The Centurion And His Perception About Life

Luke 7:1-10 will provide us with a lens to understand what great faith is and how to gain it. This passage comes right after the conclusion of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples on how to be a disciple. When you look at Luke 6 you will see Christ’s discipleship manual where he does all his teachings on discipleship and in the beginning of chapter 7 he is seen entering Capernaum, a small fishing village near the Sea of Galilee. This is where Jesus spent much of His time, and performed many of his miracles. In Capernaum Jesus heals a man of an unclean spirit in the Capernaum synagogue (4:31-37). Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law of a “high fever” at Simon’s house in Capernaum (4:38-39).

Capernaum was both a tourist area and a commercial place. People from all over this region would travel through Capernaum to get to Rome, Egypt, Africa and beyond. Rome and King Herod had made Capernaum a place one could come and pay their taxes. Capernaum was then a potential perfect environment for smugglers and thieves. That is why history tells us that there was a major military presence in Capernaum because King Herod didn't want to lose precious tax revenue.

Luke 7:2 goes on to tell us that in Capernaum there was a centurion. Centurions were actually Roman Army officers who generally commanded 100 soldiers. So, this centurion would have had a very important job. In many ways, he was one of the most important men in Capernaum. This man was likely working under Herod Antipas and responsible for tax collecting. It was his responsibility to keep everyone safe and sound and to keep the money flowing to King Herod and Rome. Most of the centurions were Gentiles, though sometimes they were half-Jews – Samaritans, so the Jewish people tended to despise centurions.

By and large, I’ve typically read the story of Jesus and the centurion as a tremendous story about the nature of faith. To the question, “What is faith?” this story offers some answers. The read passage presents Faith as a deep conviction. It’s a decision you make, no matter what the circumstances of your life. And it makes all the difference in the way you perceive the world around you.

The story begins with some Jewish leaders coming to Jesus and asking him to heal the servant of a Roman Centurion. Apparently this was no ordinary Centurion, because he had been very kind to the Jewish people in this community. So Jesus agrees to go with them. But on the way, the Centurion sends word that he is not worthy to receive Jesus to his house. Normally in the Gospels people express their faith in Jesus after he worked a miracle. But in this case, without seeing any kind of sign or wonder, the Centurion has faith that Jesus can just say the word and heal his servant. It’s not surprising then that Jesus said, “not even in Israel have I found such faith!” (Lk. 7:9).Oddly, the centurion and Jesus never meet face-to-face. All their interactions occur through other people.

Jesus is dazzled by this centurion's faith, marveling that such faith is not even found among God's chosen people. This is shocking. Why would Jesus praise a foreigner, a Gentile, a centurion so highly? I want to give three points on why his faith was placed high by Jesus

1. He had a good understanding about the worth of life

Faith is not a noun, but rather it is a verb. In other words we do not “have” the faith, instead we “live” the faith.

This centurion possessed a great big heart for those who lived in his house and for the Jewish people living around him. When we value other people’s life there our faith counts.

According to Roman law when a slave was no longer valuable their owners could get rid of them like one would get rid of a worthless horse or a worthless piece of furniture. Most of the time slave owners didn't care anything about the health and welfare of their slaves. Slaves at that time were not even seen as human beings. They were just tools to be used as one would use a sword, a wash basin or a pair of sandals. Their only value was in what gain or pleasure they could bring to their owners.

An ancient writer mentioned like this, for agriculture three types of tools were used

a) Those who talk- slaves

b) Those who make sound- Animals

c) Those who do not make any noise- tools like axe, knife etc

For this centurion slaves weren't just tools to be used or numbers on a board. They were not things that he owned just to bring him wealth or pleasure. Instead, the picture that Luke provides for us here is that of a man who understood and cared for his slaves, especially this young man. The centurion, who loved this servant, hated to see him in such distress and agony. So in Luke 7:3, he hears that Jesus is in town, and sends some people to ask Jesus to heal his servant. Luke 7:4 says that when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly to heal the servant. It is always a good idea in prayer to get friends and relatives to pray with you and for you. Do we recognize the worth of lives around us?