The faith of the Roman army officer

Luke 7:1-10

7 After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set 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 slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

The centurion was a Roman (Gentile) military officer (about the rank of a Captain – in charge of (in theory) 100 soldiers). He served in the occupying army and was stationed in Capernaum. His decision to not come directly to Jesus may have been because he was worried that Jesus would not listen to his concern because he was a Roman. So instead, he asked some Jewish leaders to advocate for him. They advocate by telling Jesus how good the man is, why he deserves receiving the healing he desires. The passage is unclear about whether this was the way the centurion thought the conversation should go, asking for a favour because he had earned it. From what happens next, I don’t think the centurion would have approached Jesus this way.  

Before Jesus gets to the centurion’s house, the centurion sends another messenger saying – “only speak the word.” The centurion, as Jesus notes, has faith that Jesus is more than just a healer, rather Jesus has authority. An authority over disease, an authority over the things of this world, and that kind of authority comes from only one place, it is divine power. The centurion is saying that Jesus is God. The centurion is one of the first people to figure out who Jesus is, an outsider who reveals the truth to the insiders.

Around us are people who come from different cultural backgrounds than we do, but they like us are followers of Jesus. Will we let them show us truths about Jesus that we cannot see, but which they with cultural backgrounds that are different than ours can see? Will we let followers of Jesus from other backgrounds teach us truths about Jesus?    

PRAYER:

Lord God, you sent Jesus Christ to bring the good news to people of every tribe and language and ethnicity. Give us the humility to learn about your Son, from the people of tribes, languages, and ethnicities who follow Jesus. These things we pray in his name. Amen.