A Roman Centurion’s Great Faith
Introduction: The last half of Luke chapter 6 has the text of what some call “The Sermon on the Plateau” or the level place. There are a number of things similar, and different, than the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 but that’s not the point of this message. By now, Jesus has returned to Capernaum—just in time to minister to a Roman centurion, a man in charge of 100 soldiers!
How would Jesus react to a request from a foreigner?
1 The request from the centurion
Text: Luke 7:1-3, KJV: 1 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. 3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
Israel had been under Roman rule for a number of years before Jesus was born. Historians like Josephus give details in their writings (example, “Antiquities of the Jews”, book XIV, chapter 4, online at www.ccel.org) . Phillip Schaff, in his “Encyclopedia”, wrote that the Roman emperor Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BC (https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc05/Page_165.html). Along with Roman rule, Israel saw a fairly large number of Roman soldiers and officers. To give one example, maybe 20-30 years after this story, Paul received an escort of nearly 500 Roman troops from Jerusalem to Caesarea (Acts 23:23)!
It goes without saying that some of these soldiers and officers had varying opinions of the Jews. Here in this story, there’s a record of one who loved Israel and apparently was very humane in his treatment of the people he was there to, more or less, supervise. The people, at least near Capernaum, knew of him, maybe even knew him personally, and would later give a totally unexpected voice of support.
That support would come in very welcome, indeed, once news reached Jesus about a problem in this centurion’s household. Something to keep in mind is that slavery was legal and practiced in those days and this centurion had at least one such servant. The word translated “servant” in the King James Version is actually “doulos” which is the usual word for “slave (as noted online at https://biblehub.com/greek/1401.htm)
This particular slave or servant was “sick, and ready to die” as Luke records. The servant was also paralyzed or “sick of the palsy” and “grievously tormented” as Matthew wrote in his account (Matt. 8:6). We’re never told how this servant came down with this disease, but he had it, and was about to die from it.
I can’t help but wonder if the centurion had, maybe, heard of another man, a paralytic, whom Jesus had healed (see the accounts in Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, and Luke 5:17-26). This man, the centurion’s servant, was “grievously tormented”, unlike the other paralytic; it’s likely he was in even worse shape than the first man. No matter: the centurion somehow knew that Jesus, and only Jesus, could heal his servant.
The problem was, how to get a Jewish teacher (remember, Jesus was called, variously, “Teacher”, “Master (same as ‘teacher’ except for a few instanced)”, “Rabbi’, and even “Lord” by some. The word “Lord” in Greek had a double meaning: as some Bible teachers observed, “Lord” could simply mean “sir”, as well as the Divine meaning such as when Thomas would later say “My Lord and my God” in John 20.
2 The response by Jesus
Text, Luke 7:4-6a, KJV: 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: 5 For heloveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. 6a Then Jesus went with them.
These verses contain some interesting nuggets. First, the elders of the Jews actually begged Jesus to heal the centurion’s servant. Partly, this was because the centurion loved the nation and built a particular synagogue. After all, Rome sent soldiers of several different ranks to most of their Empire and one reason why was to keep the peace. This man, this centurion, seemed to have learned that lesson easily. Note there is no hint (openly, at least) of any mistreatment or ill will towards anyone, Jew or Gentile, in that area.
Second, we’re not sure how much a centurion received as salary. It goes without saying that increases in rank (he wasn’t just an ordinary soldier) usually meant increases in pay as well as increased responsibility. This centurion, as mentioned, had learned to love the nation of Israel and had built them a synagogue. That probably means he financed the construction; it would likely take one man quite a length of time to build a synagogue with only his own two hands!
And something that Luke doesn’t mention here, but did in Acts 10 was that these elders, at least, were willing to overlook either a custom or piece of legislation that forbade a Jew from entering a Gentile’s house. Ellicott observed that this was based on Pharasaism, and not the Law itself, but also that the Jews would have nothing to do with anything a Gentile might own (see the online commentary at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/acts/10.htm). Barnes’ notes states that this was part of the idea of Israel being a separate people as part of their original calling (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/acts/10.htm). Matthew Poole’s commentary reminds readers that there was still a wall of partition between Jew and Gentile (available online at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/poole/acts/10.htm).
