Matthew 8:5-9
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just 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.”
Reflection
This passage gives us another example of Jesus ministering to and accepting the most unlikely. A centurion would be a Roman soldier. A Roman soldier would have been seen as an enemy of Israel. However, when this man asked Jesus for help in healing his servant Jesus did not ignore or shun him. In fact, Jesus said that he would be willing to go and heal his servant. Then this pagan Roman, enemy of Israel, demonstrated unimaginable faith in Jesus. He tells Jesus that he doesn’t need to come to his home. The centurion simply requests Jesus pronounce that his servant is healed and he will have faith that it will be as Jesus says. This man had more faith than most of the Jewish leaders and rulers rolled into one. The centurion had faith in Jesus even though he seemed to be an unlikely person to receive God’s grace.
What can we learn about faith from this centurion? Have you even known someone who seemed to be far from God but ended up demonstrating great faith?
