What Does Great Faith Look Like? (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-17)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Are you a person of great faith?

In Luke 7:1-10, we see the story of a Roman centurion who demonstrates great faith that even surprises Jesus. In short, his servant is sick and near death, so he sends a delegation of Jewish elders to Jesus and asks for his servant to be healed. What makes this story unique is that the central character is a Gentile. While Scripture doesn’t give us a full breakdown of his background, it’s possible “he is a potential proselyte or, more likely, a soldier who follows the Roman custom of respecting religion as a socially healthy force in the empire.”^[1]

Centurions often “worked their way up through the ranks to achieve their position. Roman military units were stationed in Caesarea and in Jerusalem; they consisted of auxiliary troops, mostly recruited from Syria. ^[2] “As a centurion, he was a commander of approximately 100 men, a Gentile, and a Roman citizen.”^[3] This wasn’t a position that was easily achieved and involved a lot of hard work, discipline, and loyalty. Joel Green writes,

As Rome’s representative in an outpost like Capernaum, the centurion would have found himself in the role of intermediary between the local population and the demands of the Empire. It would not be unusual for such a person to adopt the religion of the local population, nor would it be unusual for him to have underwritten the building of the synagogue as a calculated maneuver to win favor among the local Jewish leadership.^[4]

Neither Matthew nor Luke gives us the whole motivation for why the centurion wanted his servant healed, but the wording suggests he had genuine compassion and not mere economic desires. The delegation of Jewish elders he sends are “probably Jewish civil leaders, not synagogue leaders.”^[5] As Jesus approaches, it’s clear the centurion understands Jewish custom. “Strict Jews considered Gentile homes unclean and would not enter there.”^[6] So the centurion sends friends to say to Jesus:

⁶ “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, since I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

From this statement, “The centurion understands how authority works: just as soldiers obey the centurion because he is backed by the authority of the empire, every earthly harm, including disease, must submit to Jesus because he is backed by God’s authority.”^[7] It’s a simple faith. He doesn’t overthink it. He just accepts who Jesus is and asks him to do what he believes he can do. As N.T. Wright says, “This faith isn’t an abstract belief about God, or the learning of dogmas. It is the simple, clear belief that when Jesus commands that something be done, it will be done. He regards Jesus like a military officer, with authority over sickness and health. If Jesus says that someone is to get well, they will. What could be simpler?”^[8]