Truly this was the Son of God!

Holy Lance of Keghart, on display in its reliquary at the Museum of Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia (see this article)

 

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

- Matthew 27:45-54

Yesterday we read that as Jesus and the Roman guards leading Him to crucifixion came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified Him reviled Him with the same thing.

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. My study bible refers us to prophecies in Zechariah 14:6-7 and Amos 8:9.  The sixth hour is noon; the ninth hour is about 3:00 PM.

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"   Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  Jesus is praying Psalm 22, a psalm which foretells all the details of Christ's crucifixion.  Without reading or knowing the full content of the psalm, we might believe that this is just a cry of despair.  We can read for ourselves the varied misunderstanding responses of those who stood there.  But, my study bible comments, as Jesus experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, and knows our suffering and distress, He does not despair.  These words are spoken in the name of humanity, as Christ identifies with us completely in our condition.  Yet in His divinity, He is never forsaken by the Father.  See John 16:32:  "Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me."   The same is true for each of us; when we are abandoned in any way, Christ (indeed, the Trinity) and the saints remain with us.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  My study bible suggests that Christ's death was voluntary to the very end, for even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  He accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (for why would God demand such things?) but so that by entering death as the divine Son of God, He can destroy this "last enemy," death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, . . .  This was the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple.  It is a symbol of separation between God and man.  Jesus' death opens the way into the presence of God for all people, and gives access for people to that which is the most holy of all, which my study bible says is God.  In many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave, which is opened during liturgical services in order to emphasize that it is communion with God -- at one time sealed off from humanity -- is now available to all who approach in faith. 

. . . and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.   My study bible notes that the completeness of the salvation won by Christ is signified in the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament.  It says that this guarantees the promise given to Ezekiel that God can and will one day open the graves of all mankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  As the saints enter the holy city, the image is an icon of resurrected humanity entering into the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5).  

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"  This centurion is a Gentile, who realizes that Jesus has dominion over nature, and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  In tradition he is known as St. Longinus. 

