Mark 15:38-39 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion who stood in front of him saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Two significant events happen after Jesus’ last breath as witness to the significance of the moment. The first witness spoke powerfully to the Jews with the symbolic tearing of the temple veil. This curtain separated the Holy of Holies of the inner temple from the Court of Israel, where the seven-branch lamp stand, a table with twelve loaves of bread on it, and an altar of incense were located. Only the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies, but Jewish men could go into the outer area. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus (War 5.219) described the curtain as being about thirty feet tall and very thick and elaborate. The very presence of God was believed to be in the Holy of Holies.
The tearing of this huge curtain from top to bottom could only happen through divine power. The separation between the Holy God and humanity caused by sin was removed. Jesus’ death was the atonement for sin. The author of Hebrews 9:11-14 describes how through the shedding of his blood, Jesus opens the way to God by the removal of the sin barrier. We now have access directly to God through Jesus, the mediator. Interestingly, the only other time Mark uses the word torn (exchisthē) was at Jesus’ baptism in 1:10 when the sky was ripped in two and the Holy Spirit descended from heaven to Jesus in a visible way. The separation between God and humanity was removed through the ministry and death of Jesus.
The second witness was a centurion standing by Jesus, watching him. The centurion’s response stands in stark contrast to the mockery of the others who watched Jesus in verse 32. The centurion was the one in charge of the execution and leader of the squad of soldiers. His position as being right in front of Jesus is representative of someone who is curious and sees what is happening. The centurion could watch and see Jesus’ face, and he saw something there, a peace that spoke deeply into his heart. Sometimes there is a difference between how a believer dies and a non-believer. The centurion’s statement also contrasts with the ridicule of the chief priests and scribes in verse 31. Mark began his Gospel with the declaration that Jesus is the Son of God (1:1) and now re-affirms this from the lips of a foreign enemy.
Some people who do not know Greek well change the translation to read “a son of a god” because these words lack the article in the Greek. The anarthrous construction here puts the emphasis is on the nature or character of the predicate. Thus, the centurion is proclaiming the divinity of the man on the cross. The centurion likely did not know the theological significance of what he said, but the readers of Mark’s Gospel know this significance, and by this point must agree with the centurion’s declaration. When all the Jewish leaders missed Jesus’ identity as the messianic King of the Jews, the pagan soldier saw something much more powerful. As readers of Mark’s account, we are left with the crucial question of what to do with this Jesus of Nazareth.
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