Matthew 27:54Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Though the Virgin was called Joseph's wife, she is also recognized as the mother to his children, acting in the role of stepmother. The mother of the sons of Zebedee is referred to as Salome, and it is said she may also have been a daughter of Joseph.

However, when the natural sun was concealed from them, it became evident that calamity was about to befall their city. "It is come," he declared, "the judgement of the destruction of Jerusalem" (Dan. 9:2, 26). Consequently, having rejected the One who created it, that city was destined to witness its own downfall. Yet, this is not the future you, O Jew, will witness, for you have already observed your city in ruins. Therefore, from this desolate and devastated city, discern the identity of Him who established the Church. With the citizens scattered among all nations, understand Who it is that gathered and united the diverse peoples within the embrace of the Church. If the womb of the barren woman who, despite her barrenness, gives birth to many in the Church does not persuade you, perhaps the empty womb of the barren synagogue may. If you cannot perceive the fall of the first, how can you appreciate the fruitfulness of the second? When you behold the desolate and widowed state of the first, will you not see the latter thriving and flourishing with offspring? What do you think when you contemplate the scripture, "She that was left behind hath more children than she that hath a husband?" (cf. Is. 54:1; Gal. 4:27). If the meaning of these scriptures is unclear to you, why do you exhaust your eyes with the toil of reading them? You resemble a bat, for like it, you cannot endure the brilliance of the sun and instead prefer the nocturnal hours that echo your nature. If you cannot appreciate the radiant truth concealed within Scripture, then abandon your daily reading efforts. For the bat finds night to be its day, while you have substituted the Divine depicted in the prophets with a calf crafted by artists. You must choose between honoring the God of the prophets or the idols fashioned by your ancestors. Likewise, Jesus son of Joshua urged: "Choose now for yourselves whom to honor, God or those gods" (cf. Num. 24:15-16). Your heart has chosen the latter. In place of scripture and prophets, you are left with the fury of the pagans; where there should be psalms, you instead find revelry. What we have forsaken, you have embraced, and what you have discarded has been reclaimed by us. If one heavenly kingdom is not promised to all, let the singular Gehenna be your portion.

The Gospel of Luke recounts that when the centurion perceived the events unfolding, he glorified God, saying, “Truly, this man is righteous,” thereby identifying Him as the Son of God. Initially, he acknowledged Jesus as a righteous man, and subsequently affirmed His divine nature. Luke also notes that the crowd, having gathered to witness these events, returned home beating their breasts, a gesture signifying deep sorrow. Fearful of the chief priests, they expressed their grief in silence. Through the preceding miracles and the extraordinary occurrences at that moment, the onlookers understood that Jesus was indeed a man sent from God, and their hearts were moved by His suffering.

