Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 15:39
And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
39 41. The Confession of the Centurion
39. when the centurion ] in charge of the quaternion of soldiers. See above, Mar 15:24.
that he so cried out ] The whole demeanour of the Divine Sufferer, the loudness of the cry, and the words He uttered, thrilled the officer through and through. Death he must have often witnessed, on the battle-field, in the amphitheatre at Csarea, in tumultuous insurrections in Palestine, but never before had he been confronted with the majesty of a Voluntary Death undergone for the salvation of the world. The expression of a wondrous power of life and spirit in the last sign of life, the triumphant shout in death, was to him a new revelation.
the Son of God ] In an ecstacy of awe and wonder “ he glorified God,” he exclaimed, “ In truth this man was righteous ” (Luk 23:47); nay, he went further, and declared, “ This Man was a (or the) Son of God.” It is possible that on bringing the Lord back after the scourging, which he superintended, the centurion may have heard the mysterious declaration of the Jews, that by their Law the Holy One ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God (Joh 19:7). The words made a great impression on Pilate then (Joh 19:8). But now the centurion had seen the end. And what an end! All that he had dimly believed of heroes and demigods is transfigured. This man was more. He was the Son of God. Together with the centurion at Capernaum (Matthew 8) and Cornelius at Csarea (Acts 10) he forms in the Gospel and Apostolic histories a triumvirate of believing Gentile soldiers. The words, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me, had been already fulfilled in the instance of the penitent malefactor. They are now true of this Roman officer. The “Lion of the tribe of Judah” was “reigning from the Tree.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mar 15:39
Truly this Man was the Son of God.
The centurions confession
Never did reason obtain a more complete victory over prejudice. Death is the touchstone of the soul. Even in the most favourable circumstances it tries a man severely. But in this instance there were many aggravating circumstances to weigh clown and overwhelm the soul.
1. The treason of Judas. Jesus had been delivered up to His enemies by one who had been admitted to His friendship and close intercourse with Him.
2. Christs utter abandonment by His disciples. Not a voice had been uttered in Ills defence, or to comfort Him; not one was found to come forward courageously and acknowledge Him.
3. The injustice of His sentence. Even His judge was convinced of His innocence; yet He was condemned to the most cruel death ever devised.
4. The ignominy accompanying His punishment. The death of Jesus, expiring in the midst of tortures, abused, insulted, cursed by a whole nation, is the most horrible that could be feared.
5. His knowledge of all that was to come upon Him. His passion and death commenced in Gethsemane. There He resigned Himself unreservedly to all the anguish He afterwards underwent. Nor did He for one moment draw back from the awful sufferings that followed. Was not the centurion justified in the conclusion forced upon him by such a spectacle as this-that He who could thus die must be of a truth not Man only, but the very Son of God? (L. H. Horne, B. D.)
The believing centurion
What was Jesus Christ to this heavy-bearded, battle-scarred soldier? He had heard of Him, doubtless, for the hot talk and the excited crowds in the streets of Jerusalem could not have escaped the notice of one of the officers appointed to preserve order in the city. But in his opinion Christ was nothing but a Jewish fanatic, in regard to whom he was profoundly indifferent. He had received the order to superintend the execution of this disturber of the peace without any emotion. After an impassive fashion he had directed the details of the execution, supposing that it would be only the repetition of a scene familiar to him. The fact was far otherwise. As has been said, he halted as he passed the cross when Jesus uttered His loud death cry. He was within a few feet of Him, and must have involuntarily fixed his gaze on Him at such a sound. He saw the change pass over His features; the light of life leaving them, and the head suddenly sink. As it did so, the earthquake shook the ground, and made the three crosses tremble. But the tremor of the earth affected the Roman less than the piercing cry and sudden death. He had likely attended many crucifixions, but had never seen or heard of a man dying within a few hours on a cross. He had never heard a crucified man, strong to the last, utter a shriek that showed, as that of Jesus did, the full vigour of the vital organs to the last. He felt that there was something mysterious in it, and joining with it all he had seen and heard of the sufferer, he broke involuntarily into this confession. The triumphs of the kingdom of the cross were beginning. The Jewish thief had already asked and received Messiahs salvation, and now the Gentile centurion bowed in loyalty to the Divine Sufferer. The confession of the centurion wag a sort of first fruits of the crucifixion. Tradition has it that years afterwards, unable to shake off the influence, he became a preacher of the gospel; and certainly that cross testified, as nothing else could, to the divinity of Him who endured its pains. (E. S. Atwood.)
Converting power in the sight of Christ
The Roman centurion is not one you would have expected to be impressed. He was there but casually; had probably only been in Jerusalem a few days, Caesarea being his station. His deities were those whose chief characteristic was power. Meekness and lowliness were, by his people, considered failings, not virtues. He had probably everything about religion to learn; and yet be follows the dying thief in the path of faith and of salvation. He would not mean, perhaps, by his exclamation, all that St. Paul would have meant; but he meant that Christ was more than mere man; that God was in Him; that whatever claims He made we should reverently admit them. Such a converting power is there in the mere sight of Christ. We have but to fix our honest gaze on Him and we begin to believe upon Him and to become like Him. (R. Glover.)
