When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 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.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Matthew 8: 5-13

Fatih sometimes comes from unexpected places. It is not likely that many of the people following Jesus during His earthly ministry would have expected that a Roman centurion, a leader of soldiers, had faith that exceeded any one in Israel, but that is exactly what we find in the passage above.

What can we learn from the centurion? First, the centurion approached Jesus with humility and confidence.

Second, the centurion recognized Jesus’ authority to heal. Just as the centurion had authority over his men, he believed Jesus had the same kind of authority to heal the servant.

Third, we see how Jesus responded to the man. Matthew writes that Jesus “marveled” at the man’s faith and then used him as an example of people just like us – gentiles. All who place their faith in Christ are counted among those from the East and West who have entered God’s kingdom.

The centurion placed his faith in the One who could supernaturally heal his servant and that is exactly what happened.