Day 20 | The Centurion’s Servant

Read Matthew 8:5-13

In Matthew 8, Jesus is traveling back from teaching the Sermon on the Mount. As He enters Capernaum (the town in which He lived), Jesus is approached by a centurion who asks Him to heal his sick servant. The centurion shows great faith in the authority and power of Jesus, and the words of Jesus heal his servant.

A centurion was an officer in the Roman army. He had authority over men. He knew who answered to him, and who he answered to. As we see in this passage, the centurion also recognized that Jesus also had authority, and His influence wasn’t only over men. The centurion knew that Jesus’ authority was higher than his own, and He reigned over everything, including sickness. He knew at the command of Jesus, his servant’s illness would have to go where Christ said. The centurion knew his servant needed help that could only come from someone with the authority and power of Jesus. In faith, the centurion humbly came to Jesus and asked Jesus to do what he could not.

The healing of the servant is the miracle, but the centurion’s submission is miraculous. Imagine believing that your highest earthly ruler, the Caesar, was also a god. This was the official religion of the Roman Empire at the time. Then think of the submission to Christ’s ultimate authority over civil rulers required to seek out Him above your culture’s idols. What if we, as followers of Christ, lived with the same reverence and humility this centurion shows Jesus? When we put our faith in Christ, we are trusting that He is greater than our circumstances and our culture. True faith allows us to recognize that we can do nothing on our own; it is Christ who has all authority, and it is only through Him that miraculous things happen.

Pray for 10 minutes