Was I there, did you ask? Yes, I was there all right. I had to be. I was the man in charge of the soldiers who crucified Jesus of Nazareth. It was a day I’ll never forget, the day when the sun refused to shine. You won’t find my name in the Bible, but if you study any of the traditions associated with the death of Jesus, you may learn that I was called Longinus. But my name is not important. What you should know is that I carried out the arrangements for the crucifixion. As I did my job and watched what happened on that most memorable of days, something of tremendous importance happened to me there. You see, I was not only the man responsible for arranging the death of Jesus. I was also the first to declare that by his death, God was announcing life!

When I saw Jesus die, and said, "Truly t…