When Jesus finished delivering the Sermon on the Mount, He went to Capernaum. There in Capernaum was a centurion, whose servant (slave) was sick and about to die. Now, the Roman government had been ruling Palestine for about 100 years. A centurion was a soldier who was in charge over 100 men and most Roman soldiers were known for being cruel and harsh. Some, however, had been influenced by the Jewish religion in the area and had learned kinder ways, which we will see in our lesson today. The centurion in our story today was kind to the Jews and had built the synagogue in Jerusalem. This was the synagogue where Jesus had taught and had healed the demoniac (Mark 1:21-23).
Read Luke 7:1-17. Our text tells us that the centurion’s servant (slave), who was highly valued, was about to die. In those days, the Romans found it very easy to replace a slave and could usually do it the same day or by the next day. Few would have worried about a dying slave. But the Bible tells us that this was a highly valued servant. This centurion cared about his servant very much. This tells us a lot about the slave and about the centurion’s character.
Now this centurion had heard of Jesus, and he had sent some of the elders of the Jews to speak to him. He did not consider himself worthy of asking Jesus to come to him, so he simply sent a message to Him. These Jews willingly spoke favorably to Jesus about the centurion even though he was a representative of the Roman government because of the good things he had done for the Jewish community.
The centurion had them speak to Jesus of the military chain of command, saying that people in authority could give orders and they would have to be obeyed. He seemed to understand that Jesus had that sort of authority. He told Jesus that he knew that if Jesus spoke the word, his servant would be healed.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was amazed at this and He turned and began to speak to the crowd about this man’s amazing faith. This man was not even a Jew… he was a Gentile and Jesus was amazed at his faith. Did you know that Jesus could be impressed with us? Look at Isaiah 66:2. What does it take to impress or please God?
Jesus told the crowd that He had not found such faith even in Israel. In saying this, He was praising the centurion, but He was also making a statement about the state of Israel for its lack of faith. What was it about the centurion’s faith that so impressed Jesus? What can we learn from this example?
After this, the men who had been sent to Jesus left and returned to find the servant alive and well. How do you suppose the centurion reacted to these events? How would you have reacted? Our God is clearly sovereign and rules the universe. We can take our requests to Him in faith and trust that He is able to heal.
It is God’s desire that we have faith in Him and serve Him according to His word, but He also gave us free will. He could have created us as sin free and obedient creatures, but He wanted us to obey Him willingly. He desires that we do His good will (Eph 2:10). He wants us to be obedient because, just like the centurion’s servant, we are also highly valued to God (John 15:9, John 17:23).
There is much discussion in this story as to whether the centurion was worthy of Jesus coming to help him. And no, no one’s deeds ever make them worthy of Jesus’ time and attention. We are all sinners (Rom 3:23) deserving punishment in hell (Rom 6:23). But our works do say something about us that the Bible repeatedly teaches very clearly (Luke 6:43-45, James 2:26).
Responding to God: Worship God and thank Him that we can have a loving relationship with Him. Praise Him for His goodness and His mercy. Recognize Jesus’ authority and tell Him what you know is in His power to do. Ask His help in healing illness in your household and among acquaintances. Thank Him for those He has healed. Praise Him for His good deeds He had done. Thank Him for all His good gifts. Seek to live a life of obedience to Him.
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