The Centurian's Servant Healed

A Centurion's Faith, Part 2:

Our last study pointed out the first time the Greek word “pistis,” translated with our English noun “faith,” is found 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.

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.

. Jesus was talking about a Centurion who asked Him to heal his servant who was at another location. (See Matthew 8:5 - 135 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.

11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

) We noted the anomaly of this man's faith to the intent of Jesus' ministry, i.e., the Centurion was a Gentile and Jesus Himself 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.

b.

Here we will examine Luke's account of this same incident, Luke 7:1 - 101 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.

4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:

5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.

6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:

7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

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

9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

1 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.

4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:

5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.

6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:

7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

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

9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

. Although a cursory comparison of the account in Matthew and the one in Luke might lead some to believe they describe two different Centurions under similar circumstances they do not. Both describe the same Centurion and incident. This is an example of how the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of men came together to produce the Scripture. Matthew and Luke saw and recorded this incident according to their own perspectives under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We have already noted that Matthew was a tax collector and saw things from a governmental standpoint thus he was used to write his account with a view toward Jesus as Israel's King. Therefore it follows that only in Matthew's account, after Jesus noted the Centurions great faith, we learn an important prediction He made: “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 8:11 & 1211 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

. Jesus explains here that some Gentiles are to be saved into His Kingdom but just because the Jews were God's chosen people, that is, the children of the kingdom did not mean every individual Jew was going to be saved unto eternal life. (An individual Jew had to approach God in faith in order to enter the Kingdom.)

Comparing Matthew to Luke: whereas we might assume from Matthew that the Centurion approached Jesus in person Luke indicates he sent elders of the Jews as emissaries to ask Jesus to heal his servant. Whereas Matthew indicates the servant was grievously tormented with the palsy, Luke writes he was sick near death. Luke states that the emissaries told Jesus the Centurion was worthy for Jesus to grant his request because the Centurion loved the Nation of Israel and had built them a synagogue but Matthew does not mention this. Matthew indicates that when Jesus told the Centurion He would go with him to the servant the Centurion answered that he was not worthy for Jesus to come under his roof but all Jesus had to do was speak the word and the servant would be healed. Luke wrote that Jesus went with the Jewish Elders to the Centurion's house but when they drew near the Centurion apparently saw them and sent friends to tell Jesus he was not worthy for Jesus to come into his house and he knew from his experience (as a Roman Commander of men) that all Jesus had to do was say a word and the servant would be healed. At this point Luke states that Jesus made the statement He had not found such great faith in all of Israel. Luke's account goes on to indicate that when the Centurion's friends returned to his house the servant was healed. Luke 7:1 - 10.

Luke was a Doctor and God used him to present Jesus as God's perfect Man for Jesus was the Man of men, He was/is the second Adam. And whereas the first Adam brought death upon all his progeny the second Adam, Jesus Christ the God-Man brought life to all who believe on Him, 1 Corinthians 15:22 & 2522 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

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When Jesus ministered on earth for 3 years the great majority of Israel's leaders did not understand or believe He came from God to fulfill prophesy in the Old Testament about their Messiah. They were very well versed in the Scriptures but the problem was that they did not live in humble obedience of faith in God's Word and Law. “They” lived in their own self-righteousness. “They” had the Scriptures and “they” followed the law and this made “them” righteous. All was centered in “themselves.”

And so it was that they rejected Jesus Christ and ultimately had Him crucified. (Before God reached down and saved the Apostle Paul he was a perfect example of the Jewish leaders in general, see Philippians 3:4 - 94 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

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On the other hand we can see from what is recorded about the Centurion that he knew and believed the one true God was the God of Israel and Jesus was from God; that Jesus was Israel's Messiah; that Jesus strictly adhered to the law of Moses; that he, as a gentile was unclean next to the righteousness of Jesus.

The Centurion had life or death authority over the men in his command and when he told them to do something they did it. He had faith Jesus possessed similar power over life and death itself and all Jesus had to do was say a word and his servant would be healed. “Faith by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,” Romans 10:1717 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

, therefore the Centurion had heard the Word of God and had faith therein.

The Centurion really believed he was not worthy for Jesus to come under his roof because he knew God's law and believed it. He had friends among the Jewish leaders because he built them a synagogue. Since he had done this for them they obliged him when he asked them to petition Jesus to heal his servant. As to whether these particular Jewish Elders believed Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, we do not know. They may have or their motive to assist could have been to stay in the good favor of one of the top policemen in the community who had favored them.

Today many well-educated people and/or religious people, etc., have taken the saying “if you can't say something nice about someone then don't say anything at all” to the extreme. They speak well of those they address, whether true or false. They do this in order to make the person or persons to whom they speak feel well about themselves and have positive feelings about the one addressing them.

We see this in politicians but it is also prevalent in many preachers who tell their congregations how wonderful and giving they all are while thinking to themselves what a bunch of cheap skinflints sit before them. Not so with Jesus, He spoke the truth clearly and when He made the statement He had not seen so much faith in all of Israel as in this Centurion, it was not a mere platitude, it was fact.

Jesus was the Word of God incarnate, John 1:11 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

, and “... the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:1212 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

. The two-edged sword cut both ways in the instant case. On the one hand Jesus discerned the Centurion's faith and on the other hand He observed something very dismal: “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Matthew 8:10. Jesus knew His people's hearts during the 3 years He reached out and ministered to them. He knew about the terrible death He was going to experience, ... because of their lack of faith. He was truly a Man of sorrows. But he loved His people as no other could and so as He hung on the cross with final breath: “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do ...” Luke 23:3434 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

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Our questions from the last study remain. Was this Centurion saved unto eternal life? Was he a proselyte and did he follow the law in faith? To be continued.