The risen Lord Divine
If in dying the Roman officer became convinced that Jesus was Divine, how much more should we be convinced of the Divinity of a risen and exalted Christ. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
Involuntary testimony to the Divinity of Jesus
A well-known learned man of Saxony, after having all his life long attacked Jesus and His gospel with all the weapons of sophistry he could command, was in his old age partially deprived of his reason, chiefly through the fear of death, and frequently fell into religious paroxysms of a peculiar nature. He was almost daily observed conversing with himself, while pacing to and fro in his chamber, on one of the walls of which, between other pictures, hung one of the Saviour. Repeatedly he halted before the latter, and said, in a horrifying tone of voice, After all, Thou wast only a Man. Then, after a short pause, he would continue, What wast Thou more than a Man? Ought I to worship Thee? No, I will not worship Thee, for Thou art only Rabbi Jesus, Josephs son, of Nazareth. Uttering these words, he would return with a deeply affected countenance, and exclaim, What dost Thou say? That Thou camest from above! How terribly Thou eyest me! Oh, Thou art dreadful! But Thou art only a Man, after all! Then he would again rush away, but soon return with faltering step, crying out, What! Art Thou in reality the Son of God? The same scenes were daily renewed, till the unhappy man, struck by paralysis, dropped down dead; and then really stood before his Judge, who, even in His picture, had so strikingly and overpoweringly judged him.
The evidence which arises from the nature and character of the gospel
I. That the religion of the gospel is the only one which has ever yet appeared among mankind which is adequate to all the instinctive desires and expectations of the human mind.
II. There is a second view of it which arises from its relation to the welfare of society, or the prosperity of the world. III, That the religion of the gospel is the only one which has ever appeared among mankind which is commensurate to the future hopes or expectations of the human soul. (A. Alison, LL. B.)
The centurion
He had been condemned as a blasphemer by the ecclesiastical authorities, because He had said that He was the Son of God. It was proper, it was needful, that His claims should be vindicated. This was done, indeed, effectually by His resurrection from the dead: He was then declared to be the Son of God with power-with the most powerful weight of evidence. But it was not necessary to wait till the third day; it was fitting rather that something should be done to vindicate His claims while He yet suffered, so that His enemies should not completely triumph. The prodigies which attended the crucifixion of our Lord seemed necessary also, in order to bring His death into harmony with His life. As in the person so also in the history of Jesus, there was a strange combination of humiliation and dignity, of power and weakness. The centurion was convinced by the scenes which he witnessed of the innocence of Jesus. When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. His enemies had said all manner of evil of Him. They had said that He was a sinner, a Sabbath breaker, a profane person, a leader of sedition, a Samaritan who had a devil and was mad. But to the centurion all nature became animated, vocal, and refuted these foul calumnies. The centurion was convinced by the scenes which he witnessed, not only of the innocence of our Lord, but also of His Messiahship; he not only exclaimed, Certainly this was a righteous man, but he said again, Truly this was the Son of God. Some have supposed that we should interpret this as the language of a heathen; and that it means simply this was a son of a god; He was a hero; there was something Divine in Him. But in reading the new Testament we are struck with the fact that many of the Roman soldiers, those especially of any rank, who were stationed in Judea, appear to have derived much religious knowledge from their intercourse with the Jews. It is necessary only to refer to the centurion at Capernaum. This centurion appears to have known that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, the promised deliverer of mankind, but that the Jews denied the claims of Jesus, that they rejected Him, that they pronounced Him guilty of blasphemy, and worthy of death; and now the centurion felt that God had decided the controversy-that He had decided it against the Jews and in favour of Jesus. He and those with him felt that those prodigies were expressions of the Divine displeasure; they said therefore, What have we done? We have been partakers with the Jews in this great sin; we have contributed to the murder of this righteous man; we have crucified the Son of God. And what will God do? He will surely be avenged on such a people; He will punish such a deed as this! Here it is worthy of remark, that they were soldiers, Roman soldiers who were thus impressed by the prodigies which attended the death of our Lord; they were Gentile soldiers who were convinced by those signs and wonders of the innocence of Jesus, and of the justice of His claims; the Jews were not impressed, were not convinced by them; nothing could convince them; nothing could remove their prejudices and unbelief; especially of the chief priests and rulers. So it often is; we frequently find most where we expect least; we often find publicans and sinners, soldiers and Gentiles, more open to conviction, and more susceptible of impression, than religious professors and self-righteous Pharisees. Of all men these indeed are generally the most hardened and the most hopeless. We should remark further: the centurion and those that were with him watching Jesus, that is to say, those who were the least guilty of all the parties concerned in the melancholy transactions of that day, feared greatly when they saw in the wonders which attended the death of our Lord the proofs of His Messiahship, and of the Divine displeasure against His enemies; but those who were most guilty had no fear. Luke tells us indeed that all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things that were done, smote their breasts and returned. But Annas and Caiaphas, the chief priests and rulers, were not amongst them. Their consciences were seared, their minds were reprobate; they were given up to judicial blindness and obduracy. (J. J. Davies.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
And when the centurion, which stood over against him,…. To watch him, that nobody released him, and that he did not come down from the cross himself;
saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost; that he cried with so loud and strong a voice, and the next moment expired:
he said, truly this man was the Son of God; and so said the rest of the soldiers that were with them, as appears from Mt 27:54,
[See comments on Mt 27:54].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The centurion ( ). A Latin word (centurio) used also in verse 44 and here only in the N.T.
Which stood by over against him ( ). This description alone in Mark, picturing the centurion “watching Jesus” (Mt 27:54).
So (). With the darkness and the earthquake. See on Mt 27:54 for discussion of “the Son of God,” more probably “a Son of God.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Son of God. Not the Son of God, which Rev. has retained, but a son of God. To the centurion Christ was a hero or demigod. See on Mt 27:54.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And when the centurion, which stood over against Him,” (idon de ho kenturion ho parestekos eks enantias autou) “Then when the centurion who stood out opposite from Him,” Mat 27:54; recounted also as the centurion who glorified God as a righteous man, Luk 23:47.
