Just Say The Word

The Faith of the Centurion

1When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, 5because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." 6So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

9When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." 10Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

The Roman centurion knew that if he asked Jesus to heal his servant, it was a done deal. He didn't even need to ask Jesus in person. That's the kind of faith that got Jesus pumped! If that happened today, he'd probably give high-fives all around. God loves it when we have the faith that he'll answer prayer. See, the centurion understood authority. He was used to having his troops-100 men-obey his slightest command. If he wanted a snack at midnight, he just had to say the word and one of his men would cook steak, even if he had to kill an animal right then to get it. The centurion knew that Jesus was sent from God and that he had TOTAL authority. The man snaps his fingers and angels jump into action. And he was right. Like the centurion, we need to have faith that God can help us.