Lessons and Applications from Jesus and the Centurion Story
The account of Jesus and the centurion appears in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10, presenting a Roman military officer who approaches Jesus on behalf of his gravely ill servant. This centurion commanded approximately one hundred men, though some sources indicate the actual number under a centurion's authority could exceed this [7]. The narrative stands out because centurions mentioned in the New Testament "are uniformly spoken of in terms of praise" [3], and this particular officer exemplifies extraordinary faith that astonishes Jesus himself.
The Nature of Exemplary Faith
The centurion's faith manifests in his recognition of Jesus' authority operating through mere verbal command. He draws an analogy from his own military experience: just as he exercises authority over soldiers who obey his word, so Jesus possesses authority over sickness and physical affliction. This understanding prompts him to say that Jesus need not come to his house—a spoken word would suffice. Jesus responds by declaring, "I have not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel" [8]. Tertullian notes the striking nature of this commendation, observing how remarkable it is that Christ should "confess that He had found so great a faith not even in Israel" [8].
The healing itself occurs at a distance, with Jesus telling the centurion, "go thy waye and as thou belevest so be it vnto the. And his servaunt was healed the selfe houre" [2]. This remote healing demonstrates Jesus' sovereign power over physical ailment without requiring physical presence, a pattern repeated in his healing of the royal official's son and the Syrophoenician woman's daughter [5].
Humility and Recognition of Unworthiness
The centurion's approach reveals profound humility despite his social standing. As a Roman officer stationed at Capernaum, he held significant military and political authority [4]. Yet he considers himself unworthy to have Jesus enter his home. This self-assessment contrasts sharply with the entitlement often displayed by religious leaders of Jesus' day. Matthew Henry observes that "a little piety commonly goes a great way" with soldiers [4], making this centurion's depth of faith all the more remarkable.
Augustine addresses an apparent discrepancy between Matthew's account, which describes the centurion coming directly to Jesus, and Luke's version, which mentions the centurion sending friends. Augustine suggests Matthew employed "a compendious method" of expression, attributing to the centurion what was accomplished through his representatives [6]. This interpretive approach resolves the textual difference while preserving the centurion's essential humility—he considered himself unworthy of direct approach.
The Inclusion of Gentiles
This encounter foreshadows the gospel's expansion beyond ethnic Israel. The centurion represents the first fruits of Gentile faith recorded in the Gospels, anticipating the fuller inclusion exemplified by Cornelius, another centurion whose conversion narrative appears in Acts 10 [1]. Jesus uses this occasion to prophesy that "many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven," while some who presumed their place in the kingdom would be excluded.
The centurion's faith operates without the benefit of covenant history, temple worship, or rabbinic instruction. His belief rests solely on his recognition of Jesus' authority and power. This pattern challenges assumptions about religious pedigree and demonstrates that authentic faith transcends ethnic and cultural boundaries.
Authority and the Power of Christ's Word
The centurion grasps a theological principle that many contemporaries of Jesus missed: Christ's word carries inherent power to accomplish what it declares. This understanding aligns with the creative power of God's word in Genesis and the prophetic word that accomplishes God's purposes in Isaiah. The centurion's military analogy—authority delegated and exercised through command—provides an accessible framework for understanding divine authority operating in the physical realm.
The immediate healing "the selfe houre" [2] confirms both the centurion's faith and Jesus' authority. No ritual, no physical contact, no gradual recovery—simply the correspondence between Christ's declaration and physical reality. This demonstrates what later theology would articulate as Christ's divine nature operating through his human ministry, exercising authority proper to God alone over creation, disease, and death.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Cornelius — A centurion whose history is narrated in Acts 10. He was a "devout man," and like the centurion of Capernaum, believed in the God of Israel. His residence at Caesrea probably brought him into contact with Jews who communicated to him their expectations regarding the Messiah; and thus he was prepared to welcome the message Peter brought him. He became the first fruit of the Gentile world to Christ. He and his family were baptized and admitted into the Christian church (Acts 10:1, 44-48). (See [128]CENTURION.)”
- Matthew “Matthew 8:13 (Tyndale) — The Iesus sayd vnto ye Centurion go thy waye and as thou belevest so be it vnto the. And his servaunt was healed the selfe houre.”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Centurion — A Roman officer in command of a hundred men (Mark 15:39, 44, 45). Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, was a centurion (Acts 10:1, 22). Other centurions are mentioned in Matt. 8:5, 8, 13; Luke 7:2, 6; Acts 21:32; 22:25, 26; 23:17, 23; 24:23; 27:1, 6, 11, 31, 43; 28:16. A centurion watched the crucifixion of our Lord (Matt. 27:54; Luke 23:47), and when he saw the wonders attending it, exclaimed, "Truly this man was the Son of God." "The centurions mentioned in the New Testament are uniformly spoken of in terms of praise, whether in the Gospels or in the A”
- Matthew (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Matthew 8:5: We have here an account of Christ's curing the centurion's servant of a palsy. This was done at Capernaum, where Christ now dwelt, Mat 4:13. Christ went about doing good, and came home to do good too; every place he came to was the better for him. The persons Christ had now to do with were, 1. A centurion; he was a supplicant, a Gentile, a Roman, an officer of the army; probably commander-in-chief of that part of the Roman army which was quartered at Capernaum, and kept garrison there. (1.) Though he was a soldier (and a little piety commonly goes a great way with”
- John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on John 4:50: 4:50 Your son will live! Jesus also healed the centurion’s slave (Matt 8:5-13) and the Phoenician woman’s daughter (Matt 15:21-28) from a distance.”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 6: Augustine — Homilies on the Gospels — CHAP. XX.--AN EXPLANATION OF THE CIRCUMSTANCE THAT MATTHEW TELLS US HOW THE CENTURION CAME TO JESUS ON BEHALF OF HIS SERVANT, WHILE LUKE'S STATEMENT IS THAT THE CENTURION DESPATCHED FRIENDS TO HIM. (part 3): the Lord, which was effected in the person of others, to have chosen to express the matter in this compendious method, "There came a centurion to Him." 50. At the same time, however, we must be careful enough to discern a certain mystical depth in the phraseology adopted by the evangelist, which is in accordance with these words of the Psa”
- Matthew (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Matthew 8:5: And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum,.... Was returned from his journey through Galilee, to the place where he before dwelt, and is called his own city, Mat 9:1 there came unto him a centurion, a Roman officer, , "a commander of an hundred men", as the Hebrew Gospel by Munster reads it: though the number of men under a "centurion" was more, according to some accounts. "A band (it is said (g)) made two centuries, each of which consisted of an hundred and twenty eight soldiers; for a doubled century made a band, whose governor was called an ordinary "centurion".”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 3: Tertullian — CHAP. XVIII.--CONCERNING THE CENTURION'S FAITH. THE RAISING OF THE WIDOW'S SON. JOHN BAPTIST, AND HIS MESSAGE TO CHRIST; AND THE WOMAN WHO WAS A SINNER. PROOFS EXTRACTED FROM ALL OF THE RELATION OF CH (part 1): Likewise, when extolling the centurion's faith, how incredible a thing it is, that He should confess that He had "found so great a faith not even in Israel."(17) to whom Israel's faith was in no way interesting!(18) But not from the fact (here stated by Christ)(19) could it have been of any interest to Him to approve and compare what was hitherto crude, nay, I mi”