2) “Saw that He so cried out,” (hoti houtos) “Saw that He thus let ‘go of a very loud cry,” to the extent that nature’s God of Judgement shook and rent the earth with a quake, as if to say “this is why I have forsaken you,” Mat 27:54.
3) “And gave up the Ghost,” (eksepneusen) “That He thus expired, died, or gave up His spirit,” fear came upon him, an overwhelming fear, Mat 27:54.
4) “He said, truly this man was the Son of God.” (eipen alethos houtos ho anthropos huios theou en) “He said truly, (surely or certainly) this man was the Son of God,” Mat 27:54; As also recounted Luk 23:47; He declared also Jesus to be a righteous man, Rom 10:10; 2Co 5:21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(39) When the centurion.St. Mark, after his manner, uses the actual Latin word, St. Matthew the Greek equivalent.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(39-47) See Notes on Mat. 27:54-61.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And when the centurion who stood opposite him saw that he so (cried out and) breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God”.’
The awesome events on that day had produced their own effects in the centurion in charge of the guard. And when he saw the way that Jesus died he cried out ‘truly this man was the Son of God’. He would mean by that that he was impressed by the fact that Jesus was in some way divine.
What he meant by ‘Son of God’ is open to question for we know nothing about him. He may have meant the son of whichever God or gods he believed in. Or he may have overheard talk around him in which Jesus’ recognition as ‘the Son of God’ was mentioned (Mat 27:40; Mat 27:43) and be concurring in that idea, while also inevitably linking it in his thoughts with his own ideas. It is unlikely that he was a Jew, but he may well have been connected with a syncretistic religion which included the God of the Jews and of the Samaritans. However, we must not take his faith too far. Note the ‘was’. As far as he was concerned Jesus was now in the past. What he thought beyond that we can hardly hope to surmise.
But to Mark the importance of his statement was that it amounted to a testimony by ‘a Roman’ to Who Jesus is. He is the Son of God, a favourite title of his (Mar 1:1; Mar 1:11; Mar 3:11; Mar 5:7; Mar 9:7; Mar 12:6; Mar 14:61 see also Mat 4:3; Mat 4:6; Mat 14:33; Mat 16:16; Mat 26:63; Luk 22:70).
Note that Mark deliberately refers the word ‘breathed His last’ to both the tearing of the veil and the words of the centurion. He is drawing attention to the fact that on His death both God and Rome testified to Who Jesus is.
‘He so (cried out and) breathed his last.’ There is good support for the inclusion of ‘cried out’ in one form or another although it is omitted in Aleph and B. But the cry would certainly have made its own impression on those who were there.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
7. The Descent of Jesus into the Realm of Death. His Death, and the Tokens of the New Life. Mar 15:39-47
(Parallels: Mat 27:54-66; Luk 23:39-56; Joh 19:31-42.)
39And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out,12and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. 40There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; 41 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with 42him unto Jerusalem. And now, when the even was come, (because it was the 43preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,)13 Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in14 boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. 44And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and, calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. 45And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body15 to Joseph. And he bought 46fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid16 him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. 47And Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses,17 beheld where he was laid.18
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
See Matthew and Luke.In the account of the centurions exclamation, Mark harmonizes with Matthew: the occasion of it he makes, characteristically, to have been the loud cry of the expiring Jesus. The three women beneath the cross, he mentions, like Matthew; also Salome by name, adding many other women, whom he does not specialize. Still more generally and comprehensively is this sorrowing circle alluded to by Luke. Like the other two Synoptics, Mark is less full in his narration of the burial than John; nevertheless he declares with exactness, as do John and Luke, the day to have been the . Nicodemus is missing here; Joseph of Arimathea is described as the disciple of Jesus in words different from Matthew, and more explicitly than Luke: Who waited for the kingdom of God. In this, the Petrine idea of the kingdom appears. That the step of Joseph was a bold one; that Pilate called the centurion, and assured himself of the certainty of Jesus death: these are features which are peculiar to Mark.
Mar 15:39. Said, Truly this man.Comp. Note upon Matthew.The noticing of the motive of the centurions cry, viz.: that he saw that Christ , is peculiar to Mark, and is strikingly characteristic of him. The Lion of Judah is, even in His departing, a dying lion. The expression of a wondrous power of life and spirit in the last sign of life, the triumphant shout in death, was to the warrior, who had learned to know death from a totally different side upon the battle-fields, a new revelation. Theophylact: . De Wette, following some others, gives but a weak conception: He saw in the speedier death of Jesus a favor from the gods. As to the monstrously gnostic explanation of the passage given by Baur, consult Meyer.
Mar 15:40. James the Less.Meyer makes this remark apply solely to the stature. Comp., on the contrary, Jdg 6:15. No doubt it points to a second James, rather than to James the disciple in the stricter sense, since James the son of Alpheus, as he is elsewhere termed, was not the brother of James the Greater. Comp. Note on Matthew. That this Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses is identical with Mary the wife of Alpheus, is proved by Joh 19:25.
