The Centurion of Faith

Faith. O how we long for faith. To believe so intensely in the truth over our own, fitful, fleeting, forgetful comprehension. Today I was reading Mathew 8:5-13 and I was blown away. See what you think. I'll break it down on the other side. 

"When [Jesus] had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Woah, right? Jesus used remote control healing. Awesome. But what really blew me away about this is the faith of the centurion. We have no reason to believe that he had ever met Jesus before this. Jesus had been doing miracles and preaching quite a bit at this point and that kind of news spreads fast, so it's reasonable to believe that the centurion had heard of Jesus, but not that he had ever met Him. 

The centurion didn't even ask Jesus to heal his servant. He just said, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” Two things here, 1) he calls Him Lord. 2) HE DOESN'T ASK JESUS TO HEAL HIS SERVANT. He has no request, he doesn't ask, he simply presents the issue before Jesus. It isn't about what he wants, it's about letting Jesus do what He wants to do. The centurion kept himself open to whatever Jesus would do when presented directly with someone who was suffering. He also knew that Jesus could do something THAT NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN HIM DO BEFORE. Previously Jesus always went to the suffering person and said something to them or touched them. It's possible Jesus never saw this servant. Ever. The Centurion says, "only say the word and my servant will be healed." That's the centurion's faith in the person and power of Jesus. Not only in what Jesus had done but in the limitless expanse of what He could do. 

Jesus sees the need and starts to move. He immediately responds with "I will come and heal him," but before Jesus takes a step the centurion stops him. Why did the centurion stop him? Why not let Jesus come and heal the servant like He'd done with everyone else? It's like the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof." Cool, he's humble. But wait, what? He's a centurion. That means he's an officer in the roman military (the world power of the time) and he has 100 soldiers under his command. That's a lot of buff, brawling dudes. Which probably makes him the buffest and the brawliest of them. Also, Jesus was mostly hanging around the poor, so societally, NOBODY ELSE was more important than the centurion. It's not like the centurion was ignorant of his own power either. He says he can command people to do what he wants, and does so all the time. He's no pushover. This guys took some serious humble pills. He had a deep understanding of the power and love that Jesus had for everyone and a deep love for his servant. 

The next thing that happened is that, "Jesus marveled." WHAT?! Somebody just impressed God?! God who made EVERYTHING by talking about it, who commands the WEATHER, who causes the UNIVERSE to function was IMPRESSED?! Why? What made the centurions faith so much greater? Jesus said, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith." That's a pretty rocking resume, when Jesus says you have the most faith he's see since His incarnation. But again, why? The centurion's humility to know that Jesus can heal his servant, based on what he had only heard about Him.

Jesus is so impressed that He reveals into a sermon about how salvation has come for everyone, not just the Jews. "Many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness." Jesus is using the centurion as an example of how faith in Him can be had by all and many Jews will reject Him still.

Then Jesus heals the servant and says to the centurion, "let it be done for you AS YOU HAVE BELIEVED." God works when we believe He will. He wants to do things for us and us to believe Him when He says He will.

The centurion didn't need to see or know Jesus to believe the truth about Him. He humbled himself in spite of his own power and selflessly trusted Jesus to do the most God glorifying thing regardless of his own desire. That is faith in the purest form. That is hope in the truth and essence of God. May we all be centurions of such faith.