Matthew 27:54
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When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Now when the centurion--the military superintendent of the execution. and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake--or felt it and witnessed its effects. and those things that were done--reflecting upon the entire transaction. they feared greatly--convinced of the presence of a Divine Hand. saying, Truly this was the Son of God--There cannot be a reasonable doubt that this expression was used in the Jewish sense, and that it points to the claim which Jesus made to be the Son of God, and on which His condemnation expressly turned. The meaning, then, clearly is that He must have been what He professed to be; in other words, that He was no impostor. There was no medium between those two. See, the similar testimony of the penitent thief--"This man hath done nothing amiss"--on Luk 23:41. The Galilean Women (Mat 27:55-56).
Open source ↗27:54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers were Gentiles. • the Son of God: This may be an unqualified affirmation that Jesus is the unique Son of God (see 14:33; 16:16) or possibly a more general affirmation of Jesus’ innocence (see Luke 23:47). They are responding to the earthquake and all that had happened as evidence of divine interest in this occasion.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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