Mar 15:42. And now, when the even was come, because.We cannot construe this passage: Because it was even, Joseph came. Reasons: 1. The Jews, indeed, who, according to John, prayed Pilate to remove the bodies, had no other ground for the request than that the next day was the Sabbath. Joseph, on the contrary, had quite a different motive. He wished to entomb the Lords body with respect, and for this purpose could only employ the circumstance that the Jews themselves wished it removed. The connection of the words, in , …, with , …, would be, notwithstanding all that is said to the contrary, very clumsy; and the correction , moreover, goes to prove this. 3. Then had Joseph in a legal sense come too late. He must come before the evening. Accordingly, we understand the passage thus: between and there was a difference (sunsetting, and twilight); upon the evening preceding a feast, the earlier was observed. About this time Joseph appeared upon Golgotha, and then he went to Pilate.Was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath.See Note on Matthew. Meyer says: Here, accordingly, there is not a trace that this Friday was itself a festival. The trace is given fully, Mar 14:12. If the day mentioned there was the 14th Nisan, then the following day must have been the 15th Nisan. Besides, we know that upon a Passover-feast, where the second day of the feast was at the same time a Sabbath, upon this day, according to the Jewish ideas of the Sabbath, the chief feast fell, as is distinctly shown in Joh 19:31. See Wieseler, Chron. Synop. p. 386. By the Sabbath occurring upon the second day of the feast, the first feast-day became the preparation, the day before the Sabbath.
Mar 15:43. Came, and went in boldlyHe had come; had seen what occurred as the bones of the crucified were broken; knew that Jesus was about to be taken down; and now he felt that there was no time to be lost, and hence he dared to ask.
Mar 15:44. Whether He had been any while (already long) dead, .Before the return of the centurion. He wished to be sure as to what he did.
Mar 15:45. Gave the body.Joseph being known as a wealthy man, we might have expected, from the character of Pilate, that he would have extorted money, because the bodies were frequently sold (see the quotations in Meyer). This generosity was the mark of a strange state of mind. Probably he was glad to hear that Jesus was really dead, because the Saviour in His higher nature had grown awful to him.
Mar 15:47. Where He was laid: .From this time onward, there appears to have been a relation of confidence and friendship between the old disciples (the women), and the new disciples (Joseph and Nicodemus). In consequence of this new-born confidence and friendship, the Galilean women enter without hesitation the garden of the rich counsellor, and kneel down before the grave. According to Mark and Luke, their intention was at the same time to mark accurately the grave; already they were thinking of the anointing after the Sabbath. Bauer: It was not always the custom in Israel to employ a shroud in burying, and the shortness of time on, this occasion did not admit of it.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. See the parallel passages in Matthew.
2. The signs of the new life, which present themselves in the death of Jesus.
3. The Lords death-cry, as expressing the might of His life and spirit, was the awakening of the heathen captain. Death is swallowed up in victory, 1 Corinthians 15. The death of believers is henceforth a new death, the prospect of a new world, the presentation of a new world for contemplation.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The last word of the Jewish priest: He was a blasphemer, is contradicted by, the first word of the heathen soldier: He was the Son of God.Golgotha becomes changed by the Lords death: 1. The enemies, mockers, and blasphemers have vanished; 2. the friends, confessors, and worshippers appear.The alternation of life and death in the dying hour of Christ: 1. While He still lived, all sank in death; 2. when He died, all awoke to a new life.With Christs death, the presentiments of His resurrection spring up in the minds of believers.The miraculous workings of the death of Jesus upon those who come under its influence, so different and yet so uniform: 1. So different: the heathen, Roman warrior, the emblem of the Roman Empire shattered to its foundations; the timid Jewish women transformed into heroines; the honorable Jewish counsellor, a Christian grave-digger to the Lord; Pilate, the proud man of the world, himself overcome by the spirit of mildness. 2. So uniform: all agree in the self-forgetful manifestation of their homage, and in an expression of readiness to do or to suffer, evidencing the beginning of a new life.The soft sleep of the Saviour, and His sacred watchers: two female disciples on Good Friday, two angels on Easter morning.The little congregation at the grave of Jesus, the germ of all Christian congregations.All Christian Churches are Churches of the Holy Sepulchre.
Starke:Christ is also the heathens Saviour.Nova Bibl. Tub.:Even in the assembly of the wicked, and in a godless council, there may be a pious councillor; therefore beware of impious judgments.Quesnel:God knows where to find persons who will carry out His plans, how dangerous soever they may be.What appears to be destroyed, will turn out well at the end. Therefore despair not, dear Christian; believe and trust.Whosoever hazards anything for the Lord, God will enable that venturer to succeed.The counsel of the godless never succeeds; that of the righteous stands sure.Look more to Christs glory than to self-interest and personal praise.It is a beautiful work of love when the rich bury the poor.Let the grave be as deep and as well-guarded as it may, the omnipotence of God will open it, and bring forth the dead.Braune:The Head, like the members, was carried to resurrection through the grave.
Brieger:The pious confessors (the first, the penitent thief; the second, the captain) condemn the chief council and all the people, Isa 53:9. He was to have been buried, like other transgressors, on Golgotha. The heavenly Father had decreed otherwise.Bauer:From this time forward, Gods witnesses for the crucified Jesus come forward into view.
Footnotes:
[12][Mar 15:39.Codd. B., L., Tischendorf omit ; Lachmann retains it with Receptus.]
[13][Mar 15:42.A., B., Lachmann read (Meyer: only an error of the copyist); Tischendorf reads with the Receptus .]
[14][Mar 15:43.A., B., C., Lachmann, Tischendorf read instead of .]
[15][Mar 15:45.B., D., L., Lachmann, Tischendorf read (corpse) instead of .]
[16][Mar 15:46.B., D., L., Lachmann, Tischendorf read ; Receptus, ; Cod. A., .]
[17][Mar 15:47.Cod. A. reads ; B., ., Lachmann, Tischendorf read , which is merely the Greek form of .
