Friday, March 12, 2010
Matthew 27:54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"
GOD'S OWN SON
It is true. His enemies had refused the evidence of His words and works. They had rejected His claims; they had condemned Him of blasphemy because He said "I am the Son of God." Indeed, they had thrown His words in His face as He hung there dying in the darkness.
But now, the Centurion and the soldiers who gambled for Jesus' meager possessions understand the testimony of the trembling earth and the lowering sky. All that his enemies denied, they say, had to have been true.
And while none of these men likely were there in the temple courtyard when Jesus laid claim to the historic covenant-name of the one true God, their words, together with the events surrounding Christ's death, declare that Jesus uttered eternal truth when He said: "Before Abraham was, I AM."
He is not only innocent of the charges against Him, He is righteous. He is the Son of God.
Did the Centurion understand the full import of his confession? No. Did the Jewish leaders who refused to believe and condemned Jesus for claiming to be the Son of God fully understand what they were doing? No. Did the disciples fully grasp the reality of who Jesus was? No (else the Resurrection would not have been such a surprise).
Do we grasp the full wonder of the fact that Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God? No. Not as fully as Matthew would have us -- as the Spirit would work in our hearts.
Since Jesus truly is the Son of God; since God's own Son sacrificed Himself on our behalf, suffered what we deserved -- separation from God, then every single sin-debt we owed has been paid in full.
