The Bible records in the gospels that Jesus' death was accompanied by the signs of the earth shaking, darkness, the temple veil splitting and the resurrection of some dead saints.  One of the centurions keeping watch over the crucifixion of Jesus witnessed some of these signs and said "Truly this man was the Son of God."  He understood in that moment what he had done.  Matthew 27:54 and Luke 23:47 give us pieces of the story of this one centurion's experience on that day.  If we read them together we can get the whole picture of what took place. This centurion likely grew up in Rome being taught to serve the Roman gods.  As a military man he would probably have been indoctrinated to do everything for the glory of Rome.  This man was a member of the world's greatest military force.  It was a force that held the world in its grip, and defended the now infamous decadence of the Roman empire.  Here was a soldier who, on what was probably just another day to him, carried out orders to crucify a group of criminals.  Out of every soul that has ever existed, this centurion was known before the foundation of the world by God Himself...and loved.  Now, we've all had moments in our lives when we thought:  "What have I done?"  Imagine the wave of terror that swept over this man when he realized who he had executed that day.  Matthew 27:54 tells us that he and those with him became very frightened and that he acknowledged out loud "Truly this man was the Son of God."  Then, Luke 23:47 records that he "began praising God, saying 'Certainly this man was innocent.'"  Now, we don't have all of the details, but based on what the Bible teaches in these scriptures, I believe that this centurion came to trust the Lord through that day's events.

He, like everyone who has ever trusted God, when confronted with the inescapable truth of who Jesus is and who we are, was crushed.  However, praise the Lord, He does not leave us there.  The centurion then began praising God, realizing that the Lamb of God was innocent, that Jesus is everything that He says He is and that He is everything that we need to fulfill the just requirements of the law.  The one Savior to whom all of history past, present and future points carried His own blood into heaven itself to present before God the Father.  He presented that sacrifice with that centurion in His heart, with me in His heart, with my wife and each of my children in His heart, with you in His heart.