Jesus and the Roman Centurion

After delivering the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus returned to Capernaum. There, many with serious health conditions approached Him, seeking His attention and healing.

We’ve already covered a few of these healings in a previous article. However, one healing warrants focused attention here.

This situation was unique because of the individual who brought the request, how he asked and how Jesus responded. Not only was this man a gentile, but he was also a high-ranking official of the empire the Jews despised most. 

He was a Roman centurion. 

What was a centurion?

Many Jews had a deep distrust of gentiles, often avoiding them as much as possible. But perhaps none were as despised as the Romans—the gentiles from Italy who had gained control of Judea more than 90 years earlier. 

Rome ruled Judea through local prefects and procurators who kept law and order in the region; Pontius Pilate is a well-known example. Client kings governed local day-to-day affairs of the area—the most notable being Herod the Great.

Rome also maintained standing armies in strategic locations throughout Judea and Galilee to squash any potential uprising at a moment’s notice. 

Capernaum was a city where Roman soldiers were stationed, likely due to its strategic location on the Via Maris trade route connecting Syria to Egypt. The Romans placed a centuria there, a subdivision of a Roman legion. A centuria consisted of about 80 to 100 soldiers and was led by an officer called a centurion. 

With this context, we read that shortly after Jesus returned to Capernaum, “a centurion came to Him” (Matthew 8:5).

The centurion’s request

As we examine the account, we turn to Luke, who provided more details on the situation than Matthew. Luke often included more details about Christ’s healings, perhaps partly because as a physician, health issues were of particular interest to him.

Luke wrote that one of the centurion’s servants, “who was dear to him,” was deathly ill (Luke 7:2). 

Evidently, this centurion wasn’t a stereotypical hardened military man who cared only about war and heartless domination. Like most high-ranking Romans, he had servants, but he genuinely cared for them. 

Having heard reports of Jesus’ activities, the centurion decided to seek His help. However, instead of going himself, he sent Jewish friends to make a request on his behalf. 

We can easily view the centurion’s actions through a modern lens and misjudge him. Today, if someone has an important request, we’d expect him or her to contact us directly, not send a message through an intermediary. So, we could read this and assume he was showing disrespect by not seeking Jesus out himself. But this was not the case.

Behind the centurion’s approach

So, why might the centurion have sent the request through intermediaries? 

The Bible doesn’t reveal all the factors behind this unusual approach, but we may get a clue from what the elders of the Jews told Jesus about why the centurion was worthy of His concern: “He loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue” (verse 5). 

The messengers seem to have believed that explaining the centurion’s merits might increase the chances his servant would be extended mercy. Since most humans operate this way, being kind to those who are kind to them, it would make sense for them to assume this.

They may have also assumed a gentile officer of the despised Roman occupation would need character witnesses. 

Whatever the reasons, we see that Jesus was concerned and began heading toward the centurion’s home.

The centurion’s humility and acknowledgement

When the centurion heard that Jesus was on His way, he hurriedly sent a second message to Jesus before He arrived.

The message began:

“Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You” (verses 6-7).

So, the centurion avoided direct contact with Jesus because he felt utterly unworthy of Christ’s time and presence. The striking irony is that while the intermediaries tried to sell Jesus on the centurion’s perceived worthiness, his humble recognition of his unworthiness impressed Jesus far more. 

The centurion demonstrated the essential attitude God has always sought in human beings: “On this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit” (Isaiah 66:2). 

God isn’t seeking people who approach Him boasting of their merits and worthiness. Instead, He’s looking for people who recognize their utter dependence on God for His mercy and help. 

While there’s no evidence this centurion became a disciple, his approach was correct (whether he knew it or not), and Jesus took notice. 

The centurion’s message continued:

“But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Luke 7:7-8). 

The centurion’s reasoning for why Christ didn’t need to enter his house was extraordinary. He demonstrated faith in Christ’s ability to heal and connected that power with the concept of authority. 

Few understand authority like a military officer. Officers are skilled at giving explicit orders that their foot soldiers are trained to follow without question.

In his position, the centurion didn’t need to be physically present to have his orders executed. He simply gave an order, and it happened. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the centurion viewed Jesus’ miracles through the lens of authority.

The centurion recognized Jesus’ miracles occurred because He was in charge. While the centurion may not have comprehended their source, he understood that Jesus’ miracles were manifestations of His power over the physical realm.

The centurion understood that if the physical elements obeyed this Man’s orders, that meant He possessed immense authority over them. 

Jesus marveled at the centurion

Both Luke and Matthew record that after Jesus heard this, He “marveled at him” (verse 9; Matthew 8:10). This is the only instance where Jesus is described as marveling at someone positively. 

To emulate the best qualities of the centurion who caused Jesus to marvel, we must practice humility and faithfully recognize Jesus Christ’s authority. In response, Jesus said, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” 

Jesus marveled at the irony that this foreign centurion had the faith and discernment to perceive Christ’s power and authority, while most of Jesus’ fellow Jews failed to grasp it or outright rejected it. 

It undoubtedly shocked those present to hear Jesus say that a Roman centurion had greater faith than descendants of Abraham, the father of the faithful. By saying the centurion’s faith exceeded that of most Jews, Jesus affirmed that gentiles possessed equal spiritual potential. 

These words take on greater weight when we consider Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman (John 4), His later encounter with the gentile woman who sought her daughter’s healing (Mark 7:24-30) and His directives about the gospel needing to be spread beyond the Jewish community, to “all the nations” (Mark 13:10).

Did the centurion’s faith foreshadow another truth?

Jesus’ statement about the centurion teaches us the need to have faith in God’s power over the physical realm. But could his faith have been foreshadowing another profound truth?  

Consider a crucial truth that would be revealed later in the New Testament: God was extending His calling to uncircumcised gentiles. That was made plain when God revealed to Peter that He was calling another centurion, Cornelius, into His Church. 

Peter then fully grasped what Jesus had hinted at a few years earlier: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35).

Since the Church largely consisted of Jews who had always been taught that salvation was exclusive to them, the revelation that God was now offering equal opportunity to gentiles was a monumental shift in thinking.

Long before Peter met Cornelius, Jesus gave this not-so-subtle hint that a gentile, even one representing the dreaded Roman occupation, could possess faith in God surpassing that of Abraham’s descendants.

The lesson from the centurion

Matthew records that after this encounter, Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you” (Matthew 8:13). The centurion’s servant was fully healed within the hour because the One with authority commanded it. 

To emulate the best qualities of the centurion who caused Jesus to marvel, we must practice humility and faithfully recognize Jesus Christ’s authority. Those are some of the first steps we must take as we endeavor to . . .

Walk as He walked.