Easter in Their Shoes: Roman Centurion

Let them in. Thank you Octavian, you are dismissed. I will handle it from here. Now that he is gone, let us find a place a little more private to have the discussion I am told you wish to have with me.

Ah here we go. Now from the message that John sent you wish to know more about the crucifixion, am I correct.

I would have you know it is one of the worst assignments that can be given to an officer. You are essentially killing someone. That day however, I killed an innocent man. The very thought is what drove me to seek out the followers of the Way in the first place.

That day the city of Jerusalem was packed as it usually was during the Jew’s Passover celebration. I heard that the city population quadrupled in size for those weeks. Trouble was bound to come up.

That day assignments were given to me and three others to crucifixion duty. Earlier that day we went and prepared the crosses they and made for the governor’s palace to retrieve the unfortunate souls.

We approached and two of them I could tell were seasoned criminals, the other, he seemed to have never done a crime in his life. No doubt he had had a hard night. His beard looked like someone had yanked hard on it, ripping out chunks of skin in the process. I could tell he had been flogged, by the slash marks on his sides and back.

The walk to the execution site was a lengthy one. Each of them was forced to carry one of the crosses through the streets of Jerusalem and out to Golgotha. We found it a suitable site to execute due to it being on the main road in and out of Jerusalem. A stark reminder of who was really in charge, especially since crucifixions can take days.

About halfway, the man who appeared innocent, whom I later found out was named Jesus, collapsed. His injuries making it difficult to walk. I pulled a random guy out of the crowd and forced him to help carry the cross. Again, to show the people who was still in charge. Romans can get away with almost anything in Roman territory especially on the outskirts of the Empire.

When we reached Golgotha, I thanked the random guy for his service to the Empire and let him go on his way. The criminals however were not so lucky. Their clothes were removed, arms outstretched on the arms of the cross, held in place by the other officers. I took the hammer and drove the iron spikes through their wrists and feet into the wood. The yells of pain and agony, the fear in their eyes as they realize that this is really happening and they are entering into the final moments of their lives, still haunt me today. They were then raised up and dropped into the hole dug to stand the cross up and let them hang there until they died.

With Jesus it was different than any other crucifixion I had done. For one Pilot had supplied a sign to be hung above him that read “King of the Jews” in Greek, Hebrew and Latin so anyone passing by could read it.

At some point Jesus asked for a drink. The only thing we had was some sour wine. We soaked a piece of cloth in it and raised it up to him. This kind of request is common, but it takes much more strength and life out of the person as they hang there.

About noon the sky went dark. It was as if it were the dead of night, yet we all knew it was the middle of the day and stayed that way for about three hours. At that point Jesus muttered something in his native tongue that one of the locals translated to, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” After that moment, Jesus seemed to take a turn for the worse. With his final breath he said, “It is finished.” What the “it” was at that time I had no idea. It was at that moment my initial thoughts were confirmed. I had just killed an innocent man.

In the weeks to come there were reports from all over the surrounding area of people who had died walking about as if they were still living. There were rumors that the curtain in the middle of the Jewish Temple had been ripped down the middle and many others.

What I can tell you is that the events of that weekend were devastating for our garrison. Several of our men lost the body of Jesus. While I know what really happened from talking to people like Peter and John, at the time their way of thinking seemed outrageous. Raised from the dead? All I knew was that there was a missing body that never turned up, no matter how hard we looked. Thus, everyone on that detail took his place. This was the ordinance set in place through our training. You lose a prisoner; you take their place in whatever their punishment was.

Well it looks like our time is up. I spot Octavian searching for me, there must be business back at the garrison I need to take care of. I hope I answered your questions, perhaps provided new ones. In his message John asked me to send you back to Peter. A word of caution to you and the other followers of the Way. Rome is changing, from what I hear the followers could be in danger. What exactly that means, I have yet to find out. Warn John and Peter for me will you?

May the grace and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always my fellow follower. I pray you find the answers you seek.

Farewell.