The Centurian Series

But this man heard about Jesus…and it’s a good thing he did…because one encounter with Jesus…ends up changing everything.

v.4,5 - “So they (the Jewish leaders) earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. ‘If anyone deserves your help, he does,’ they said, ‘for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.’”

Okay…this isn’t normal. This is one special guy.

Jewish leaders were definitely not in the habit of being fond of Roman soldiers.

But these guys go to bat for this Centurion.

They try to convince Jesus that because of how good this man is…he deserves a miracle.

Has anyone besides me…ever used that tactic in prayer?

Lord, “If anyone deserves your help…they do.”

It’s kinda like God owes us something…if we can get enough GOLD STARS for good behavior / faithfulness.

The Jewish leaders approach Jesus on the basis of, “This man deserves to have you do this.”

Why did they feel he was deserving? Well: (1) Over time…it had become clear that this man was different. He had a genuine affinity for the Jewish people. (2) He built them a church.

I had to do a little research to find this out…but…it appears that a typical foot soldier at this time received about 225 denarii as an annual salary.

A Centurion…like this man…could expect to earn somewhere between 5000-7000 denarii a year.

This guy was more than capable to finance the construction of a synagogue…and in fact he had done so.

Side note: Acheologist have determined that Carpeneum only had one synagogue.

v.6 - “So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, ‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor.”

We don’t know if the Jewish leaders arguments were the reason Jesus came…we just know…Jesus went with them.

Jesus was a very busy man…yet he was willing to fit this into His schedule.

Jesus has a long track record of coming to those who are in need and call on Him.

This is kinda funny. First…the Centurion sends…asking Jesus to come to his house. Now…just before Jesus shows up…he sends some friends to tell Him not to bother.

It would be interesting to know what happened in his thought process.

He still wanted Jesus to heal his slave…he just didn’t want Jesus to come.

The Jewish elders had been trying to convince Jesus of how worthy and deserving this man was…now the Centurion himself is saying he’s not worthy or deserving.

Maybe he had some guilt about something in his life…that caused him to feel unworthy?

Perhaps he suddenly grasped how holy Jesus was and how unholy he wasn’t?

We don’t know…we just know…he did not consider himself worthy of being in the presence of Jesus.

v.7,8 - “‘I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.’”

I love the phrase, “Just say the word.”