The Book of Luke does give a different account of the reason the Centurion spoke his famous words about Jesus being the son of God.
Luke 23:33 teaches that Jesus was on the cross, possibly before the sixth hour and during the sixth to the ninth hour of the eclipse. Luke does not mention the earthquake, but does account for the Temple veil being rent in the midst.
Luke 23:33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
Luke 23:46 mentions Jesus dying and Luke 23:47 includes the short one line statement of the Centurion.
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luke 23:47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.
His account is comparable to the Centurion’s description of the spiritual process in which Jesus perished. According to the Centurion, Jesus died in a particularly egregious way compared to those who were dying beside him on the cross.
It is possible that the centurion could have told Luke his conclusion in Luke 23:47 sometime later while Luke was gathering information for his book.
Another oddity about Luke 23:47 concerning the Centurion was the strange and questionable reaction he made to the death of Jesus. Luke 23:47 claimed the Centurion “glorified God”.
This claim can be viewed in two or more ways. Some believe this was a personal proclamation, by which the Centurion received salvation in his new found belief in Jesus as his savior in that same moment.
Others view this statement being made through the author’s indirect internal dialogue. According to the author, the Centurion did not consider Jesus to be guilty due to the eclipse, earthquake, and the manner in which he died, not needing the Centurion’s men to break Jesus’ legs. This would mean the Centurion saw all that had happened, then made the statement, and unknowingly glorified God.
Luke was aware of the crucifixion incident and he asked the Centurion about it, and the Centurion expressed astonishment over the death of Jesus. After the Crucifixion and the grafting in of the Gentiles, the Centurion could have been a converted man of God.
Reading Luke 22:47 you can understand this reasoning. The literary tone of this sentence is written as if it were an addition to the account, not as it actually happened. The Centurion’s account is indirect internal dialogue added to the story. This dialogue helps to prove that this story was compiled at a later time.
The wording of the Centurions statement alludes to the Centurion being a follower of Christ after the crucifixion. A centurion would not have been a follower before the crucifixion because he was part of and responsible for Jesus’ death.
Luke 23:47 states; “he, [the Centurion), glorified God”.
The glorification of God means a person knows God and has an experience with the God of which they speak. The Centurion then follows that glorification by stating what Jesus was “Certainly this was a righteous man”.
To understand this statement is to conclude that it was written from a biblical knowledge of what“righteous” means. The meaning of righteous to an unsaved Roman centurion would be vastly different from the meaning of a saved Roman centurion.
As a clue to what the centurion may have meant or had at least a clue to his statement, we should consider the words spoken by the thief on the cross beside Jesus in Luke 23:41 about Jesus.
Luke 23:41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
The thief explained that Jesus “hath done nothing amiss”. The Centurion would have heard this remark and attributed this same type of remark to Jesus as meaning surely Jesus was innocent of any crime.
Remembering that the story was written some time after the crucifixion, the possibility of the Centurion becoming a Christian is very plausible. Luke would have asked his fellow Christians about the crucifixion. If the Centurion were a Christian, the crucifixion would have become part of his personal testimony. He would have been encouraged to tell his story at any given church meeting.
Even if the Centurion hadn’t become a Christian, his story could have been bought for a price. That writer could have got the story and then passed it on to the other three writers.
According to the strongest evidence, the story was not written during the crucifixion. This also strongly suggests that the four gospels were composed later, including Matthew.
The Saints Arose 