Chapter 32—The Centurion
This chapter is based on
Matthew 8:5-13
;
Luke 7:1-17
.
Christ had said to the nobleman whose son He healed, “Except
ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”
John 4:48
. He was
grieved that His own nation should require these outward signs of
His Messiahship. Again and again He had marveled at their unbelief.
But He marveled at the faith of the centurion who came to Him. The
centurion did not question the Saviour’s power. He did not even ask
Him to come in person to perform the miracle. “Speak the word only,”
he said, “and my servant shall be healed.”
The centurion’s servant had been stricken with palsy, and lay at the
point of death. Among the Romans the servants were slaves, bought
and sold in the market places, and treated with abuse and cruelty; but
the centurion was tenderly attached to his servant, and greatly desired
his recovery. He believed that Jesus could heal him. He had not
seen the Saviour, but the reports he heard had inspired him with faith.
Notwithstanding the formalism of the Jews, this Roman was convinced
that their religion was superior to his own. Already he had broken
through the barriers of national prejudice and hatred that separated the
conquerors from the conquered people. He had manifested respect
for the service of God, and had shown kindness to the Jews as His
worshipers. In the teaching of Christ, as it had been reported to him,
he found that which met the need of the soul. All that was spiritual
within him responded to the Saviour’s words. But he felt unworthy to
come into the presence of Jesus, and he appealed to the Jewish elders
to make request for the healing of his servant. They were acquainted
with the Great Teacher, and would, he thought, know how to approach
[316]
Him so as to win His favor.
As Jesus entered Capernaum, He was met by a delegation of the
elders, who told Him of the centurion’s desire. They urged “that he
was worthy for whom He should do this: for he loveth our nation, and
he hath built us a synagogue.”
262