Five Centurions from the Bible - 1
The Roman centurion with great faith (Luke 7:1-10 and Matthew 8:5-13) at Capernaum:
The faith of this non-named centurion was incredible, and even Jesus was amazed as we read in the Bible. Just halt here, and think about it this: even Jesus was amazed, as so the event was indeed recorded. The man in question had a gentile background, and was a successful Roman soldier commanding a Jewish fishing town called Capernaum that was near to four times as large as Nazareth, home for about 1,500 inhabitants and four of Jesus’ disciples (Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew). And this centurion showed exactly the faith that God wants us to have. Come to Him in all humility with your problem, and then when His word is said, accept it.
Putting this story from the Bible into in our time line we need to imagine a military man way into his thirties who was successful in a very harsh (though yet not nasty) period of Roman occupation, but stayed human and good nevertheless. We could call him Jack Reacher, couldn’t we? He reached his prominence through the ranks and was chosen for their skills in battle and leadership, and would still be leading soldiers up front in any battle. And before quitting the job and becoming Roman citizen he must have looked back at this crossroad in his life when he met Jesus in person. Now in the ‘godfather/Trump’ logic of how self-centered really successful people need to be to keep earning success and wealth this centurion should indeed have been one of the last people to trust Jesus. But he isn’t fearful, but rather with great faith. We read about him putting all of his trust into Jesus. He believed his beloved servant would be healed by what he was about to ask in person for him from Jesus with a great faith and humility.
We can speculate that this centurion wasn’t so gentile as recorded after the event, but rather he knew already beforehand that God had the power to speak things into being. Anyhow, somehow this centurion recognized how unworthy he was at the moment of asking and how worthy Jesus was standing in front of him, as if he knew that Jesus had the ultimate authority over this world. That he knew already that Christ wasn’t a ‘was’ but rather a ‘is’. Perhaps this centurion had already heard about the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus made before passing through Capernaum, or was even present himself? The centurion believed that Christ is who He says He is, and he sees the authority that Jesus then had as a gift from God, the one who is above all things, even above Roman officers like him.
My concluding question is: what is faith really, and how does the faith of the centurion of Capernaum differ from ours today?
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see (Hebrews 11:1)
1. His faith was unselfish
2. His faith was active
3. His faith did not depend on good works or personal merit
4. The word of Jesus was the only evidence that his faith required
"When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick" (Luke 7:9-10)
The faith of this non-named centurion was incredible, and even Jesus was amazed as we read in the Bible. Just halt here, and think about it this: even Jesus was amazed, as so the event was indeed recorded. The man in question had a gentile background, and was a successful Roman soldier commanding a Jewish fishing town called Capernaum that was near to four times as large as Nazareth, home for about 1,500 inhabitants and four of Jesus’ disciples (Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew). And this centurion showed exactly the faith that God wants us to have. Come to Him in all humility with your problem, and then when His word is said, accept it.
Putting this story from the Bible into in our time line we need to imagine a military man way into his thirties who was successful in a very harsh (though yet not nasty) period of Roman occupation, but stayed human and good nevertheless. We could call him Jack Reacher, couldn’t we? He reached his prominence through the ranks and was chosen for their skills in battle and leadership, and would still be leading soldiers up front in any battle. And before quitting the job and becoming Roman citizen he must have looked back at this crossroad in his life when he met Jesus in person. Now in the ‘godfather/Trump’ logic of how self-centered really successful people need to be to keep earning success and wealth this centurion should indeed have been one of the last people to trust Jesus. But he isn’t fearful, but rather with great faith. We read about him putting all of his trust into Jesus. He believed his beloved servant would be healed by what he was about to ask in person for him from Jesus with a great faith and humility.
We can speculate that this centurion wasn’t so gentile as recorded after the event, but rather he knew already beforehand that God had the power to speak things into being. Anyhow, somehow this centurion recognized how unworthy he was at the moment of asking and how worthy Jesus was standing in front of him, as if he knew that Jesus had the ultimate authority over this world. That he knew already that Christ wasn’t a ‘was’ but rather a ‘is’. Perhaps this centurion had already heard about the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus made before passing through Capernaum, or was even present himself? The centurion believed that Christ is who He says He is, and he sees the authority that Jesus then had as a gift from God, the one who is above all things, even above Roman officers like him.
My concluding question is: what is faith really, and how does the faith of the centurion of Capernaum differ from ours today?
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see (Hebrews 11:1)
1. His faith was unselfish
2. His faith was active
3. His faith did not depend on good works or personal merit
4. The word of Jesus was the only evidence that his faith required
"When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick" (Luke 7:9-10)
