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the Son of God is the first faith statement post Christ’s death
for the church. The church’s affirmation of faith in Jesus lies in
experiencing and participating in the suffering death of Jesus
with the certainty of resurrection. Hence, the affirmations of
people at the point of His death and resurrection have a vital
significance. Here is an attempt of re-imaging the Centurion in
the light of his affirmations at the point of Jesus death in this
meditation. The critique of these affirmations as against the
then prevalent and powerful Empires of Roman State and the
Judaic priestly class would throw light on our understanding
and role of our faith in contemporary times. The impact of these
affirmations would guide us further in the faith journey of the

church and individuals.

The Centurion’s encounter of Jesus on the cross
After the death of Jesus, the Centurion was the first
person and that too a non-Jew to publicly pronounce that Jesus
is the Son of God. The clever plot of the Religious Empire tricked
the State Empire and the common people to believe their false
accusations against Jesus.
The priests were able to convince them that Jesus
ought to be crucified for two reasons. 1) He committed the
sin of blasphemy by claiming to be the Son of God and 2) He
committed the crime of treason by claiming to be the King of
the Jews.
Therefore, He must be put to death according to the Law
of Moses and the law of the Empire. The Roman emperors were
believed to be divine and bore the title as son of God. Any voice
or claim against the Empires of State and Religion would be
crushed mercilessly. The silent scattering of the disciples from
the crucified Jesus, who was undergoing vicarious suffering,
exposes this intensity of the tyranny.
The coming together of the State and the Religion is
proven to be more catastrophic on the Innocent. In this context
the words of the Centurion are very radical. His declarations and
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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People