[18][Mar 15:47.A., B., C., Lachmann, Tischendorf read ; Receptus, .]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
Ver. 39. See Trapp on “ Mat 27:54 “ See Trapp on “ Mat 27:55 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
39. ] . . ., a minute mark of accuracy, so common in Mark.
, Thl. There was something in the manner of this last cry so unusual and superhuman, that the Centurion (see on Matt.) was convinced that He must have been that Person , whom He was accused as having declared Himself to be. Observe the Latin = in [60] Matt. Luke.
[60] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25 , the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified , thus, ‘ Mk.,’ or ‘ Mt. Mk.,’ &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 15:39 . , a Latinism = centurio , for which Mt. and Lk. give the Greek . ( ), right opposite Jesus, so that he could hear and see all distinctly. The thing that chiefly impressed him, according to Mk., was the manner of His death. = with a loud voice, as if life were still strong, and so much sooner than usual, as of one who, needing no Elijah to aid Him, could at will set Himself free from misery. This was a natural impression on the centurion’s part, and patristic interpreters endorse it as true and important. Victor Ant. says that the loud voice showed that Jesus died , and Theophylact applies to the the epithet . But it may be questioned whether this view is in accord either with fact or with sound theology. What of the in Mar 15:22 ? And is there not something docetic in self-rescue from the pangs of the cross, instead of leaving the tragic experience to run its natural course? Mt.’s explanation of the wonder of the centurion, by the external events earthquake, etc. is, by comparison, secondary. Schanz characterises Mk.’s account as “schner psychologisch” (psychologically finer).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
which = who.
the Son of God = a Son of God: i.e. a supernatural or Divine being. App-98. Found frequently in the Fayyum Papyri as a title of the Emperor Augustus, in Latin as well as Greek inscriptions.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
39.] . . ., a minute mark of accuracy, so common in Mark.
– , Thl. There was something in the manner of this last cry so unusual and superhuman, that the Centurion (see on Matt.) was convinced that He must have been that Person, whom He was accused as having declared Himself to be. Observe the Latin = in [60] Matt. Luke.
[60] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25, the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified, thus, Mk., or Mt. Mk., &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
[39. , having thus cried out) Christ was not exhausted to death by faintness, but most voluntarily laid down His life.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
CHAPTER 75
The Saviors Burial
And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem. And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
(Mar 15:39-47)
The death of the Lord Jesus Christ as the sinners Substitute, to put away the sins of his people, is the greatest and the most important event in history. The sin-atoning sacrifice of the God-man, the only Mediator between God and men, is the most important fact of Christianity. All the hopes of fallen men hang upon this one event. If what the Scriptures say about the death of Gods Son is so, then there is hope for sinners. If these things are not so, there is no hope for anyone.
Knowing something of the importance of this fact, we should not be surprised to find that the fact of our Saviors death is placed beyond the realm of dispute by Gods wise and good providence. The Jews of our Lords time, and countless scoffers since then, have tried to explain away the fact of our Lords resurrection by asserting that he never really died at all. They would have us believe that he really just passed out, and everyone thought he was dead. What folly! In the verses before us we see that God wisely arranged to verify the fact of Christs death by three witnesses. The united witness of the Roman centurion, the women who followed the Savior, and the disciples who buried his dead body place the matter beyond any dispute.
All these people could not have been deceived. They all saw the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the ordeal of his mock trial and crucifixion. They saw him lay down his life by the triumphant act of his own sovereign will as he became obedient unto death for the salvation of our souls. The Lord Jesus Christ, our incarnate God and Savior, died for our sins according to the Scriptures, under the wrath of God, and was buried in the earth.
The Amazed Centurion
The first thing that stands out in this passage is the amazement of the Roman centurion. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God (Mar 15:39).
This centurion was the Roman soldier who was the head of a band of soldiers, whose task it was to watch the crucified Son of God to make sure no one took him down from the cross or gave him any comfort. Matthew tells us that there were others with him watching Jesus.
These men were united in their hellish mockery of the Lord Jesus, humiliating him and tormenting him in every way they could imagine. They had all watched the mock trial before Pilate. They had all mocked him, spit in his face, beat him and tortured him. They had all nailed him to the tree. They all observed his royal behavior. They all saw the three hours of darkness. They all heard and felt the earthquake and the opening of the graves. They all heard the Masters seven statements, as he suffered the wrath of God as our Substitute. And they were all terrified and confessed, Truly this man was the Son of God. Matthew tells us that the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God (Mat 27:54).
The centurion was placed as he was by Gods providence to verify to Pilate and to all reasonable people the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ actually did die at Calvary.
And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph (Mar 15:44-45).
When this man was called to Pilate to verify the fact that the Lord Jesus was indeed dead, I can almost hear his trembling report. I heard him cry with a loud voice, Father, forgive them!- My God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? Today, thou shalt be with me! It is finished! Father, into thy hands I commit my Spirit. I watched him do what I never saw any other man do. He breathed out his own life! When we came to break his legs, as you ordered us, he was already dead. Just to make sure, one of my men shoved his spear through his heart; and the strangest thing happened – Water mixed with blood came gushing out of his side. Yes, I would say the man is dead. When he got done, the Scripture tells us that Pilate knew it!
This centurion also shows us a demonstration of the fact that there is a repentance to be repented of. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death (2Co 7:10). This man was convicted; but his conviction was a mere legal conviction. He had repentance, sorrow for his deeds; but it was the sorrow of the world, which ends in death, eternal death in hell.
