And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Matthew 8:7-10
In the time of Christ most Jewish people hated the Romans and wanted nothing to do with them. While many of them were looking for a Messiah, they were hoping for a military conqueror who would drive out the occupying force and establish Israel as an independent kingdom once again. Yet there were individual Romans who treated Jewish people not as a conquered people but as equals. One of those was a centurion who was stationed in Capernaum. He had even used his own resources to help build a synagogue in the town. When his servant was sick and he wanted Jesus to heal him, the local Jewish leaders supported the request. “And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue” (Luke 7:4-5).
Yet when Jesus offered to come and heal the sick man the centurion refused. Though he was a foreigner he understood that Jesus had the power to do whatever was needed and that the Lord did not need to be physically present to command healing. Jesus was amazed by his faith, noting that even among the Jews, who should have had greater belief in the promises and power of God, He had not found such a deep level of belief.
Faith can only be built on the foundation of believing that God is able to and will do what He says and ordering our lives accordingly. There is no such thing as a real and living faith that does not act in obedience.
