The centurion didn’t even show up. He didn’t even come himself. He sent some of the Jewish elders to Jesus to ask him to heal one of his servants. And then the centurion subsequently sent two more servants to say that he shouldn’t come.
If I were Jesus, frankly, I might have been a little annoyed. First, he sends someone else to ask me to come, and I do. Then I come and get close to his home and he says don’t come. What’s the deal?
The Jews in that area liked this centurion, certainly an uncommon scenario. Generally, the Romans hated the Jews and the Jews hated the Romans. It was a pretty mutual feeling between them!
But here, when the Jewish elders from that area come to Jesus, they say that this centurion “deserves” for Jesus to come. The centurion had built their synagogue and was a friend to the Jewish people. That qualified him for Jesus to do a miracle for the centurion they said. He has done good things for us, so could you help him out? Could you do just this one little tiny miracle for him?
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
Luke 7:1-10
Hmm… I’m not sure whether or not Jesus bought this “he deserves it” argument, but he did go.
But as they approached the centurion’s house, the two other servants come with the message that Jesus doesn’t actually have to come. He can just say the word. The centurion understands that Jesus has the authority to speak and it will be done.
Now Jesus is truly astonished. Although I can be convinced otherwise, maybe now Jesus believes that the centurion “deserves it”. Why? Because the centurion had done good things for the Jewish people? No, in fact, Jesus says that this centurion has done much more than the Jewish people had done. He wasn’t even a Jew and the centurion actually had faith in who Jesus is. Jesus had never even found anyone in all of Israel who had the faith that this man had.
Why would Jesus say that?
Jesus said that this man had more faith than anyone in all of Israel because he had truly recognized who Jesus was. Yes, the centurion knew that Jesus could heal his servant. The Jewish elders also believed this, but they didn’t believe that Jesus could just say the word. They saw Jesus as a mere prophet. They saw him as one who one need to show up, on site, and talk to God about the centurion’s servant.
Yet the centurion saw the situation differently. He knew that Jesus could merely say the word and his servant would be healed. He saw Jesus is a completely different light. Only God would be able to do what the centurion knew that Jesus could do. Only God would be able to simply say the word and it would be done. Only God would be able to command spiritual forces in the way that the centurion believed Jesus could do.
And so it was for this reason that Jesus stops and commends the centurion’s faith. Wow! Jesus hadn’t heard of this kind of faith in all of Israel! This man believes! This man actually realizes that I am who I have been showing myself to be: God who has come in the flesh.
So Jesus cures the centurion’s servant. Right then and there. In fact, we don’t even see that Jesus says anything more other than commending the centurion’s faith. He thinks it and it is done. No magic words. No on-the-spot rituals. A thought and it is done.
It is interesting that this Roman centurion came to the conclusion of who Jesus truly was on his own. Today, we frequently hear people repeat what others have told them. The Muslims repeat what they heard in their mosque. The Catholics repeat what they have been told from their catechism.
This Roman centurion didn’t have anyone else to tell him what he should think. He came to the conclusion on his own. He figured it out by simply observing Jesus, by simply listening to him and seeing the works that he was doing, and he learned that God was walking around on the earth in the form of a man. He knew that the things that Jesus was doing were things that only God could do.
And what about each of us? This is the most important question: Who is Jesus? We must not only explore this question, but we must dig into it deeply. And we must look to see Jesus for who he shows himself to be. He is God, who has come as Immanuel, God with us, here on the earth. That is who he has shown himself to be, that is who he claimed to be, and he is the one around whom we must orient our lives, because he truly deserves it.