Legal fear, the fear of death, judgment and eternal damnation in hell, is not repentance. That is not Holy Spirit conviction. True repentance, true conviction is more than a sense of guilt and terror. It is a sorrow for sin. It is taking sides with God against yourself. And it is an acknowledgment that you deserve to go to hell; but it is more, much more. True repentance arises from the revelation of Christ in our hearts. It is the blessed persuasion of sins forgiven, righteousness established and judgment finished (Zec 12:10; Joh 16:8-11). There is no salvation without this conviction.
The Faithful Women
There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto JerusalemAnd Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid (Mar 15:40-41; Mar 15:47).
Where was Peter, who boasted that he was willing to go with his Master to judgment and to death? Where were the other disciples, who all said the same thing? The men, all of them, except for John (who was at some distance from the scene), were all gone. But these faithful women were faithful to the end. They had followed the Lord Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem. When all others forsook him, they stayed with him. They stayed during all the horrors of that infamous day. They followed him right up to the tomb, and were found there on the morning of the resurrection. John Trapp observed
Heavy they were as heart could hold: yet not hindered thereby from doing their duty to Christ. Even sorrow for sin, if it so exceed as to disable us for duty, is a sinful sorrow, and must be sorrowed for.
God often uses the weak to confound the mighty. How often we see this in the workings of Gods providence and grace. Here, the Holy Spirit tells us two things about this band of faithful women. In these two things they are set before us as noble examples of faith.
1.They followed the Lord. Having been converted by his grace and power, believing his word, understanding his doctrine, having experienced his great forgiveness, these women followed the Savior. That is what faith does. It follows Christ. Faith follows the Lord Jesus because those who are forgiven much love much.
2.They ministered to the Son of God. These dear ladies were not at all like the feminists of our day. These women were ladies. They knew their place and kept to it with joy. They were not allowed to be teachers and preachers in the Lords church and kingdom. That is strictly forbidden in Holy Scripture. But these women were faithful servants of Christ to the end (Luk 8:3)
There is a great work which women can do for the glory of God and the cause of Christ in this world. Happy is that husband and family in which such a wife and mother is found. Happy is that church whose women know their work and faithfully do it, as unto the Lord. Elizabeth, Martha Mary, Dorcas, Lydia, and Phoebe are all held before us in the Word of God as elect ladies, in whom the grace of God abounded, causing them to gladly serve the Master by serving his people.
A Secret Disciple
And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre (Mar 15:42-46).
I am so very thankful that the Holy Spirit has placed in the records of sacred history the name and works of Joseph of Arimathaea. We know virtually nothing about him except that he was a rich man from Arimathaea. He was a member of the Jews religious counsel, the Sanhedrim. He buried the Lord Jesus in his own tomb. And he was a believer, one who waited for the kingdom of God. Joseph was a secret disciple, but still a true disciple (Joh 19:38).
We know nothing about him until now; and nothing else is said about him in the Word of God after this. But this man was the man of the hour. He was where he needed to be, when he was needed, to do what was needed. Much could and should be said about this man, but I want to show you just three things here.
1.God always raises up men to do what is needed at the time needed.
None of the other disciples were around to do what Joseph did. Perhaps no one else could have gotten Pilates ear as readily as Joseph. But at the time needed, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled (Isa 53:9), God raised up a rich man to bury the body of his darling Son in his own new tomb.
Let us learn, then, that the purpose of God is never in danger of failure. The will of God is never hindered. The work of God is never overturned. And the cause of God is never in jeopardy.
2.The Lord God always has many more disciples than any of us ever imagine.
I am the first to acknowledge that secret disciples are always suspect disciples. But we must never forget the words of the Lord to Elijah (1Ki 19:18). Our God still has his seven thousand in Israel, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. At the appropriate time, he will bring them out. The Lord still has many hidden ones in the earth. We may not know who they are, or where they are; but he has them.
Much might be said about this mans failures and weaknesses; but Josephs faith was in many ways most remarkable. He was strong, when all others were weak. He was bold, when everyone else was terrified. The other disciples honored and confessed Christ, when he was working miracles and influencing multitudes. Joseph believed him, honored him and identified himself with him, when his body was a cold, dead corpse, covered with his own blood and the spit of others.
3.Joseph wrapped the Lords body in fine linen.
This fine linen was an emblem of or Saviors own holiness and purity; and this linen is set before us in the Scriptures as an emblem of Christs pure, spotless righteousness, which is imputed to his people (Rev 19:8).
The Honored Tomb
And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre (Mar 15:46). The Lord Jesus was numbered with the transgressors. Yet, he made his grave with the rich, exactly as the Scriptures had foretold. He is the Savior of all, both rich and poor. But the fact that his dead body was laid in the tomb must not be passed over lightly. Our Lord Jesus here puts special honor upon the grave.
The fact is we are all going to the tomb. We do not like to think about it; but we are all going to die, sooner or later. The time will soon come when someone will put our bodies in a coffin, drop us in the cold earth, and cover us out of view. Let us remember, this is the place where our Lord once laid. And, as surely as he arose from the tomb, so to shall all who trust him. When Christ died, we died with him. When he was buried, we were buried with him. When he arose, we arose with him.
Consequently, death has no terror. The grave has no sting. As we have confessed in our baptism, we are confident that, though the worms of the earth shall eat our flesh, yet, at the resurrection, in our flesh we shall see our God and our Redeemer.
