Luke 7:6-10 6And Jesus went with them. And when he was not a far distance from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not bother, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7Therefore I did not consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I too am a man having been set under authority with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9And when Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant healthy.
Jesus responded by heading toward the centurion’s house, but the situation was not so simple. There appears to be a shame factor in the background since the centurion did not want Jesus to come into his house. The centurion had enough faith in Jesus to seek out help but felt unworthy to approach him personally. This situation is ironic because he was a man in command of many soldiers, and shame and unworthiness are typically not part of a person in charge of others, especially soldiers, who are usually the toughest of people. Luke does not record the reason for the sense of unworthiness, but adding this to the other character qualities from the previous verses, it could be that this soldier had a degree of humility that was evident to others and surfaces in his response to Jesus. A good leader has humble strength, which this centurion appeared to have.
Another significant issue in the passage is authority. The centurion believed Jesus had authority over the situation of his servant and could heal him. There seems to be a distance between the centurion and Jesus because the centurion sent friends to meet Jesus. There is no direct contact between Jesus and the centurion. Jesus never even gets to the house to physically be with the servant or his master. The centurion’s explanation indicates the extent to which he saw power and authority in Jesus. As a man of position, he commanded many soldiers who had to obey what he said.
What must have amazed Jesus about the situation is that the centurion only needed Jesus to say the word. He believed there was power in Jesus’ words. Jesus’ response to the crowd in verse 9 is a significant assessment of the centurion’s faith. The centurion represents those Gentiles who never saw Jesus in person but believed the stories about him. They accepted the word of the gospel through faith. Theophilus may have been a person like this. Verse 10 confirms the whole story, including the faith of the centurion and the power of Jesus to heal from a distance. This story serves as a paradigm for people today who are far removed from the events of the New Testament. We can only read the words on the page. But these words have authority because of whom they testify. We may not be people in authority like Cornelius, but we can come in humility, seeking healing from Jesus.
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