And even then, they couldn't decide what to think about him. No matter how many miracles he did, they wanted to see more signs. Sadly, the Jews, who should have been first to believe in Jesus, often wavered, not being fully convinced. That seems rather obvious, and yet Jesus says “not even in Israel have I found such faith.” We are only told that the centurion “heard about Jesus.” But based on what he heard, he came to a very reasonable conclusion: Jesus has authority over diseases. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with 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.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. Luke 7:1-10 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Sometimes, it seems clear that the centurions were able to evaluate the evidence and arrive at an independent conclusion quicker than others around them. If you’re going to put someone in command of a hundred or so soldiers and send him out to keep things under control in some faraway province, you’d want someone with a good head on his shoulders. They pop up in quite a few stories in the NT, and they are almost always presented to us as fair and impartial.Īnd think about it. They were like federal officers, scattered around the empire to keep the peace and impose Roman rule. This trait is probably related to how he became a Centurion in the first place.Ĭenturions had a great deal of authority in the Roman empire. That is the primary lesson I hope to emphasize today. Today I want to think about this Centurions’ confession of faith.įirst, notice how this Centurion thinks for himself. Isn’t it fascinating who the one statement of faith in this whole chapter comes from? A centurion, a Gentile, and one of the people directly involved in the crucifixion of Jesus. Listen to the voices at the cross in Mark’s account of the crucifixion. Besides Jesus himself, there is one word of faith spoken.
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