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. (Matthew 8:10)
In His travels, Jesus entered Capernaum. Capernaum is located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was where Jesus first began His ministry after relocating from Nazareth, and it was where He called John, James, Peter, and Andrew to be His disciples.
This account begins with a Roman centurion coming to Jesus. A centurion was a Roman military officer who had authority over one hundred soldiers. As a Roman, he was a Gentile. And as a Roman soldier in Judaea, he was there to maintain Roman power over the Jews. From the perspective of many Jews, Roman centurions were the very enemy that they expected the Messiah would come to overthrow.
This centurion had heard of Jesus’ miraculous power and had sought Him out, imploring Him with an urgent request:
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. (Matthew 8:6)
The Roman centurion did something he wouldn’t normally have done to a Jew—he addresses Jesus with a title of respect: Lord. Additionally, the centurion’s request was not directly for his own benefit, but for that of his servant. The fact that the centurion set aside his busy affairs to travel to Capernaum for the sake of his servant shows a remarkable degree of love for the servant that you wouldn’t expect to see in a hardened Roman soldier.
The servant suffered from palsy (a type of paralysis or nerve disorder), but he was not merely unable to move. Besides that, he was also “grievously tormented”, perhaps suffering from painful spasms. The servant was obviously in such bad shape that he was unable to travel or even have someone bring him to Jesus for healing. He is lying paralyzed at home.
Jesus responds to the centurion:
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. (Matthew 8:7)
Christ is willing to instantly drop and leave all that He was doing in Capernaum to heal the servant of a Roman soldier, someone who, in other circumstances, would be more likely to be His enemy. Jesus shows that He practices what He preaches. He was willing to go the extra mile. Jesus loved His enemies, and He greeted those who were not His Jewish brothers. He also showed that He would be willing to enter the house of a Gentile, something that many Jews would never have done because they would think it was beneath them.
But the centurion counters with an astonishing reply:
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof… (Matthew 8:8a)
He confesses that he, a Gentile of considerable power and position, is not worthy for Jesus, someone he technically has authority over, to enter his house. This is a stunning statement of humility. The centurion follows this up with an equally stunning declaration of faith:
…but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. (Matthew 8:8b)
This centurion had such great faith in Jesus that he was not only convinced that Jesus had the power to heal his servant, but he also believed that Jesus did not even need to be present to make this happen.
The centurion goes onto explain:
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me… (Matthew 8:9a)
As a Roman military officer, the centurion understood how authority worked. He was a man under the authority of his superiors, and he had a hundred soldiers who were under his command. The centurion had a lot of people and responsibilities to manage. He understood that he could not do it all himself, but he could give orders and know that his men would follow them.
…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. (Matthew 8:9b)
The centurion reasoned that just as his word carried his authority to his soldiers, so too Jesus’ word had the supernatural authority to heal wherever His word went, so long as it came from Him.
Jesus was impressed.
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. (Matthew 8:10)
This Roman centurion, this pagan Gentile, this despised enemy of the Jews had greater faith than all of them. His faith put theirs to shame. By highlighting this fact, Jesus was calling His disciples to have this kind of faith.
The result:
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. (Matthew 8:13)
Just as He called His disciples to greater faith, so Jesus calls us as well. Do we have the kind of faith in Christ that would make Him stop and marvel at it? Maybe our lack of such strong faith is the reason we don’t see our petitions answered. Read again what Jesus told the centurion:
…as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.
To read the parallel account of this great miracle of faith from Luke chapter 7, please click here.