The Centurian's Servant Healed

A Centurion's Faith, Part 1:

The men who wrote the Scripture were separated unto the task and inspired by the Holy Spirit in not only what they wrote but in the actual words they used, 2 Timothy 3:1616 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

; 2 Peter 1:2121 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

. Our last study identified seven Greek words in the original New Testament having to do with various aspects of faith, i.e., faith, of little faith, believe, unbelief, faithful, etc. It is instructional to examine how each word is used and the context thereof so we will examine some of them in the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John where Jesus Christ's earthly ministry is recorded. Here we begin with the Greek word “pistis,” translated with our noun faith.

In many cases the first use of a particular word in the Bible is significant and this word is no exception. Its first occasion in the New Testament: “When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Matthew 8:1010 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

. Jesus was in His hometown Capurneum, Matthew 9:1 & 4:13, when He made this observation about a Centurion

who had approached and asked Him to heal his servant who was ill at another location. This occurred early in Jesus' ministry but His reputation for performing miracles was obviously well known; He had already turned water into wine at a wedding, John 2:1 - 111 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

, and healed many, Matthew 4:23 - 2523 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

; 8:2

- 4. The Centurion's faith was such (i.e., he truly believed Jesus could do

what he was requesting) that when Jesus answered the Centurion and said He would go to the servant the Centurion responded that to do so was not necessary. He said he was not worthy for Jesus to come under his roof and all Jesus had to do was say so and the servant would be healed, Matthew 8:5 - 95 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

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A Centurion was the closest thing to what we know as a police commander of the time although he was actually a Roman military commander. According to a Wikipedia entry the term Centurion could apply to a Roman Military Officer comparable to what we know today as either a Lieutenant, Captain, Lt. Colonial or Colonial, i.e., there were different levels of Centurions. One could be in charge of 80 men or he could become a Senior Centurion and be in charge of a cohort, that is, 6 Centurions and their 480 legionaries. Many legionnaires entered the service at 16 years of age but they could not become a Centurion until they were 30. They led their men by example so fought at the front of their column. One ancient writer wrote: “He (a Centurion) is to be vigilant, temperate, active and readier to execute the orders he receives than to talk.”

The penalty for not carrying out their duties was severe, including death. At the time of Christ they were garrisoned in Israel to maintain order and keep the Jews under the rule and authority of Caesar.

The reason the incident with the Centurion in Matthew 8:5 - 105 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

is especially revealing/instructive is that he was a Gentile and the Gospels are very clear that Jesus' earthly ministry was to the Jews and not the Gentiles. Jesus had come to save His people, the Jews, the Nation of Israel, from their sins, Matthew 1:2121 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

; He was born to be King of the Jews, Matthew 2:22 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

. A good example of this was when the woman of Canaan approached and asked Him to heal her daughter. Jesus' disciples naturally suggested He send her away and Jesus did not rebuke them for this “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Matthew 15:2424 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

, and referred to her as a dog, verse 25. The woman knew her place and did not dispute the fact that as a Gentile to a Jew she could be compared as a dog to a human and tacitly admitted she had no right to approach Him as did the Jews: “And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.” Matthew 15:2727 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

. (In spite of her being a gentile Jesus did heal her daughter.)

Another example demonstrating the difference between Jew and Gentile was when the Samaritan woman was surprised Jesus would even speak to her, John 4:99 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

. The point of all this is that Jesus' ministry was to Israel, not to the Gentiles, as evidenced by His first commission to His apostles: “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:” Matthew 10:55 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

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Many Christians today misunderstand much of what is written in the Gospels because they don't consider that Jesus' earthly ministry was primarily to the Jews. At that time, in order to be in a right relationship with God a person had to be a Jew or a Proselyte to their religion and obey the Law God gave Moses. This was true all during the history of mankind beginning with the call of Abraham, recorded in the book of Genesis (and subsequently the Law given to Moses in Exodus) right up through the time recorded in Acts when God saved Saul who became the Apostle Paul and was subsequently sent to the Gentiles. Up until the time of the Apostle Paul the only way a Gentile could come into a right relationship with God was to be a proselyte to the Jewish religion, i.e., men had to be circumcised; be baptized with water; the Sabbath (Friday at sunset until Saturday at sunset) had to be honored; dietary requirements met; certain sacrifices offered at the Temple and many other regulations followed.

Jesus was brought up according to the Law of Moses, Luke 2:2222 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

, and He declared He had come to fulfill the Law, Matthew 5:1717 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

. During His ministry He required the law be followed. For example, upon healing the leper: “And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.” Matthews 8:4. See also Matthew 23:1515 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

; Acts 2:1010 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

, 6:5 & 13:43. (It should be noted here that in order to be truly right with God and saved unto eternal life one had to follow the law by faith, Hebrews 11:66 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

. There were many Jews who followed the law out of proud self-righteousness but God knew their hearts and the fact that they trusted their own works for their salvation. More about this later.)

It is also important to note that from the beginning God meant for the Jewish nation to be the conduit to carry His blessings to the Gentile nations, Genesis 12:1 - 31 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 27:29; Deuteronomy 28:1212 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

. God meant for Israel to be a Kingdom of Priests to the Nations, Exodus 19:66 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

. But as we have observed throughout our studies of the men and women born witness to by their faith in the Old Testament, Israel as a Nation, as a corporate body, rejected God at every turn. They ultimately crucified His Son when He came as their Messiah. (We cannot fail to note here that not withstanding their past failures the Nation Israel will sometime in the future look upon Him Who they pierced and turn to Him in belief, Zechariah 12:1010 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

, because God is not slack concerning His promises, Romans 11 and 2 Peter 1:33 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

.)

With this background in mind we go back to the fact that Jesus saw more faith in the Gentile Centurion than in all of Israel at that time Matthew 8:5 - 10. Israel as a Nation had rejected God's prophets for years and they were about to reject Jesus, God's own Son and thus the Apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit wrote: “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:1010 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

- 13. We can rest assured the Centurion's servant was healed and the Centurion himself displayed more faith than Jesus had seen in Israel because

that's what Jesus said. But there are questions that remain: Was the Centurion himself saved unto eternal life by being a proselyte to the Jewish religion? Did he follow the law in faith that that was God's will for him?