jews, the centurion hadnโt grown up with the hope of a coming Messiah. But when Jesus died, the centurion acknowledged that He was who He said He was: the Son of God. How do you see God in your life? How did you acknowledge Him and continue to grow in your relationship with Him?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต!โย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ:๐ฐ๐ณ
In addition to acknowledging that Jesus was the Son of God, the centurion ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. This means he also acknowledged and believed in God. This reaction and transformation of a Roman soldier were so different compared to others. While others mocked Jesus, the centurion praised Him. Do you have a story of transformation from mockery to praise? How has experiencing Jesusโ love and witnessing Jesusโ power transformed you?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Reflect on how you acknowledge Jesus in your everyday life. Whatโs one way you could be more intentional about this?
โข Take time to thank God for a specific way Heโs shown His love to you. How can you remember to praise Him daily?
โข Pray about one area in your life where you feel you need transformation. Whatโs one step you could take this week toward this change?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for revealing His love and power through Jesusโ sacrifice on the cross, and in each day of your life.
โข Ask God to help you see Him clearly and recognize His work in your life. Pray to clearly communicate and testify about His goodness to others.
โข Pray for a heart that is open to transformation and Godโs leading, knowing that we are being sanctified each day.ย