Lunatic, Poached Egg, Devil, or Lord?

When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Matthew 27:54 (ESV)

I’ve heard all the arguments. Shoot, back in the day, I made all the arguments. “To say that a human male is God’s Son is patently absurd. How could a human being be the offspring of God (if God even actually exists)? What a ridiculous thought! I’ll give you that He’s a good Rabbi. A good teacher. Maybe I’ll even give you that He’s the #mostbestest person in history, but to say He’s God’s Son is dumb. I don’t even know what that really means anyway.”

At this point, I had read the Old Testament and had only been in the New Testament for two or three days. This “Son of God” language does not exist on the left side of the Bible. However, it first shows up in Matthew 4, when the devil calls Him “Son of God” a couple of times. Two demon-possessed men use the title for Jesus in Matthew 8. In Matthew 14, Jesus walks on the water, calmed the wind, and His disciples say, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33). When Jesus is hanging on the Cross, a huge contingent of religious leaders all quote Him as having said, “I am the Son of God” (Matthew 27:43).

Think about this . . . Satan and his minions recognize who He is. His disciples recognize who He is. The religious leaders admit that Jesus claimed it. Yeah, OK, but I’m still skeptical . . . not really buying it . . . just doesn’t make sense to me. I couldn’t even get my arms around what the phrase “Son of God” means.[1] 

In December 2000, I read C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. He writes,

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [that is, Christ]: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.[2]

Man, I seriously want to be C.S. Lewis when I grow up.

The insight about Jesus’ identity in Matthew 27:54 (this week’s verse) comes from a most unlikely source. We’ve heard from devils and demons and disciples. Now we hear from captains and soldiers (“the centurion and those who were with him”). And these guys were Roman—Pagan—Gentile, to boot.

At the very end, these men were the closest witnesses to Him. They were the crucifixion team and were responsible for carrying out Jesus’ execution. It is reasonable to believe they had carried out hundreds or even thousands of crucifixions. They were good at it. They knew all the stages that a man’s body would go through prior to death. They knew how men reacted to everything performed by the executioners. The wailing. The deafening screams of torture. The shrieks of agonizingly trying to pull up to breathe. The death rattle of suffocation.

But this One was different!

This Jewish carpenter uttered only a few words while fastened to His Cross. And can you imagine?

They were words of kindness.

To the soldiers murdering Him:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Luke 23:34 (ESV)

To the criminal hanging next to Him:

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:43 (ESV)

To His mother:

“Woman, behold, your son!”

John 19:26 (ESV)

To John:

“Behold, your mother!”

John 19:27 (ESV)

They were words that fulfilled prophecy:

“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matthew 27:46 (ESV)

“I thirst.”

John 19:28 (ESV)

They were words declaring fulfillment of task:

“It is finished.”

John 19:30 (ESV)

 “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” 

Luke 23:46 (ESV)

Hours earlier, a mysterious darkness enveloped the land. Upon Jesus’ death, the curtain in the Temple tore, the earth shook, and tombs were opened.

Yes, this One was different!

The Centurion and his men were up close eyewitnesses to it all. They were intimately complicit in the whole thing. I have this image ingrained in my mind of a hardened old Roman Centurion, “Special Ops” tattoo on his veiny forearm, sweaty, filthy, and grimy . . . and yet, a single tear is rolling off his cheek. Voice shaking and cracking, he whispers, “Surely this Man is the Son of God!”

Father God, thank You for the hearts of the four evangelists that You chose to pen the story of Your Son. Thank You for perfectly preserving it for us to dive into so many years later. Lord, thank You for the example in Your Word of an old Gentile warrior confessing Jesus. Thank You for his testimony that, I have no doubt, was shared with countless numbers of his friends and family. I can’t wait to meet and talk to Him when I get there. In the precious name of the Son of God, Amen!

[1] Following is an attempt, albeit admittedly flawed and feeble, to answer the question: God the Son is only “the Son” relative to God the Father. “Son” as the word used, is used because we use words to describe things so that we can understand reality. The Son is the perfect image of the Father. He is one in being with the Father. The Father and the Son are of the same essence . . . the same God stuff. To be the “Son of God” is to be Divine . . . to be God.

[2] Mere Christianity