If we look at the Crucifixion as a picture, we see an array of humanity standing watching Him on the Cross.  There are those who love Christ, including His mother and many of His followers who watched from afar (as we shall read in tomorrow's lectionary reading).   Those who stand closer to Christ include this Gentile centurion, now known to us as St. Longinus, and there are assorted members of the crowd which includes the chief priests, scribes, and elders (see yesterday's reading, above).  Jesus is also crucified between two robbers.  Many of the members of this crowd have been jeering Christ and ridiculing Him.  At first, both robbers did so as well, as we read in Matthew's text (again, see yesterday's reading above).  But one of these robbers, seeing Jesus on the Cross, eventually repents (Luke 23:39-43).   In yesterday's reading, the chief priests, scribes and elders all scoffed at Jesus, mocking Him still to prove He was the Son of God by saving Himself from the Cross.  In today's reading, members of the crowd nearby misunderstand that Jesus is praying Psalm 22; they think He's calling to Elijah.  Some offer help; others merely do as did the religious leaders:  they think it's a contest to see whether or not Elijah will save Him from death on the Cross.  But this is a voluntary death which Christ has entered into, and it is one which is dedicated to salvation.  As my study bible says, Christ enters death in order to conquer death for us.  It is the process to Resurrection.  But all the people around respond to the Cross in ways which represent the world and its varied responses to Christ.  There are those who will scoff and demand proofs which were never given by Christ in His ministry, and which are not given here on the Cross.  There are those who revile and mock.  There are those who love Him and watch from afar.  And there is Longinus, the centurion, the Gentile who is transformed by what he has seen at this crucifixion, after having no doubt witnessed many others.  We can witness the response of the world to Christ, but it is in Longinus that we see what is really worthwhile to witness.  He is one who is no doubt experienced in the work of the Roman soldiers, assigned to guard the prisoners who are being crucified.  He must be an expert on crowd control, on the martial arts of the Roman military, a ground soldier or perhaps a commander of this particular guard.  We can imagine that he is toughened in the ways of the world, and used to following orders, loyalty and discipline being the highest prized values of a member of the infantry such as he is.  But yet, his mind is open to Christ and to the things he witnesses at the Cross.  The text here in Matthew tells us that he fears at the things he sees, but in Luke's Gospel the centurion witnesses Jesus give up His spirit speaking to the Father, and declares, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!" (Luke 23:44-49).  Longinus' name in tradition comes to us from the Greek word for the long spear he would carry, the one that pierced Christ's side (John 19:34).  This long spear, or lance, was called lonche/λόγχη in Greek, and it is from this word that is derived the saint's name.  So this soldier, this Roman guard who carries out his duties in assisting at the crucifixion of Christ, is the one who truly comes to faith, in addition to the robber who repents.  It teaches us something deeply powerful about the requirements for the ways in which we do come to faith.  We imagine that this soldier had seen many gruesome things, especially there in Golgotha, in the horrific crucifixions, in the treatment of the prisoners, in the ignominious deaths reserved for the worst criminals.  He no doubt is one that does not shrink away from the reality of this world, but rather must know the truth of it.  In this understanding, his ability to accept truth and to hold his mind open (in contrast especially to the religious leaders and those who mock Christ for failure to "prove" He is the Messiah) must in some way determine his capacity for faith.  He is indeed an outsider, but not one who has come for religious instruction.  Instead he is stunned by what he has witnessed, in contrast to so many other crucifixions he has no doubt seen.  The other one who comes to faith is the thief who repents, recognizing Jesus as a just and innocent Man, while he and his fellow thief committed the crimes for which they are being crucified.   This repentant thief is welcomed by Christ, who says, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:39-43).  In many traditions he is known as St. Dismas, and also called "the Good Thief."  As we imagine is the outlook on life of the centurion, this "good thief" is one who no doubt is capable of coming to grips with the truth of his reality and embracing it, and also recognizing the truth of Christ.  It seems that we could infer that the capacity to know and understand even the worst and most gruesome of evils of this world and not turn away might well be linked to the capacity also for apprehending and understanding the true nature of Jesus the Christ, the Savior to whom we turn in the depths of the reality of this world.  It is a reminder of the aphorism that "there are no atheists in foxholes."  It is perhaps those who best know and come to grips with the reality of a fallen world in its truth who can most assuredly embrace and understand the salvation in Christ, and the truth of the Man who went to the Cross for all of us, and did not flinch from the evil of the world, but rather defeated it through His strength, His humility, His obedience and love of God, and His love for us.  For it is only one who can come to grips with the truth of this world who truly understands Christ's gesture and sacrifice.  If we are not lost in the ways of the world, we can come to terms with identifying and accepting its true fallen nature, and thereby with the reality of Christ who did not turn away either.  Let us ponder these great mysteries, and understand the nature of the real truth we embrace.  Once again, our faith is not "pie in the sky" fantasy, nor is it escapist illusion.  It comes right down to the grit and bone and soil of this earth, the sadness of our sins, the desperate violence of our desires, the brutal dehumanizing of its grasp for power.  And it recognizes God's mercy as the light that shines in the darkness, even when the darkness cannot comprehend.  Those who know the truth of life embrace this light and its value for all that it is worth, for the value of life itself.  It reminds us of Jesus' saying that "from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (11:12).  In this perspective, we might understand that those who are most deeply acquainted with the truth of this world, even in all its ugliness, are also those who may reach most zealously for the beauty existing in kingdom of heaven offered by Christ.  For it is not a worldly utopia we seek, but a heavenly kingdom that lives in us and among us, healing and saving in our worst of circumstances.  Let us not lose sight of this depth of truth, even in the paradox of our own human and divine reality present at the Cross of Christ.   Christ goes to those depths of our world, suffering with us.  Whatever reality we know, He is there with us, and takes us forward with Him.