Mark 15:21-41

“So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this Man was the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:39, NKJV)

God does not expect us to have a blind faith. He provides us with ample evidence, and then He calls us to believe. When it comes to showing us how much He loves us, God points to the cross. Here Jesus willingly died. Here He became sin for us.

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8, NLT)

The devil always seeks to take our eyes off the cross. He incites us to think about ourselves and our own sins and inadequacies. Or he fixes our eyes on others and how they have offended us. He causes us to doubt God’s forgiveness and love. But when we fix our eyes on Jesus, and consider all that He suffered to save us, it reminds us how much we are loved by God, and this strengthens our faith.

The Roman centurion saw and heard everything that day—Jesus praying for those who were crucifying Him, three hours of darkness, the sayings of Jesus from the cross, and an earthquake. Finally, when he heard Jesus cry out, “It is finished!” and breathe His last, the centurion said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

What is our testimony of Jesus? What convinces us that He is our Savior, Redeemer, and the Son of God? Let us never take for granted what He did to forgive us and cleanse us from all our sins. And let us remember His resurrection that proves His power to give us eternal life.