THE CENTURION & CHRIST

THE CENTURION

Matt 8:5-13

Luke 7:2-10

        The account of the centurion is recorded by Matthew and also by Luke. In reading them there does at first appear to be some discrepancies between them. As we shall see, these disappear on careful consideration. So marked are they, however, that there are those who believe we have two separate occasions on which our Lord dealt with the same sick slave of the same centurion. That, however, is a most improbable solution.

        As we read the account in Matthew it does appear as though this centurion came to Jesus himself, and preferred his request, and so received the answer of our Lord directly. On the other hand, Luke distinctly says that he sent elders, and did not come himself. Now there is an old Latin saying, which being freely translated reads, "What one does through others, one does himself." There can be no reasonable doubt that that is the explanation of these two accounts. We have to remember here as always, that Luke claims in his preface that he traced the course of all things accurately, which means that he sifted his material. In this case it is evident that he got particulars which by no means violated Matthew's account, but in a sense explained it. We repeat, then, that Matthew says he came to Jesus, and Luke declares the same thing, only that he did so through others. In our consideration we shall take the account as given in Luke. That means that in all likelihood this man did not meet Jesus at all, but reached Him through others, and received an answer to his request in power, our Lord acting upon his suggestion, that He should not go into his house.

        It is important to remind ourselves that all the scenes of the New Testament are revealed in the atmosphere of Roman government. The earliest stories are connected with Roman taxation, and the latest glimpse of the historic in the New Testament is that of a house in Rome, in which there was a prisoner named Paul. We are conscious of the Roman Empire all the way through.

        It is also noticeable that we constantly come into contact with the Roman armies, as we read of cohorts, of legions, of bands, of officers, captains, centurions, and of soldiers. In passing we may remind ourselves that in our reading of the New Testament we are brought into contact with seven centurions and the remarkable thing is that every one of those presented seems to have been of a fine type. I think there is a reason for this, which reason, by the way, emerges in our present article. They were all men living under discipline, and that in itself is a valuable thing.

        The account is peculiar in some ways, because this man did not come to Jesus on his own behalf, but rather on behalf of another. Nevertheless it cannot be read without producing the conviction that what happened had a remarkable effect on the man himself.

        If the accounts as given by Matthew and by Luke are read with care, and combined, we have some arresting things revealed, concerning the centurion. We find first three opinions expressed. The first was that of the rulers of the synagogue, who said that he was "worthy." It is paramount to remember here that he was not a Hebrew, but a Gentile, this being proven by the fact that these elders said "he has built us our synagogue," showing that he was an outsider. This was further proven by the fact that when our Lord spoke of him, He said He had not found so great faith in Israel. Of this man the elders said he was worthy, because he had built them a synagogue. Thus we see a man outside the covenant, evidently attracted by what he had seen within the Hebrew religion and economy, so much so that he had built this synagogue.

        The second opinion is his own opinion of himself, and we find that in a double statement. First, he said: "I am not worthy that Thou shoultest come under my roof."

        The word "worthy" in this case means sufficient; and he was declaring that he did not feel he could offer to Jesus the hospitality that was due to him. His home was not a worthy home for Jesus to enter. It was almost certain that this centurion knew a good deal about Jesus, and in all probability was aware of the fact that He was constantly moving here and there. Possibly he had heard Him say, or had heard that He had said that He had no home: "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head."

        In spite of these things, perhaps he was familiar with them; he realized that his home was not good enough for such as Jesus.

        Then immediately he used the same word the rulers had used when they said, "He is worthy," as he said: "Neither thought I myself worthy to come unto Thee." In this two-fold opinion of himself as expressed, we have a remarkable revelation of the man himself.

        Finally, we have our Lord's opinion of him, when at this time He declared that he was a man of greater faith than He had found anywhere within the chosen nation.

        Another incidental fact is really very revealing. This man was a Roman. That may not mean that by race he was, but nationally he was. Moreover, he was a centurion, that is, one who had under him one hundred soldiers and this in all probability, in the court of the kingdom of Herod. Thus he was closely linked with the Roman Empire, and its outlook on life. It was this man who said he had a bond-slave and that that bond-slave was dear to him. That is entirely foreign to the Roman outlook on slavery. Thus the man himself is seen to have been of higher ideals than the system in which he lived.

        But now let us look a little more closely as he stands before us Christ-appraised. His incidental and certainly unintentional revelation of himself appears in what he said to Jesus. Christ's estimate of him is seen in the familiar words to which we have already referred and to which we shall come back for a little closer examination.

