Many years ago, a dear friend and second-Mother asked me an intriguing question. That question comes to my mind multiple times each year even to this moment. Paraphrased, the question would be something like:
"If you could hold a dinner party to talk with any ten people, living or dead, other than the obviously invited guests of Jesus and the disciples, who would you invite and why?"
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Dinner Guest #7: The Centurion With the Sick Servant
The Introduction
And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.
(Matthew 8:5-13)
When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
(Luke 7:1-10)
The History
First, let's address a point critics raise regarding the issue regarding whether the centurion himself approached Jesus himself or not.
The text between the two reports seems to infer three approaches to Jesus on this issue:
Jewish elders (Luke 7)The centurion's friends (Luke 7)The centurion himself (Matthew 8)
There is nothing in Luke 7 to deny that the centurion came to Jesus. There is also nothing in Matthew 8 to deny that Jewish elders and friends of the centurion came to Jesus. Simply put, omission does not equate to a negative.
From the passage in Luke, it is easy to follow that Jewish elders first approached and spoke to Jesus on the centurion's behalf, and then the centurion's friends came afterward and delivered a message from the centurion. It is also reasonable to conclude that even though the centurion's friends came bearing the message from the centurion, that it would still be possible that the centurion himself would approach Jesus as He neared and delivered the same message personally.
If Luke simply didn't indicate the centurion came himself, it neither denies that he did nor does it detract or omit anything substantive from his narrative. The great faith expressed and acknowledged is wholly credited to the centurion, not to his envoys. It would follow basic logic that Luke's account chronologically precedes Matthew's.
The Person
Historians tell us the smallest unified Roman military group was called a contubernium. Legionnaires of a contubernium lived in a large shared tent when the legion was on campaign. The organization of the Roman military (minus slaves and servants) was:
Contubernium The smallest unified group (8 legionnaires) led by a decanus.Century Ten contubernia (80 legionnaires) led by a centurion.Cohort Six centuries (480 legionnaires) led by a cohort prefect or a senior centurion.Legion Ten cohorts (4800 legionnaires) led by a legate.
By these numbers, the centurion would have had eighty legionnaires with ten decani under his command. With the absolute loyalty to Rome, the rigid training Roman legionnaires went through, and the harsh reprimands for failure, it is no small stretch to believe than when this centurion told a legionnaire under his authority to "Go" or "Do", his orders were carried out immediately and precisely.
But what is more interesting is he didn't attribute Jesus' authority just to the obedience of men, but also of nature and sickness. He believed Jesus could heal his servant of an ailment from a distance without sight or touch and just with the command of His spoken word. "...just say the word..."
It is implied from Jesus' response that this centurion was not Jewish. The text in both passages says that Jesus "marveled". That's hard to comprehend isn't it? Jesus marveling. Jesus turned to His disciples and said, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel."
In a recent discussion with someone on the matter of the centurion below the cross at Jesus' crucifixion, they made a comment that they believed this centurion was Jewish for the fact that Jesus said He came to minister to Israel. As his point, he referenced the Syrophoenician woman. I reminded him that Jesus did in fact reward that woman's faith.
When the Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus begging for Him to free her daughter from an unclean spirit, Jesus told her, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.", "Let the children [Israel] be fed first for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30), yet with her answer, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table", Jesus freed the woman's daughter of her oppression. Again, like with the centurion's servant, Jesus performed this miracle from a distance with the woman's daughter unseen and untouched.
Jesus also spend two days teaching the Samaritans after His discussion with the woman at the well. Something unheard of for a Jew, much less a Jewish rabbi, do to.
God rewards faith.
When God promised Abram children like the number of the stars in Genesis 15:5, verse 6 says "Then he believed in the Lord; and He [God] reckoned it to him as righteousness." He rewarded the faith of Abram, He rewarded the faith of the Syrophoenician woman, He rewarded the faith of woman with the issue of blood, and He rewarded the faith of this centurion.
The Conversation
What an amazing encounter! I'm sure I would tire this man out with questions, including questions about the ancient world at large, but these are a few specific questions I'd love answers to.
+ Who was he? What nationality? How had he come into the Roman legions?
+ What led him to love the Jews so dearly?
+ How had he first become aware of Jesus?
+ What report of Jesus was the catalyst to ignite his faith in Him?
+ How did his faith playout and affect the men under his command?
+ How did his commanders treat him if/when they learned of his faith?
+ How long did he remain in the Roman military?
+ What was his life like from then on?
The Why
As a legionnaire, he would be subjected to seeing a lot of brutality in the world. He was in an interesting and unique position of being a Roman commander, friendly with Jewish elders, had built the synagogue in Capernaum, and demonstrating faith in Jesus pre-resurrection. It seems like it could have been a very narrow tightrope on which to balance for years to come in a world where it was commanded to acknowledge Caesar as divine and which would within decades be causing Christian persecution.
The author of Hebrews writes:
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
(Hebrews 11:6)
I would love to hear his first-person account of the life story of the centurion that not just pleases God, but made Jesus marvel at his faith.
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