Perspectief 2015-30

Perspectief 44 Fred van Iersel Socratic dialogues are helpful in seeking an honest orientation on justice as a key virtue and a key value for any military – as an individual as well as an organization. 2.3. Roman centurion under the Cross 5 I now come to the Roman centurion expressing the meaning of Jesus – ‘truly, this man was the Son of God’ – while standing under the Cross 6 . What I would like to point to here are some general characteristics of this text. The pagan soldier defining the victimized non-violent Jesus as just, should be considered not only as a believer, but also as a prophet. He sets an example for a prophetic role of military chaplaincy, too. In this case, the centurion is witnessing. In the context this an act of prophecy. The first characteristic of this text is that precisely a soldier – one of those who use force – may see differences in religious and moral meanings of violence, and see the difference between just and unjust human persons. It is not that the Roman soldier just happens to be around when Jesus is crucified. He is one of the executioners , in any case he is one who knows what it is like to kill on duty. Then he looks to this victim and expresses his positive trustful attitude towards him. The point implied here is that soldiers may see very well the meaning and significance of their victims – not in spite of their being a soldier, but because they are one. Secondly , the attribution of this positive meaning to Jesus also implies a confession of guilt to killing an innocent person. Thirdly : the fact that the Roman soldier expresses his faith in Jesus, also implies that the soldier violates the Roman law, for that prescribed worshipping the Roman emperor as a God. So by expressing his faith in Jesus, he also 5 Salvador Dali, “Vere, hic homo iustus erat”(1967) 6 Mark 15: 39.