“When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32), proclaimed the Lord Jesus. And now, He fulfills His promise through the Gentile centurion! How did this miraculous event happen? When the centurion observed everything that transpired, he glorified God. What led the centurion to honor God? Two significant elements struck him at the cross of Christ—the extraordinary manner of Jesus’ death and the miraculous occurrences that followed it. St. Mark notes that as the centurion witnessed all of this, he exclaimed. He stood upright, facing the crucified Lord, but what was his mindset? Was it mere curiosity? Was he coldly indifferent towards Jesus? No, those feelings were absent in the centurion; he stood with reverence and love for the truth as he observed the actions of Jesus Christ. The preceding events leading up to Jesus’ final moments caught his attention and astonished him. Jesus Christ's prophesy of Jerusalem's tragic fate, His plea for those who crucified Him, His silence amidst hatred, and His response to the penitent thief—all of these moved him. The centurion had witnessed many endure death on the cross and in other executions; he had seen how wicked men faced their end, as well as those who contemplated their eternal fates. Now he stood before Jesus on the cross, watching Him die. In the centurion’s sight, Jesus did not pass away in a typical manner: He died with total freedom of spirit; the powerful voice with which He expressed His devotion to God the Father revealed not exhaustion but the fullness of life within Him. This devotion emanated from a pure, noble soul. The centurion mused to himself, ‘This is not the death of an ordinary man; good men do not die like this.’ As the centurion and those with him fled in fear, he recognized Jesus not as a coward. The frightening earthquake and subsequent miracles that marked Jesus’ last breath filled the centurion with awe and captured his heart for the truth. He trembled, fearing whether God’s wrath might also be directed toward him for his role in Jesus’ crucifixion. He glorified God, acknowledging and proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ. To glorify God, in biblical terms, involves revealing the truth before humanity according to the majesty of God and the reverence owed to the God of truth. Joshua urged Achar, ‘My son, give glory this day to the Lord God of Israel—and tell me what you have done’ (Joshua 7:19). Likewise, the Pharisees insisted that the healed blind man share the entire truth about himself, saying: ‘Give glory to God’ (John 9:24). This is what it means to speak the truth in the language of God’s revelation! Consequently, one can grasp what it implies to speak falsehood! According to St. Luke, the centurion admitted: ‘In truth this man is righteous.’ According to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, he declared, ‘In truth this man is the Son of God.’ The centurion became convinced of Jesus' innocence, a notion also recognized by Pilate: ‘In truth, indeed, this man is righteous,’ he repeated the statement of Pilate’s wife. Thus, he did not solely believe that Jesus was wrongfully condemned; he also acknowledged Jesus as the Righteous One. Moreover, he recognized Him as the Son of God. In what sense did he refer to Jesus as the Son of God? When he said, ‘In truth this man is righteous,’ he reproached Pilate, who had declared the death sentence on the Righteous One; equally, when he referred to Jesus as ‘the Son of God,’ he effectively condemned the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin labeled it blasphemy worthy of death to refer to Jesus as the Son of God. The centurion firmly believed otherwise. He acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God in the same context that the Sanhedrin had once recognized Him; he understood Him to possess divine authority, commanding nature itself. ‘The centurion,’ Blessed Jerome observes, ‘during the very temptation of the cross, confesses the Son of God, yet Arius, within the Church, preaches a created being.’ ‘We Cappadocians,’ St. Gregory of Nyssa writes, ‘have chosen as leaders (i.e., bishops) those who, in times of suffering, confessed the divinity of the Lord.’ What profound faith! The martyrdom of St. Longinus, whom St. Chrysostom also noted, is commemorated by the Church on October 16. Those who contested with him, witnessing the cowardice and the prior actions, were terrified, as recorded by St. Matthew. Evangelists Mark and Luke attribute the profound confession about Jesus solely to the centurion, omitting mention of the soldiers. The soldiers, influenced by the centurion’s example, were filled with fear and awe. The God who shook the earth was known to them, despite their failure to honor the God of Israel (Romans 1:19). They may have committed some good deeds before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but they also engaged in numerous unjust actions. The earth’s trembling made them shudder and turned their thoughts to heaven and their own souls. They recognized the insult to their conscience and souls in having mocked Jesus Christ; they should have guarded themselves against any unfavorable judgment toward Him, especially in light of how evident the malice of His enemies had been. They ought to have heeded the law written within their hearts (Romans 2:14), yet they were swayed by human passions—self-interest, the desire to appease the most powerful malevolence, their own cruelty, and a disconnection from the reality that, aside from earthly matters, there exists a heavenly judgment that is certain and daunting for all wickedness.

The Roman soldiers then recognized, as noted by Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson, that the lifeless body they were guarding was scarcely more exalted than their own deities. They were unaware of the God of Israel; however, the God of all creation, at whose command the very earth trembled, was known to all. Positioned on the quaking Golgotha and realizing their culpability before the Just One who had perished, the guards were paralyzed by sheer terror. The centurion overseeing the soldiers was particularly overwhelmed with fear and wonder. He stood directly before the cross at the moment Jesus surrendered His spirit, witnessing not only the final words but also the expression on the face of the God-man.

Having witnessed numerous crucifixions before, he had never encountered such serene composure or such unwavering commitment to the divine will as he observed in Jesus. The centurion heard Jesus prophesy the tragic destiny of Jerusalem, prayed for those who crucified Him, and responded divinely to the repentant thief, all while maintaining a profound tranquility amidst the ridicule. He recalled that even Pilate had declared no fault in Him, and a deep sense of awe enveloped his heart.

The centurion and those who assisted him, witnessing the earthquake and the unfolding events, felt a disturbance within, anxiously anticipating whether the wrath of God would erupt, capable of shaking mountains, and bringing judgment upon the executioners. In their fear, they exchanged with one another, “Truly this man was the great Righteous One, as Pilate referred to Him; indeed, He was the Son of God.” The centurion exalted the God of Israel. Ancient Church tradition recounts that his name was Longinus and that he, alongside two fellow soldiers, later embraced Christianity and ultimately sealed his confession made at Golgotha with martyrdom. The Holy Church honors his memory on October 16.