My name is Longinus the Centurion and I was a witness to the death of the man called Jesus the Christ. For you see I am the one - who was charged by the governor to carry out the death sentence upon Jesus. I want you to know that my men and I were just following our orders on that Friday …. just like hundreds of others before and since, … before this Jesus the Christ became such a treat to Jerusalem and to Rome. I am a faithful soldier of Rome and my job, is to protect Rome from all its enemies. In this I have served my emperor well.
Some of you have asked if I was there in those days. Yes I was there outside the governor's quarters and at first I even approved the punishment meted out to Jesus as one of my men by the name of Horatius carried out the punishment of flogging upon this man. This fellow Horatious was a rather evil man who enjoyed whipping others till near death.
Let me explain this Roman whip. The Roman flagella is made of two strips of leather with bits of metal or bone at the tip of each of the strips. It is a gruesome weapon of torture. It tears flesh and muscle from the human body and lays the bones bear. Jesus was a bloody, filthy, and his body was severely wounded and barely recognizable following this horrific scourging.
Pontus Pilate, our governor, ordered this punishment hoping that its use might strike terror at the hearts of all who witnessed the flogging so that it might instigate a call of mercy from the mob, but they only persisted in calling for his death even more vehemently! Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, however he was afraid for his position and instead he gives in to those voices of deceit and hatred.
Yes ! Pilate gave in to them - to the voices of death, hatred, ignorance, out of fear, and then, then … he washed his hands of the whole affair and walked away. Are we any different when we wash our hands today over the issues of life when we say its their choice ? Or when we say that we humans have a right to do with our bodies as we like?
I saw and heard all this! I also heard the words of Jesus in his last breaths speaking to his mother and one of his followers. His words were those of love and forgiveness, - even for us who put him upon the throne of the cross. And yet when the thief at his right asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom, Jesus replies to this repentant thief - that this day he would be with him in paradise.
As Jesus gasped for breath; each breath he took was labored and painful and I heard him cry out in agony to his Father in heaven and finally heard him utter it is finished.
As I looked up at his body and looked into the face, the face that was so peaceful even in the agony of such a death, I can only think … that this man must truly be the Son of God.