The centurion: A faith that amazed Jesus

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,

6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

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

12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Matthew 8: 5-13

The Scriptures teaches us in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is the assurance of what we are waiting for to be done, and we are convinced of that even though we are not seeing it:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

But how confident and convinced are we? What level does our faith can reach?

Jesus performed numerous miracles, many of them healing, among them we can mention: the leper, the mother-in-law of Peter, the paralytic, the man with the dry hand, the woman with the blood flow, the sick of Genesaret, the lunatic, the two blind men and the multitude of sick people that put at their feet in the Sea of Galilee. What do these faith stories have in common? In almost all of them Jesus touched the sick (or the sick touched Jesus), and in all of them, Jesus was physically where the sick person was, and at this point is where we can notice something special if we compare all these stories with the story of the centurion.

The centurion, likewise, had faith. But the centurion’s faith was special. So special that it surprised Jesus himself. The centurion went to Jesus to ask him to heal his servant who was paralyzed and prostrated in the centurion’s house. Jesus immediately expressed that he would go to his house to heal him. But the centurion, who did not feel worthy to receive the Master in his house, said that the Master did not have to go, that only His Word was enough for his servant to be healthy. When Jeses heard these words of faith from the centurion, He said: “Not even in Israel have I found so much faith.”

Many Christians say they have faith. But in practice they seem to prove the opposite. They know that God can do great things for their lives but instead of believing and asking Him directly, they have to turn to other human beings. They wait for a preacher to pray for them, for another mortal to touch them and say some words to truly feel that God is at work. While it is true that we sometimes need a word of encouragement, we must remember that God knows all our needs and the petitions of our heart and that if we have faith and trust in Him, in His time He will grant us victory.

Let’s have faith in our God. Remember that there is nothing impossible for Him. We are His sons. He will not forsake us. Let’s trust and believe in Him. Amen.