Jesus was traveling through Galilee and encountered a man of faith who is an ex
ample for all of us. He was a centurion, which means he was a Roman officer who had one
hundred soldiers under his command. Centurions had power and prestige. As a Roman,
he was not part of the Jewish community; he was a foreigner, also called a Gentile (a
non-Israelite) at that time. As such, the Jewish people considered him to be an outsider.
The centurion in this passage hears about the Lord Jesus healing people, performing ex
traordinary miracles, doing good, preaching repentance, and the coming of the Kingdom
of God. Therefore, when Jesus came to the town where the centurion lived, in Caper
naum, not far from where Jesus grew up, he went to Him with faith to ask for help.
The centurion tells Jesus about his paralyzed servant. His concern shows us that he
is a merciful commander and has a great love for his servant. As Saint John the Theolo
gian tells us, we ought to love one another because love is from God, and whoever does
not love does not know God, for God is love. Jesus immediately responds with readiness
to bless him, offering to come to the centurion’s home to heal the servant.
The Lord always answers the cries of those who seek Him; His ears are always open
to our prayers. It did not matter that the centurion was not part of the people of Israel and
that he could not worship in the Holy Temple. The Lord responds with love and compas
sion to all who call upon His name with love and faith.
The centurion not only has love but also shows a depth of faith that amazes even
the Lord. He tells the Lord that he is not worthy to receive Him in his own home. He also
expresses great faith by telling Jesus only to say the word, and the servant would be
healed. The centurion’s faith is also informed by discernment. He realized that his own
authority as a commander was great over men, and so the Messiah’s authority over all
things was much greater. Jesus is astonished at his response.
The centurion possesses love, humility, and faith. In humility, he tells the Lord that
he is not worthy for the Lord to enter his home. He knew that, at that time, the Jewish
people did not enter the homes of Gentiles. He also recognized that he was standing
before a man of God and unworthy of hosting Him in his house.
The centurion’s humility opens the door of his faith and invites the grace of God.
Saint Paisios, the Athonite, says, “God wants and desires only one thing from us: our hu
mility. He does not need anything else; just to humble ourselves, so He can actually make
us partakers of His divine grace, which was granted to us through the mystery of Holy
Baptism . . . He is only asking us to humble ourselves and respond out of gratefulness
and appreciation for His love. Thus, divine grace . . . will do everything for us, if we only
humble ourselves and allow for it to act.”
The centurion also had wisdom. He understood that, as an army officer with one
hundred men under his authority, his commands were quickly obeyed and his instructions
immediately put into practice. As a wise man, he realized that if this were true of himself,
it would be even truer for Jesus Christ.
The centurion commanded men, but the Son of God commands the universe. The
centurion oversaw his own region, but the Lord rules over everything. The centurion had
authority over worldly matters, but the Messiah has power over health and disease, life
and death. The centurion understood all this through his humility and faith.
The Lord replies to his Jewish disciples that not even in Israel He had found such
faith. The Lord teaches us that even if the centurion was not part of the Old Testament
covenant people of God, as a Gentile, his faith was still greater than what the Lord had
found in all of Israel. The Judeans considered him a foreigner, but Jesus embraced him as
a member of His Kingdom.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the Holy Forefathers who became friends of God
by faith. However, the Lord tells us that many who were not from the ancient people of
God would nevertheless enter the Kingdom of God by faith in Christ. This is relevant to us
because we all come to the Lord from all corners of the world. We have different cultures,
different ethnic backgrounds, different languages. Yet, the Lord receives all of us equally.
The only distinction is our faith and how much we desire fellowship with Him.
Like the centurion, we enter the Kingdom by opening our hearts to the Lord in hu
mility, faith, and love. As Saint Augustine of Hippo says, “By declaring himself unworthy,
he showed himself worthy; not indeed into whose house, but into whose heart, Christ the
Word of God should enter. . . it would have been no great blessedness that Jesus should
enter within his walls if He had not already entered into his heart.”
Jesus then tells the centurion that it was done as he had believed. The servant is
healed at that very moment. Later, we see that even while the nation of Israel was reject
ing the Messiah, delivering Him to be crucified, it was also a centurion who provided a
fundamental confession of faith at the foot of the Cross, “truly this Man was the Son of
God!” Jesus is the Savior of all people, regardless of ethnicity. Sometimes, we find faith
where we do not expect it. All of us can come to Him through faith. It does not matter
what our background is, but our faith. The Lord can do all things, yet our faith connects us
to Him and His authority. He loves all people, and those who trust in Him, like the centu
rion, truly open themselves up to receiving the love and grace of God. There is no lack of
love and grace with the Lord, no shortcomings, and no one He will not receive and bless.
With faith, all things are possible. Like the centurion’s servant, without Christ, we are spiritually paralyzed. God unconditionally loves us and wants us to be in communion with Him. This communion occurs when we put our trust in Him, remembering His unwavering love for us. He calls us to be humble, realizing our unworthiness; at the same time, He calls us never to lose hope because God is great, forgiving, and merciful. He hears our prayers, answers them, delivers
us from our paralysis, and restores our life. Let us always live out our baptism by putting
our faith and trust in the Lover of our souls.
