<p>27:54 <em>Now the centurion and those that were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that happened- </em>There is great emphasis on people &quot;beholding&quot; (Mt. 27:36,54; Lk. 23:35,47-49). He drew the eyes of all men unto Him (Jn. 12:32). There was (and is) a magnetism about the cross.</p><p>The point has been made that the sight of the crucifixion process divided people into the only two categories which exist in God's sight:<br />- The repentant thief and the bitter one<br />- The soldiers who mocked and the Centurion who believed<br />- The Sanhedrin members who believed and those who wouldn't<br />- The women who lamented but didn't obey His word, and those whose weeping isn't recorded, but who stood and watched and thought<br />- The people who beat their breasts in repentance, and those who mocked as to whether Elijah would come to save the Lord.</p><p>This is why recollection of the Lord's agony is to be associated with serious self-examination and humbled, zealous response (1 Cor. 11:28,29). And this is where our study must lead us.</p><p><em>Were terrified, saying</em>- Not just the Centurion but the soldiers with him all made the confession that &quot;This was the Son of God&quot;. This is the confessional formula used in the Gospels and Acts. They feared because it was exactly that battalion of soldiers who had just hours before so cruelly abused and mocked the Lord. They came very quickly from that extreme of hating Him to a public confession of faith in Him at the foot of His cross. This is the power of the cross in convicting men. I suggest that psychologically, they could only have made this step of faith because they believed that somehow He would forgive them. They perceived a connection between His death there, and the forgiveness of the greatest human sin, the sin of the cosmos, the worst sin ever committed in the infinity of time and space- to abuse and crucify God's Son. Even that could be forgiven. If those soldiers did not have that conviction, then it seems to me that they simply would have cursed their luck and lived the rest of their days with a &quot;certain fearful looking for of judgment&quot;.</p><p><em>Truly this was the Son of God</em>- He said it twice: &quot;This was a righteous man (Lk.), truly this man was the son of God&quot; (Mk.). And he might well have added in his own thoughts: &ldquo;And I&rsquo;ve crucified him&quot;.</p>