Jesus, knowing all of this, answered without a word. Someone was sick and Jesus was going to heal that individual, even if that sick person was the slave of an officer in the Roman army!
3 The reply by the centurion
Text, Luke 7:6b-8, KJV: 6b And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: 7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Jesus and the elders had apparently begun walking towards the centurion’s residence. Reading this, I can only wonder what the various people were thinking. Some might have thought Jesus was actually going to enter a Gentile’s house and perform healing. After all, they had likely seen any number of such healings already and they knew what Jesus could do. Others may have wondered, “Just what _will_ He do” in view of the distinction between Jew and Gentile. Still others may have hoped Jesus would be compassionate (was the slave Jewish?) and heal the centurion’s servant, regardless of anything else. We’ll never know for sure down here.
We do know that the centurion sent friends to Jesus. The message, from the centurion to the friends, was something like “Don’t bother Yourself by coming to my house! I’m not worthy of such an honor (this, from a Roman centurion!) And, I’m not even worthy to meet You fact to face or even have You enter my house, but just say the word and my servant will be healed! In fact, I know about authority: I have (100) soldiers under my command. If I tell one of them to go somewhere, he goes there. Then, if I tell another, ‘Come here!’, he’ll come to where I tell him, no questions asked. And my servant? All I have to do is say, ‘Do this’, he’ll do it!”
It’s likely, as mentioned, the centurion was aware of the differences (!) between the Jews and the Gentiles, the Romans in particular. Luke paints a realistic picture of this man; sworn to honor the Empire, which he certainly seemed to do; exercising kindness towards the Jews (whoever explained that to him is one of history’s greatest unsung heroes); and even, at the very least, arranging to have a synagogue built for the Jews of that area,
He was also a man who understood authority. He had all the power delegated to any other centurion, and there is no record here that he ever abused any of it.
And he was respectful enough to be concerned about a Jewish rabbi and what might happen if Jesus would enter his house. He had faith that Jesus could heal, but he was also afraid that something might happen to Jesus if Jesus did in fact go into his house.
To say the least, I think this gave Jesus some food for thought. Now, what would He do?
4 The result: a healed servant
Text, Luke 7:9-10, KJV: 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.
Jesus marveled! That was something that didn’t happen very often, at least not in the records of Scripture. Lange wrote that there was only one other time Jesus marveled (see the notes online at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/lange/luke/7.htm). My own opinion, and it’s only that, is that Jesus was somewhere between “pleasantly surprised” and “blown away” to find a Roman army officer, whose knowledge of Jesus may have been incomplete at best, who still had enough faith (let’s call it what it is) and confidence that Jesus could heal the servant even from a distance!
There seems to be an increasing use of “tele-health” where, as I understand, is where people don’t go to a doctor’s office but uses electronic media to diagnose and solve problems. I’ve never been enthused about this, but for some it’s the way they choose. You can make your choice; I’ll make my choice. But here, in this part of Israel at this time, Jesus was doing something few would even dare to try. He was willing to enter a Gentile’s house in order to heal a slave. In fact, He was on His way to the centurion’s house!
And when Jesus heard the words, relayed by the centurion’s friends (we should add them to the great people of history), He marveled! He even said, “I haven’t found such great faith anywhere in Israel (paraphrased)”. Think about it: remember when He healed the man, in the synagogue, when the man had a “withered” arm? Not too many were pleased at that time, were they?
But there were certainly some people who were at least grateful for the miracle Jesus performed. Note that Jesus stopped after the friends of the centurion related his message. Then Jesus marveled that someone as far away from the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would have such confidence that, at a word, someone like Jesus could heal, even from a distance. In addition, Luke does not record anything Jesus said like “Be healed!” like Matthew stated (Matt. 8:13).
The important thing is that the slave was healed! Several of the commentators observe that Luke used a medical term for “healthy” or “convalescent”. It’s enough to say that this slave, who was so very sick, was now completely well—and the reason? Jesus, only Jesus, in response to the faith of a Roman army officer.
What does this mean for us? We don’t have Jesus walking the earth these days, but no matter; we can still pray and trust the Lord for His Will to be done in every situation.
He’s the Great Physician, and also our Redeemer and Friend. Trust Jesus for salvation today!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
