The Verdict

Let’s talk real quick about the centurion who stood at the foot of the cross. Oral tradition has named him Loginus, after the logche, spear or javelin, used to pierce Jesus’ side in John 19:34. In the Synoptics, Loginus remarks that Jesus is “son of (a?) God” (Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39) and dikaios, which can mean either righteous or innocent. (Luke 23:47)

The trumped-up charges and call for his execution could have occurred any time, but, as was the custom of independence-minded Jews, Jesus chose a major holiday to stir the pot. By Passover, Pilate had travelled from his capital in Caesarea so he could be on hand in the event something like what happened, well, happened. Under normal circumstances, the authority for capital punishment would have been delegated to the ranking soldier of the Jerusalem cohort stationed at Fort Antonia adjacent to the Temple.

Military tribunes, the officers of ancient Rome, were only nominally in charge of a cohort. In reality, they were staff officers who shadowed more seasons military commanders. There were no legions in Judea at the time, but if there was a tribune above Loginus, then he probably stayed in Caesarea with Pilate. If we assume the Synoptic Gospels are correct in calling him “the centurion,” then Loginus is the piles prior in charge of all six centuries of the cohort rather than one of the five primi ordines.

The earliest depiction of the crucifixion in an illuminated manuscript, from the Rabbula Gospels, names the soldier of John 19:34, λόγιηός (Loginos).

The person duly authorized to exercise capital punishment in Pilate’s absence was Loginus. Luke’s Gospel tells us what his verdict would have been had he been judge over the proceedings; Loginus would have acquitted Jesus. Centurions had enough rank to be confident but not so much that they gave a shit about politics. Pilate, on the other hand, caves to political pressure and convicts Jesus despite his best judgement (see Luke 23:4 and John 19:4).

Jesus’ wrongful conviction is not the fault of Rome so much as it is a reflection of the manufactured outrage of the religious mob. Romans were no saints, but to condemn political agents and institutions while flouting your religious bona fides is precisely what paved the road to Jesus’ crucifixion. This is not to ignore or minimize the harm soldiers cause, far from it, but we should be clear eyed about what we can and cannot say based upon Scripture. Loginus, according to tradition, was also the soldier who became a participant in the cosmic war against God when he used a weapon of war against an unarmed noncombatant. He may be a saint, but that doesn’t make him innocent.