2026 Reading Plan Reflections - Day 46

“When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what had just happened, they were filled with awe and said, ‘This was certainly God’s Son.’" Matthew 27:54 CEB

This passage is heavy. Darkness. Mocking. Death. A sealed tomb.

But what stood out to me today wasn’t only the suffering of Christ. It was the people who walked away different because they encountered Him.

Simon of Cyrene: A Forced Disciple
The reading opens with Simon of Cyrene pressed into service. The Roman soldiers grab him from the crowd and force him to carry Jesus’ cross.

We don’t know much about Simon. We know where he was from. We know he had two sons—Alexander and Rufus—mentioned in Mark’s Gospel. Early Christian readers likely knew those names. Which suggests Simon’s encounter didn’t end on that road.

He carried a cross he didn’t choose. And somewhere along the way, it seems the cross carried him. That’s prevenient grace at work—the grace that goes before. Simon wasn’t looking for Jesus. He wasn’t volunteering for discipleship. He was interrupted. And through that interruption, he was drawn in. That’s often how grace works. Not always through altar calls. Sometimes through inconvenience. Through suffering. Through being drafted into something we never asked for.

Grace is not static. It moves. It pursues. It awakens. Simon’s hands touched the wood that would hold the Savior of the world. And that contact appears to have changed the trajectory of his household.

The Centurion: A Confession from the Outside
Then there’s the centurion. A hardened Roman soldier. A man trained in execution. Not sentimental. Not naïve.

He watches Jesus die. He sees the darkness. He feels the earthquake. He hears the final cry. And he says, “This was certainly God’s Son.”

Not a disciple. Not a member of Israel. Not a religious insider. A Gentile. Matthew has been building toward this all along. The wise men from the East. The Roman centurion with great faith. The Canaanite woman. Outsiders who see what insiders miss.

At the foot of the cross, the dividing lines are exposed. The covenant people, who had the Law and the Prophets, largely reject Him. The outsiders—those with no pedigree, no promises, no religious résumé—respond in faith. And here’s the humbling truth: most of us are spiritual descendants of those outsiders. We are grafted in. Adopted. Welcomed. That is not something we earned. That is grace.

Grace That Transforms
Wesley never spoke of grace as mere pardon. It is pardon, yes—but it is also power.
The same grace that forgives also transforms.

Simon doesn’t just carry wood. He likely becomes part of a worshiping community.
The centurion doesn’t just make an emotional statement. He confesses something profound about the identity of Christ.

Encounters with Jesus lead to change. Not perfection overnight. But direction. Movement. Growth in holiness.

Holiness, rightly understood, isn’t about religious performance. It is about being so reshaped by grace that our lives reflect the One we’ve encountered.

And here’s where it hits home. It’s not our volume that proves our faith. It’s not our platform. It’s not our carefully crafted language. It’s whether we look different after meeting Jesus. The world is not convinced by arguments alone. It is stirred when it sees men and women who have been interrupted by grace and reordered by love.

Have I truly encountered Christ, or only learned about Him?
Where has grace interrupted my plans?
Would anyone know I’ve been near the cross by the way I live?