Jesus' death was monumental. Not because of the claims He made and the astonishing things that happened as He died, but because He didn't stay dead. He came back, whether or not you believe it. In verses 51-53 of the chapter, it describes how the veil in the Temple was ripped in half, how the earth shook, tombs opened, and how dead saints rose to life and went into the city to testify.
If you were a Roman or a Jew in those times, you wouldn't want History to remember these things. The tearing of the veil for example, to a Pharisee or priest who was unwilling to believe in Jesus' self, was a sign of the failure of God. I suspect that to an extent, God left the holy place behind the veil when it tore. And what more hopeless concept is that to a chosen people, than to have your God leave you?
But He didn't leave. The methods through which He manifested Himself merely changed. Instead of being available to only the select few priests and prophets, Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to all who believe and everyone is a priest and/or prophet. Surely the Son of God who gives the Comforter will be with you. If the centurion and his soldiers believed by the cross with the evidence presented to them, can't you?
They were afraid because they didn't know what was going to happen next. You know what happened. You have nothing to be afraid of, because in His death Jesus defeated everything you could be afraid of. Death. Persecution. Mocking. Messing up. You're human, Jesus knows it, and He loves you anyways. No matter what happens, Jesus wins in the end. And so can you. You are His child, after all.
Praise God for that!
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