“If it says so then it is so. If it is so, well so it is.”
Rabbit, from Pooh’s Grand Adventure
Understanding the Faith of the Centurion
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
~Matthew 8:5-13
What was it like to be there?
I like trying to imagine myself in the midst of the events unfolding in the Bible as if I were there watching what was happening around me from different perspectives. Sometimes, I’m an average early 1st Century Hebrew. Sometimes, I’m part of the Hebrew ruling class or a leader in their religious systems – a Pharisee, Scribe, Priest, or Sadducee. Other times I’m one of the 12 Disciples, or even one of the others outside of the twelve who followed along with Jesus. Watching events unfold from the contextual perspective of one of these people brings to light more than just a new understanding. It creates feelings.
The Sights, Sounds, and Action of it all
Here in the tumult that surrounded Jesus as he was walking into Capernaum, there were large crowds following him. He had just finished the sermon on the mount. Coming down off the mountain after this strong teaching, I imagine many didn’t understand much of what Jesus said, still the crowds followed him into the city.
People following along …
- discussing one part or another of what he had said from the mountainside
- discussing who this Jesus might be
- discussing what this man and his mission might mean to their situation
- discussing the miracles that they may have seen or heard of
Maybe those who were close to Jesus, his twelve and others, saw the Centurion walking directly up to Jesus. Likely the others halted their discussions as the crowds stopped moving. Lifting their heads and standing on tiptoes or around others, they try to see what is happening. I can hear people hushing others as they try to hear over the noise this conversation unfolding in front of them.
Stepping into the action
The Crowd: The Centurion is asking for a healing from Jesus, but it isn’t for him. He wants a healing for his servant. How dare this filthy Roman come to our Rabbi for help? They come here with their military and oppress us, take our land and our money, make fun or our God and our ways, and then this Centurion has the audacity to come and ask for one of us to heal his servant? Ridiculous. What an insult. – Did Jesus just say, “Yes”? – Quiet down, so I can hear.
The Centurion: “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
In the midst of the crowds and the murmuring, Jesus hears this and turns to address all of those who were following him into the streets of Capernaum. Seeing this, and the Jesus was about to speak to them, I wonder how many thought, “Aha! Jesus is going to make an example of this Roman dog.”
Jesus: “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The Crowd:
Well … Jesus did make an example of the Roman Centurion. Just not one they likely expected.
“Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”
Matthew 8:10
I’m relatively certain that any of the temple leaders that were there were incensed by Jesus’ words. The common Hebrew man or woman, having listened to all Jesus said on the mountainside, and was excitedly following him into the city was probably devastated. Jesus’ closest followers, his disciples that he had called by name, most likely stand right next to him, just heard their Rabbi that they have given up their livelihoods to follow, proclaim that this uncircumcised Roman soldier had more faith than any of them.
The Faith of the Centurion
These words would simply not have made sense to even the most devout and learned leaders of the Temple.
For the Priest, the Scribe, the Pharisee, and the Sadducee alike … this Jesus goes too far. A Centurion can’t have faith in Yahweh. A Roman can’t receive the promise Yahweh gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We, the children of Abraham won’t be removed from the presence of God. This cannot be.
And yet, there it is. This Centurion has more faith than anyone Jesus had seen in all of Israel.
What is a Centurion, anyway?
Who was this Roman Centurion that had such great faith? The Roman Centurion was a soldier in the Roman Legion, and specifically a commander of a unit of around 80 soldiers called a century. Why it was 80 and not 100 (a centuria means 100), I don’t know. But as a veteran who served as an infantry soldier for the US Army (2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division), I can fully understand his statement to Jesus.
I was a soldier. One of about 110 infantry soldiers who were under the command of the Charlie Company commander. My commander, much like the Centurion, would issue orders, and I would follow them. There is a level of trust and expectation in military units like this. When an order is given, it is given with unwavering expectation that it will be completed exactly as it was ordered. Additionally, when an order is received, it is received with unwavering trust in the commander who gave it.
You could say the commander has the utmost faith that his orders will be completed exactly as he instructed, and the soldiers have the utmost faith in the commander who gave the order.
To be fair, my unit, like I imagine all other infantry units, didn’t work that way all the time, every time. It was made up of people, after all. There were those who had doubts, concerns, fears, worries, and more. However, what I witnessed was that when we were on mission, doing what we trained for, that high level of trust and expectation was the norm.
The Centurion explained that he had a commander above him, whose orders he followed, and soldiers under him, who followed his orders. For this Centurion, when he received an order from his commander, he would make sure it was completed just as instructed, and when he gave an order to his soldiers there was no question as to whether or not it would come to pass just as he said it.
This, in a word, is Faith.
Returning to the Event
I wonder sometimes if on that walk from the mountainside to Capernaum, Jesus overhead some of those discussions. If he overhead the debate on how meekness can be a blessing. The debate on what kind of sin is a speck and what kind of sin was a plank. The debate on how many times or how hard a person should knock for it to be opened, or how loud or how often a person should ask before it is answered. Or the debate over if Jesus meant surpassing the righteousness of the Pharisees was easy or hard.
What I know is that Jesus was often charged with wrongdoing, demanded to perform a sign, asked for miracles by people who didn’t believe, and remarked about how both the leaders in the temple and his own Disciples often didn’t understand what he was saying. Then along comes a Roman Centurion who has a simple, yet unwavering faith in the power and authority of Jesus.
“But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
Centurion
Do I Have this Kind of Faith?
As I said earlier, I like to put myself into these biblical events, and I have found that at times I identify with the Centurion. Times when I feel I have this level of faith in Jesus. But, to be honest, I also find myself at times feeling like the Pharisee, or the Disciple, or the onlooker in the back.
Where are you today? If you do not have the faith of the Centurion … you can. Through Prayer and Action.
Just like the man (Mark 9:14-27) who asked from a place of uncertainty for his son to be healed saying “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us”, you too can pray for faith. Then, step out in the faith you do have. Because using your faith gives you perseverance, and the more you persevere in your faith, the more faith you will have. These continued experiences of faith, and the continual need for more and more faith in your walk with Christ will help you to grow until you reach the point where you too have the faith of the Centurion.
Faith Of The Centurion 