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
the centurion: The centurion was a military captain, and commander of a century, or 100 men. In order to have a proper notion of his office, it may be desirable to explain the construction and array of the Roman legion. Each legion was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into three maniples, and each maniple into two centuries; so that there were thirty maniples, and sixty centuries in a legion, which, if the century had always, as the word imports, consisted of 100 soldiers, would have formed a combined phalanx of 6,000 men. The number in a legion, however, varied at different periods; in the time of Polybius it was 4,200. The order of battle was that of three lines; the hastati, or spearmen, occupied the front; the principes, the second line; the triarii (also called pilani from their weapon, the pilam) the third. The centurions were appointed by the tribunes, and generally selected from the common soldiers according to their merit; although the office was sometimes obtained for money, or through the favour of the consuls. Their badge was a vine rod, or sapling. Mar 15:44, Mat 8:5-10, Act 10:1, Act 27:1-3, Act 27:43
he said: Mat 27:43, Mat 27:54, Luk 23:47, Luk 23:48
Reciprocal: Zec 6:12 – behold Mat 14:33 – Of Mat 27:36 – General Joh 19:7 – because
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A CONFESSION OF FAITH
Truly this man was the Son of God.
Mar 15:39
These also are words of unconscious prophecy, spoken by an officer of the Roman army, as the words, Never man spake like this Man were spoken by officers of the Temple guard.
I. They were a first confession of faith, made by the centurion, or captain of a company numbering a hundred soldiers, into whose custody our Lord had been given, and who superintended the Crucifixion. Later in the afternoon it became his duty to pierce the Lords side with his spear for the purpose of making sure that death had actually taken place before the holy Body was removed from the Cross; and thus he was chosen by Divine Providence to be the agent in bringing from the heart of Christ the miraculous stream of blood and water. Tradition of early date speaks of this centurion by the name of Longinus, and St. Chrysostom knew of him as one of the martyrs who bore their testimony to the Faith even unto death. He had heard the mocking Jews take up the words of the Tempter, and say If thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross. He trusted in God: let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him: for He said, I am the Son of God, and in a very different spirit, that of an awe-struck faith, he had begun his testimony to his Master by saying Truly this man was the Son of God. Thus out of the mouth of one who was as yet but among the babes and sucklings of Christ, the Lord again perfected praise.
II. By this testimony of a heathen officer, uttered by the side of the Cross in the supreme crisis of our Lords Passion, God was pleased to place on record the great truth that He Who then and there suffered and died was He of Whom the Father had twice said from heaven, This is My beloved Son. The Lord Jesus Christ, Who was from all eternity the only-begotten Son of God God, of God Very God, of very God Being of one substance with the Father, was the same Who was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, Who suffered and was buried. He Who died upon the Cross was therefore a Divine Sufferer, and His Passion is to be viewed in that aspect in which we behold it associated with His Deity, as well as in that more familiar one in which we see it as the suffering of His human nature.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE UNION OF THE DIVINE WITH THE HUMAN
The Deity of our Saviour being thus associated with His Passion, a character is given to His sufferings which clearly distinguishes them from the sufferings of men under similar external circumstances. The union of the Divine with the human nature:
I. Intensified all the pangs which fell upon the body and soul.The Divine Sufferer might have wrought a miracle and lessened those pangs, but He would no more do so than He would stay the pangs of hunger by causing the stones to become bread during the time of His Temptation. Rather would He cause every strained nerve to bear a tenfold throbbing, that no degree of pain which can come upon the human body should be beyond His experience and sympathy.
II. Gave an omnipotent virtue to the Passion of the Divine Sufferer.Thus when the victory of the Cross was won, it was won for all ages and for all peoples, becoming an eternal victory by which the power of His sufferings is still being, and ever will be, exercised. As multitudes of those who came to the Cross to see that sight of the Crucified, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned, so it has been ever since, that the sight of the Divine Sufferer has converted sinners, and has made them, as they gazed, bow down before Him, asking for His intercession, His love, and His grace.
As we look upon the Cross, and see the Divine Sufferer evidently set forth, crucified among, us, we should be able to take up the words of the centurion in their fullest sense, and say Truly this man was the Son of God.
Illustration
The Passion of our Lord stands out clearly beyond all comparison with other human sufferings. Men have felt the torture of the scourge, the sorrow of desertion, the pangs of crucifixion, but they felt them not as He did Who was God and Man. Holy men in their zeal might desire even to die, if by dying they could convert sinners, but no martyrs death could convert a world as the death of Him Who was God and Man did. They might desire even to bear the punishment of sin if they could gain pardon for sinners, but He alone Who was God and Man could deliver his brother, or make agreement unto God for Him.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
9
According to Mat 27:54, the earthquake and other demonstrations in the natural creation, helped to convince the centurion that it was no ordinary person who had just died and was thus accorded such distinction.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
THE death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most important fact in Christianity. On it depend the hopes of all saved sinners both for time and eternity. We need not therefore to be surprised to find the reality of His death carefully placed beyond dispute. Three kinds of witnesses to the fact are brought before us in the verses we have now read. The Roman centurion, who stood near the cross,-the women who followed our Lord from Galilee to Jerusalem,-the disciples, who buried Him, were all witnesses that Jesus really died. Their united evidence is above suspicion. They could not be deceived. What they saw was no swoon, or trance, or temporary insensibility. They saw that same Jesus, who was crucified, lay down His life, and become obedient even unto death. Let this be established in our minds. Our Savior really and truly died.
Let us notice, for one thing in this passage, what honorable mention is here made of women. We are specially told that, when our Lord gave up the ghost, “there were women looking on afar off.” The names of some of them are recorded. We are also told that they were the same who had followed our Lord in Galilee and ministered unto Him, and that there were “many other women which came up with him to Jerusalem.”
