Faith of a Centurion

Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. Matthew 8:8

Of all the people most likely to see the truth of who Jesus was, a Roman centurion would probably not be at the top of the list. How it happened we do not know but somehow his eyes had been opened. We do know that the centurion lived in Capernaum, which is also where Jesus lived after leaving Nazareth, so he definitely would have been aware of him, but I feel that it had to be more personal than that. He must have heard Jesus with his own ears, and had his heart opened to the truth by the power of the Holy Spirit, for when his servant became sick, he knew there was only one who could help.

Jesus had been travelling, and when he arrived back in Capernaum the centurion wasted no time in coming and appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” Jesus agreed to come and heal him but the soldier said no, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” He told Jesus that he understood authority, both having it and being under it, so all he required of the Lord was for him to say the word. Jesus marvelled at his faith saying, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith,” and then turning to the soldier he said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.”

‘As you have believed’ – a Roman centurion displayed to all those following Jesus, including the disciples, what it meant to have a believing faith. More than that, he let all those around him see what it meant to exercise that faith, showing that it had real substance.

Are you exercising your faith? Are you bringing all of your circumstances to Jesus and allowing him to work in and through them, to bring you the resolve, the relief, the clarity or the comfort that you need?

Come believing, and let it be done for you.