The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Luke 23:47 – 49

It was a Centurian, a hardened Roman soldier, who saw what was happening, the first non-Jew we know of who was convinced that Jesus was a righteous man.  This is, at first, not what we would think a soldier would say.  He was a Roman.

The elders of the Jewish nation cursed Jesus and pronounced him fit for death on the cross.  Do you feel the contrast?

I see the sides forming, the eager Roman believers on the one side and the Jews who, probably out of confusion and darkness simply “beat their breasts” in a dirge and silently walked away, confused and troubled.

As this contrast presented itself, at a distance the women of Galilee and others who loved Jesus observed the hate of his persecutors and the distress of those who beat their breasts.  Luke wrote, they stood at a distance, watching these things.

I feel a bond with the Centurion.  He was not a Jew. He had no place among the followers of God. He was, in a sense, an outsider.  But he believed!  Now what?  I believe his faith and belief wiped away everything – history, culture, prejudices, etc.  I this not me?  And, probably you?  The only thing that binds me with Jesus is that I believe on him and place my entire life into his hand.  He is my life.