We should hardly have expected to have read such things. We might well have supposed that, when all the disciples but one had forsaken our Lord and fled, the weaker and more timid sex would not have dared to show themselves His friends. It only shows us what grace can do. God sometimes chooses the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. The last are sometimes first, and the first last. The faith of women sometimes stands upright, when the faith of men fails and gives way.
But it is interesting to remark throughout the New Testament how often we find the grace of God glorified in women, and how much benefit God has been pleased to confer through them on the Church, and on the world. In the Old Testament, we see sin and death brought in by the woman’s transgression. In the New, we see Jesus born of a woman, and life and immortality brought to light by that miraculous birth. In the Old Testament, we often see woman proving a hindrance and a snare to man. The women before the flood, the histories of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Delilah, Bath-sheba, Jezebel, are all painful examples. In the New Testament, we generally see women mentioned as a help and assistance to the cause of true religion. Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, Dorcas, Lydia, and the women named by Paul to the Romans, are all cases in point. The contrast is striking, and we need not doubt intentional. It is one of the many proofs, that grace is more abundant under the Gospel than under the law. It seems meant to teach us that women have an important place in the Church of Christ, one that ought to be assigned to them, and one that they ought to fill. There is a great work that women can do for God’s glory, without being public teachers. Happy is that congregation in which women know this, and act upon it!
Let us notice, for another thing, in this passage, that Jesus has friends of whom little is known. We cannot conceive a more remarkable proof of this than the person who is here mentioned for the first time, Joseph of Arimatha. We know nothing of this man’s former history. We know not how he had learned to love Christ, and to desire to do Him honor. We know nothing of his subsequent history after our Lord left the world. All we know is the touching collection of facts before us. We are told that he “waited for the kingdom of God,” and that at a time when our Lord’s disciples had all forsaken Him, He “went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus,” and buried it honorably in his own tomb. Others had honored and confessed our Lord when they saw Him working miracles, but Joseph honored Him and confessed himself a disciple, when he saw Him a cold, blood-sprinkled corpse. Others had shown love to Jesus while He was speaking and living, but Joseph showed love when He was silent and dead.
Let us take comfort in the thought that there are true Christians on earth, of whom we know nothing, and in places where we should not expect to find them. No doubt the faithful are always few. But we must not hastily conclude that there is no grace in a family or in a parish, because our eyes may not see it. We know in part and see only in part, outside the circle in which our own lot is cast. The Lord has many “hidden ones” in the Church, who, unless brought forward by special circumstances will never be known till the last day. The words of God to Elijah should not be forgotten, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel.” (1Ki 19:18.)
Let us notice, lastly in this passage, what honor our Lord Jesus Christ has placed on the grave, by allowing Himself to be laid in it. We read that he was “laid in a sepulcher hewn out of a rock,” and a “stone rolled unto the door.”
This is a fact that in a dying world we should always remember. It is appointed unto men once to die. We are all going to one place, and we naturally shrink from it. The coffin and the funeral, the worm and corruption, are all painful subjects. They chill us, sadden us, and fill our minds with heaviness. It is not in flesh and blood to regard them without solemn feelings. One thing, however, ought to comfort believers, and that is the thought, that the grave is “the place where the Lord once lay.” As surely as He rose again victorious from the tomb, so surely shall all who believe in Him rise gloriously in the day of His appearing. Remembering this, they may look down with calmness into the “house appointed for all living.” They may recollect that Jesus himself was once there on their behalf, and has robbed death of his sting. They may say to themselves, “the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law: but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Co 15:56-57.)
The great matter that concerns us all, is to make sure that we are spiritually buried with Christ, while we are yet alive. We must be joined to Him by faith, and conformed to His image. With Him we must die to sin, and be buried by baptism into His death. (Rom 6:4.) With Him we must rise again and be quickened by His Spirit. Except we know these things, Christ’s death and burial will profit us nothing at all.
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Mar 15:39. The centurion. Mark here and in Mar 15:44-45 gives the Latin term, Matthew and Luke the Greek.
Who stood by over against him, i.e., in front of Him, watching (Matthew) Him.
Saw that he so gave up the ghost. The peculiar cry is mainly referred to, hence this was very early inserted, and is retained in the E. V. Mark alone gives prominence to this point, and it is characteristic of his Gospel. The Lion of Judah is, even in His departing, a dying lion (Lange). On the centurions language, see on Mat 27:54.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mar 15:39-41. When the centurion saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost Cried out with such strength of voice, and such firm confidence in God, even at the moment when he expired, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God See this translation defended and explained, in the note on Mat 27:54. Who followed him and ministered unto him Waited upon him, and provided him with necessaries.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 39
The centurion; the officer who commanded at the execution.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The centurion (Gr. kentyrion, a transliteration of the Latin centurio that only Mark used) was the soldier in charge of Jesus’ crucifixion (cf. Mar 15:44). Elsewhere in the New Testament the customary Greek word hekatontarchos ("centurion") appears. Mark’s word choice here is another indication that he wrote for Romans. This centurion spoke more truly than he probably knew. He evidently meant that Jesus was a righteous man (Luk 23:47). Still his words spoken as he stood directly in front of Jesus as He died were literally true. His statement constitutes the climax of Mark’s demonstration that Jesus was God’s divine Son (cf. Mar 1:1; Mar 8:29-30). The torn veil was a Jewish testimony to Jesus’ identity, and the centurion’s confession was a Gentile testimony to the same thing. Taken together they provide a double witness that Jesus was the Son of God.
"Here Judaism and the Gentile world, each in its own way, acknowledges Jesus’ sovereign dignity." [Note: Ibid., p. 488.]