The Centurion’s faith and what it can tell us about trusting in Christ and His word.
When Jesus entered Capernaum that day, He encountered something totally unexpected. A Roman centurion, an officer commanding perhaps eighty men in the occupying army, approached him with a desperate request that would elicit from Jesus one of His most remarkable statements: “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith” (Matthew 8:10, ESV).
Now, this brief encounter shown in Matthew 8:5-13 offers us a masterclass in expressive, genuine, authentic Christian faith, and its lessons remain as vital for believers today as they were two thousand years ago.
The centurion’s situation was surely desperate for his servant (some translations might say “son”) lay at home paralysed, suffering terribly. In that culture, particularly for a Gentile as this Roman was, to approach a Jewish rabbi was challenging yet something drove this Roman officer to seek out Jesus, and what unfolds reveals the very essence of saving faith.
Notice first the centurion’s humility. Here was a man of considerable power and authority, yet he approached Jesus with genuine deference and when Jesus offered to come to his house the centurion’s response is telling: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof” (v. 8). This is not false modesty or social convention no, the centurion knew something profound about who Jesus was and who he himself was in comparison. Augustine noted that this Roman understood what many religious people missed, that “he was more worthy by confessing himself unworthy.” and this is important for us to hang on to.
True faith always begins with this recognition of our own unworthiness before Christ.
We come to Christ not with demands but as supplicants, not claiming rights that we don’t have but pleading mercy. The Prayer of Humble Access in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer captures this perfectly when it acknowledges we “are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table,” echoing this very centurion’s posture. Modern Christianity sometimes struggles with this, preferring to emphasise our value and worth but biblical faith never loses sight of the vast distance between the holy God and sinful humanity.
Yet the centurion’s humility was matched by an extraordinary confidence in Christ’s authority over all things, this man KNEW who Christ was. His reasoning was elegant and profound: “For I too am a man 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” (v. 9). The centurion understood hierarchical authority from his military experience – when he issued commands, they were obeyed not because of his personal charisma or physical strength but because of the authority structure he represented and he recognised that Jesus possessed this kind of authority over creation itself.
Chrysostom marvels at this insight. The centurion grasped that “as I have soldiers under me, and what I command is done, so also hast thou both invisible powers and diseases under thy command.” This Roman officer understood something that escaped many of the scribes and Pharisees: Jesus didn’t need rituals, physical presence, or special circumstances to heal no, His word alone carried authority and creative, restorative power.
This brings us to the heart of what the centurion teaches us: “Only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (v. 8). Faith trusts the word of Christ without requiring additional proof or physical verification, faith knows that God si true, just and holy, righteous and glorious, faith knows that He sustains all things by the power of His Word (Colossians 1:16-17). The centurion didn’t need Jesus to visit his house, examine the patient, or perform visible signs, the centurion took Jesus at His word and believed that word was sufficient.
Oh but then how different this is from much contemporary Christianity, where we often require or demand experiences, feelings, or tangible proofs before we’ll trust God’s promises in His word? We read Scripture’s assurances about forgiveness, providence, or eternal life, yet we hesitate to rest upon them fully unless accompanied by some emotional confirmation or visible blessing.
The centurion models something more robust: a faith that believes God’s word simply because God has spoken it.
This has immediate practical application for us today. When we read in Scripture that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9), do we believe it, or do we require repeated emotional assurance? When Christ promises “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5), do we trust that word in the dark seasons of life, or do we only believe when we feel his presence? The centurion’s faith calls us to take God at his word.
But how do we cultivate and increase such faith? The centurion’s example suggests several pathways. First, we must immerse ourselves in who Christ truly is. Faith grows as our vision of Christ expands. The centurion recognised Jesus’ authority because he paid attention to what Jesus said and did and we grow in faith by studying Scripture, particularly the Gospels, allowing the Holy Spirit to enlarge our understanding of Christ’s person and work.
Second, we must practise trusting Christ’s word in smaller matters before the great crises arrive. Faith is like a muscle that strengthens through use and when we take God at his word in daily decisions, in ordinary temptations, in regular acts of obedience, we build the spiritual muscle memory that will serve us when the paralysed servant lies at home and we must choose whether to believe Christ’s promise.
Third, we must acknowledge our position honestly. The centurion’s humility wasn’t self-loathing but truthful recognition of reality. We are creatures before the Creator, sinners before the Saviour, dependent beings before the self-sufficient God. This truth, rather than crushing us, actually liberates us to rest entirely on Christ’s merit rather than our own.
Finally, notice that the centurion’s faith was tested by Jesus’ initial response for Jesus first addressed the crowds about signs and wonders, which might have seemed like a rebuff to the centurion but he persisted. Faith often faces apparent obstacles or delayed answers, but like this Roman officer, we must (and do) press on, trusting that Christ’s character guarantees his faithfulness even when circumstances suggest otherwise.
The centurion received what he sought. Jesus said “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed,” and at that very moment the servant was healed (v. 13). Faith received its reward, not because of the faith itself, but because of the faithful one in whom the centurion trusted.
This Roman soldier stands as a permanent challenge to comfortable religiosity. Great faith isn’t about emotional intensity or theological sophistication but about simple, humble trust in Christ’s authoritative word. May we, like him, learn to say “only speak the word” and then believe that word with all our hearts.
I write this to myself, as a reminder of the perspective I must take through prayer and study – I write this to myself in order that I may be reminded that Christ is sufficient and in Him all things needed are found, by Him all things existing are sustained and through Him all that I am is saved.
Pax vobiscum.
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