When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come 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.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

As we study this story, we learn some interesting information about the centurion. First of all, he was humble. Second, he believed in Jesus’ power to heal. He had likely either seen this before or heard about it. Third, he treated his servant kindly. Some masters were brutal with their servants and treated them as akin to their animals. This man cared for his servant enough to risk public humiliation if Jesus did not accept him or heal him.

Fourth, he understood that the spiritual power of Jesus was a power given from the Almighty God. Being from Almighty God, Jesus did not have to be physically present for his healing power to work. He saw Jesus’ authority as straight from God. In essence, I think he knew that Jesus was high up in God’s kingdom. He might have even understood he was God’s Son.

Jesus rewarded his humility, his kindness, deep love for his servant, and his belief in his direct power from God. He elevated this Centurion above all the Jews he had encountered. Here, a Roman Centurion, a part of the despised ruling class over the conquered Jews, has his faith set out as an example. I bet this stung a little bit for those Jews who took great pride in their heritage, position, and religiosity.

So Jesus heals from a distance. He calls out unbelief in the Jewish ranks, and elevates a non-Jew as having one of the greatest amounts of faith he has seen.

Lord, thank you for this example of the Roman Centurion and his faith. It helps me to recognize that I don’t have to have any Chirstian pedigree either to have a strong and big faith in you. You reward the godliness of my heart.