Mark 15:39

And when the centurion, who stood by over against him, saw that he so gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

The centurion ... This was the officer in charge of the crucifixion. An early legend, or tradition, supported by Chrysostom, has it that this centurion was Longthus, "who was led by the miracles which accompanied the death of Christ" to become a Christian, later suffering martyrdom.[17] Whether the tradition is true or not, it is clear that the exclamation of this centurion supports all that Matthew recorded, concerning the earthquake, the supernatural darkness, the opening of the graves, etc.

Truly this man was the Son of God ... It is ridiculous to tone this down by rendering it "a son of God"; for, as Cranfield noted, "The Greek text does not at all necessitate the rendering `a son.'"[18]

[17] Ibid., p. 310.

[18] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 460.