Can anyone be worthy that Christ would answer their prayers? Can anyone deserve to have their problems remedied? Will any of us ever deserve Christ driving away sickness and death because of something we do or some church we have built? However, their declaration that the centurion “was worthy for whom he should do this” (Luke 7:4) requires some scrutiny. We can understand then why the Jewish elders would bring this to Christ’s attention. Clearly, however, this man had gained the love of many, including these elders. A centurion had at least a hundred soldiers under him. Clearly, they came at his behest and on his behalf.
Luke fills in the picture by mentioning that he sent some of the Jewish elders. Matthew seems to suggest that the centurion came himself to Jesus. This centurion was stationed in Capernaum to represent Rome and enforce its policies. This would have made the headlines because Rome occupied the land of the Jews, and they were generally viewed as an oppressive enemy. According to the elders of the Jews, this centurion loved the Jewish nation, and had even personally financed the construction of a synagogue (Luke 7:5). Not only did this centurion show a real regard for another human, but his track record was notable on another account. Many like him would have thought little of replacing one slave with another. It is doubly remarkable to see this concern and love for human life from a military officer who was no doubt used to violence and death. During those days, slaves were commonly considered as property. It’s worth noting that this centurion cared deeply for his slave (Luke 7:2). Luke notes that he “was ready to die” (Luke 7:2). Some disease had taken hold of him, and it was both paralyzing him and sending him into convulsions (Matt. His great need was that His servant (literally, his slave) was deathly ill. We don’t know whether the centurion of our passage had heard these words, but he certainly took his need to Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ had also taught that we should seek, ask, and knock (Matt. Thus the real miracle of this story is not even the healing of his servant, but the faith that comes into evidence in and around this miracle. Rather it was bound up with his faith, which the Lord declared was “great” (Matt.
However, his greatness was not at all related to those things. As a centurion, this Gentile man had many things the world would consider great. Shortly after He finished it, we meet a man who embodied this greatness. Christ had taught this principle in the Sermon of the Mount, the great charter of the kingdom of heaven (e.g., Matt. In the kingdom of God, however, the greatest is the least, and the last is first. Many people understand greatness in terms of power, prestige, or possessions.
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