“Jesus did many other miracles… These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30-31 NCV).
John made that clear enough in his mission statement: The Gospel of John is the one best known for trying to prove that Jesus is the divine Son of God. That’s odd, if the soldier really said Jesus was the Son of God and if this Gospel was written by John, who many Bible experts say was the only disciple with the courage to stand at the Cross beside Mary the mother of Jesus. The Gospel of John doesn’t mention the soldier. “Certainly this man was innocent” (Luke 23:47 a footnote says “innocent” could also mean “righteous”). It’s from the Bible translation that many scholars prefer, the New American Standard Version. Instead of using my paraphrase, the Casual English Bible, I’ll let you see a more literal version. Here’s how the Gospel writers quoted the centurion in charge of the crucifixion. Someone seems to be using someone else’s work as reference material, much like I use commentaries to help write books about the Bible. Somebody is apparently copying off the other. Or perhaps Mark from one of them, if Matthew or Luke came first. Matthew and Luke seem to pull a lot of their material from Mark. Matthew, Luke, and John all seemed to come later. I’m working right now in the Gospel of Mark, which most Bible experts seem to believe was the first of the four Gospels preserved in writing. In paraphrasing the Bible for the Casual English Bible, it’s hard to miss the fact that the different Gospel writers telling the stories of Jesus report many details differently. “Aw, truly this man was the son of God.” 3 different Gospels, 2 different quotes There’s a legend, which sounds like it might be true, that in rehearsal the Duke delivered the line a bit too flatly for the director. Wayne, known as the Duke, played the part of a Roman centurion in charge of the crucifixion detail. I remember watching actor John Wayne in a cameo performance for “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” the 1965 film about the life of Jesus. DID THE SOLDIER AT THE CROSS really say Jesus was the divine Son of God?