Go Thy Way: The Centurion’s Faith Series

Background: Jesus has just recently delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), then healed the leper (Matt 8:1-4). Now He is approached by a Roman centurion (leader of 100 men) who asked Jesus for help. What would Jesus do, or say, in this situation?

The text comes from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 8, verses 5-13. From the King James Version, the text reads as follows:

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this [man], Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth [it]. 10 When Jesus heard [it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

Introduction: Centurions were commanders of 100 Roman soldiers. These men were assigned to various parts of the Roman Empire for peacekeeping duties and maybe other duties, as well. Certainly some of these men were employed in the execution of people condemned to death for any number of misdeeds—just like the “crimes” Jesus Christ was accused of.

This centurion had a problem. He had a servant (we’re not told how many) who was suffering from a serious disease. The King James Version calls it, “sick of the palsy”, and there was little if any hope, apparently, that this servant would ever get well again.

I The centurion made an appeal, vv. 5-6

We’re not told which mountain was the place where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. It could have been one around Capernaum, which itself was near the Sea of Galilee. After all, this is where Jesus was going (see verse 5). Regardless, when He arrived in Capernaum, He met a centurion who made a personal appeal to Jesus.

This centurion first made a respectful greeting. He had the authority to demand to see Jesus, or anyone else for that matter, and could have said something like, “Hey, you, Teacher, heal my servant and I mean right now!” He could have employed threats, imprisonment, or any weapon in his arsenal, and he could have done it without any fear of reprisal. The Romans were the masters, politically speaking, and all others were under their rule (but Roman citizens had special privileges and protections). He could have issued an order for Jesus to appear.

In person. Right here. Right now.

But he didn’t do anything like that. He approached Jesus with respect, giving Him a great deal of dignity in the process. Notice that he called Jesus “Lord” or “Sir”, from the Greek word kurios (according to Strong’s Concordance). This is even more remarkable, as the centurion didn’t have to give any kind of respectful greeting to anyone except, perhaps, his superiors—and all the more remarkable, as Jesus, while on this earth, was a Jew and the Romans had no obligation to pay any kind of respect to their subjects.

Further, he didn’t even make a direct appeal for healing. He simply reported the servant’s condition: “my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.” Did he have faith? How did he come to understand that Jesus may (in his mind) or could perhaps heal someone as sick as his servant? Where did he come to learn anything at all about Jesus?

He may have had an opportunity to learn, as Jesus replied, “I’ll come and heal him”!

II Jesus gave him an answer, v 7.

“I will come and heal him.” Six words in the King James Version of the Bible, but they were some of the most profound things ever spoken. Why was this remarkable?

For one thing, the Jews were basically forbidden to enter the houses of anyone who was not Jewish. Simon Peter ran into that very problem some years later after he went to the house of Cornelius, even after he reported that Cornelius and his household became believers in Jesus! And did I mention that Cornelius was a Roman centurion, also? This story is told in Acts 10. So we can see that Jesus was willing to break Jewish traditions (if not commands) and visit the home of someone, not even Jewish, to perform an act of mercy.