Trust and Believe
The encounter of Jesus with the centurion in today’s lesson is one that seems simple on the surface. It ends with a statement by Jesus about the faith that he found or didn’t find among the people who had been chosen by God to lead the world back to fullness of life. It comes immediately after the account of the Sermon on the Mount and parables by Jesus highlighting the difficulties we often have seeing what needs to be reformed in our lives while very clearly seeing the problems in others.
The centurion was a man who probably worshipped the gods of Rome but it is clear from the account that he was a man who honoured the faith of others. In fact he was a man who showed an ethic which is seldom spoken of when it comes to the Romans. The Roman army is characterized as brutal when it comes to dealing with conquered peoples. And yet here we have an account of a centurion who has found in the Jewish faith and people something which is worthy of his support and care. Remember that for the people of Israel nation and faith are one and the same. At this time in their history, there was still a unity in practice that bound all of them together into one identity. And while there were abuses of power and authority among their leaders, it was obvious to this centurion that there were principles and an ethic guiding these people that was guiding them to maintain their faith and way of life in spite of being a conquered nation. No doubt he was drawn to this; and while he may not have formally become one of them, nevertheless, he had done everything in his power to ensure that they could continue to worship and live as a nation under God. It is even recorded that he went so far as to build a synagogue for them.
We are not told where the centurion lived but we are made aware that he came to hear of Jesus from the people of the synagogue and from the elders of that synagogue. He recognized that this person Jesus was an extraordinary person who possessed special abilities. Moreover, he no doubt had heard the words of Jesus through the people and had heard the stories of how he had healed so many from their diseases and afflictions.
Faced with the illness of a slave to whom he was very close, the centurion knew that this person Jesus was someone that he could trust to heal his servant. But he was hesitant to go to Jesus himself. No doubt the centurion felt that he would be perceived by Jesus as an enemy of the people. Even his attempts to explain how he had helped the people would fall on deaf ears. The very thought that a perceived enemy of the people of Israel and of God could even presume to be granted the gift of healing for one whom he loved.
So the centurion makes his appeal to Jesus through the elders of the people. He sends them in his place hoping against hope that they might be able to convince Jesus to come and heal his servant. And when the elders come, they plead the case of the centurion. The words in the Scripture are few but the import is great. The centurion is not like others. He is a man of compassion and honour. He is one who seeks to be supportive of the people and help them to maintain their faith and their way of life with God. The elders of the people have a genuine affection for this centurion and feel fortunate that he is the one in charge in their area of the country.
Their plea works and Jesus decides to go with them. At this point, the centurion becomes aware that Jesus is coming but he still feels unworthy to have Jesus come right to him. After all, it might be thought that Jesus had been forced by the elders of the people to come or else. And so he sends out friends to meet Jesus. Who the friends are we are not sure; but probably they are fellow Romans who are part of the same unit as the centurion. They could be fellow officers or they could even be the people themselves who had gotten to know the centurion on a more personal level and had come to be counted as friends.
Now the elders had asked Jesus to come to the centurion’s home and heal his servant which Jesus had agreed to do. But now the friends of the centurion have come to Jesus with a message from the centurion himself asking for Jesus to heal the servant from afar. In spite of all he has done to be supportive of the people of Israel, he feels that he is an outsider – a person not worthy to even be in the presence of Jesus. And yet he knows that a word from Jesus and his servant will be healed.
The centurion very clearly is a man under authority himself as well as man of authority. And while he is in a position of authority in the land of Israel, he recognizes that the person whom he has asked to come and heal his servant is one who possesses an authority that he has no right to command. He recognizes that he is neither superior to nor equal with Jesus. Whatever authority Jesus possesses, the centurion is unsure but he is convinced that Jesus is under the authority of one who is greater than any the centurion has ever encountered.
Just as a word from his lips causes people to come and go at his command, he knows that a word from the lips of Jesus will be enough to heal his servant. Indeed when the friends return to the centurion’s home, they find that the servant has been healed.
It has often been speculated as to whether this was the same centurion who was present at the crucifixion of Jesus and praised God at the moment of Jesus’ passing and declared that this was an innocent man. And while that is speculation, there is no denying that the faith of the centurion was something of which Jesus took note. Here was someone for whom the God of the people of Israel was an unknown, a mystery. This was a God who was outside of his experience. Yet he was one who not only saw in Jesus an authority but an authority in which he could trust and believe.
The centurion kept Jesus at a distance. We have explored some of the reasons that may have motivated his decision but I am sure that Jesus would have wanted to come and meet him face to face. Perhaps he did meet him in that last moment on the cross. But one thing of which we can be sure. God will never ignore the prayers and supplications of anyone who will seek him in faith. May we who have a relationship with this God ever remember to invite him into our life; may we ever remember that this God is there not only for us but for all who would seek him; and let us ever remember to listen, trust and believe the words of Jesus for in them is our life, our hope and our peace.
AMEN