When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” 7 He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8 The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, 12 but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour [his] servant was healed.
A centurion, a Roman commander with authority over 100 soldiers (v. 9), addressed Jesus as ‘Lord' and appealed to him to cure his servant who was paralyzed and suffering. Paralysis was a general term used for illnesses such as arthritis & meningitis. The Centurion looked favorably upon the Jews and had contributed to the building of the Temple in Capernaum (Lk. 7:5). The centurion would have heard about Jesus’ ability to cure illnesses and about the crowds who followed him and had faith in him (Mt. 4:23-24). Jews who observed the Law were reluctant to enter the home of a Gentile because they could become ritually defiled, so when Jesus said ‘I will come and cure him’ the Centurion’s response “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed,” showed his respect, humility, faith, and awareness of Jesus’ power to heal with only his word. These words are still used in Christian liturgy. As a soldier, authority would have been of paramount importance, yet he made himself subservient to Jesus.
Jesus was fully human and fully divine so in his humanity, he was capable of wonder and amazement at the faith of the Gentile Centurion (v. 10). Jesus lamented the fate of the “children of the kingdom”(v. 12) who were the expected heirs of the blessings of the Messianic age when those who believe from east to west are to become children of the Kingdom of God on earth (Mal. 1:11). Many Gentiles will inherit the promises God made to the Patriarchs but many of the children of the patriarchs will be excluded and will experience darkness and fear (vv. 11-12). The servant was healed instantly from a distance by Jesus’ word. This was an indication that the Gospel was not only for the Jews. The Centurion’s profession of faith impressed Jesus who warned the Jews against religious complacency. Jesus enters under our roofs in the same way he entered the house of the Centurion – through our faith.
Almighty God, in your mercy we ask you to heal our indifference, our arrogance, and our self-importance so that we may approach you in all humility and subservience, acknowledging our unworthiness for you to enter under our roof. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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