        Of himself he said he had: "Under myself soldiers, and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it."

        All this he had prefaced by the declaration: "I also am a man under authority."

        Over him were his superior officers, and over them the emperor himself, all the final authority of that system being vested in the emperor. This centurion therefore was dedicated to the cause of the State as it was personified in the emperor. When he said he was a man under authority, he meant that his life was completely submitted to a central will. Of course this was very absolutely so in the case of these Roman soldiers. A soldier was not permitted to say that he had a will of his own. His time was not his own. His dress was chosen for him. His food was chosen for him. By the law of Rome, no Roman soldier could hold any possessions. Indeed, he could have said he had no will of his own. He knew nothing practically about prosperity, and nothing about adversity. If he had friends or relatives, they could make no claim upon him. Thus, when the centurion said he was under authority he was revealing the life he was living, and showing that such submission to authority fitted him for his work. Possibly he had never seen the emperor, and would never see him, but to him the emperor was the center of life. Every march he took, and every action he performed he did under that authority.

        Therefore he was able to say that he had soldiers under himself, over whom he exercised authority. He said to one Go, and he went; to another Come, and he came; and to another, Do this, and he did it. No question could be asked. His one hundred men yielded to him the same obedience as he yielded to the emperor. Thus we see the two facts merged in the life of this man. He was under authority, and therefore was in authority. The authority he exercised over his soldiers was the authority to which he was himself obedient. To state the whole case again with yet more brevity, it means that the secret of his authority over his soldiers was his submission to the authority over him. In the case of his life there was always the upward look to the authoritative throne, and the downward look in the interest of that throne to those who were under his control, He made this statement of his own position the basis of his plea to our Lord.

        Now we may at this point turn to see how Christ dealt with him. And first we notice that He declared him to be a man of surpassing faith as he said: "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

        Now it is of the utmost importance that we understand that the nature of his faith was revealed in the very words we have been considering, and in his appeal to Christ on the basis of the facts concerning himself, which he had declared. That it was of an unusually intelligent nature is revealed by this appraising by Jesus.

        Let us ponder the intelligence of it. This man did not say to Jesus, "I am a man under authority," but rather, "I also am a man under authority." In other connections I have often referred to the importance of the little word, "also," and here it is of utmost importance in order to an understanding of what he said to Christ. Implicitly it recognized the fact that Christ was under authority, and therefore was in authority. He had discovered somehow that our Lord was living by exactly the same philosophy of life as he was. His message meant then, Because Thou art submitted to authority, Thou art in authority, and therefore art able to deal with this difficulty of disease. We have surmised before that he may have known of Jesus before this time. We do not forget that Capernaum was the base of our Lord's operations during this Galilean ministry. This man in all probability knew how in earlier days Jesus had healed the nobleman's son without going to him, by a spoken word. He may have been familiar with many other facts concerning the work of our Lord. At any rate this word "also" shows that he had a remarkable apprehension of the truth concerning all that Jesus was doing. He recognized that He was in authority, and that all forces would obey Him, because he recognized also the nature of the authority to which our Lord was Himself submitted. Somehow this man had seen to the very heart of the truth concerning Jesus.

        We may pause with this matter for a moment. Reminding ourselves that later on in the ministry of Jesus He said, "All authority hath been given unto Me," (Matt. 28:18) we declare emphatically that this was the case, because He had always been perfectly yielded to the one Supreme Authority. Jesus said also “He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God and went to God.” (John 13:3) In all the accounts of His ministry we find manifestations of this fact. He forever acted and spoke in the consciousness of the Throne of God, and of His relationship thereto. He said, "I can of Myself do nothing."  "As the Father taught Me, I speak . . . I do always the things that are pleasing to Him," "The things which I heard from Him these speak I unto the world." Thus being forever under that authority, He was in the place of complete authority, over demons, over disease, over all the forces of Nature. This centurion had discovered this truth, and he based his plea for the action of Jesus upon that abiding fact.

        While his faith was thus characterized by his ultimate intelligence, we notice how modest he was in this connection. Said he: "I am not worthy that Thou shoulder come under my roof."

        This was the man who had spoken of himself as a man under authority, and in authority. Nevertheless in the presence of Jesus he realized that his dwelling was not a fit place in which to receive Him, nor he himself fit company for the Lord.

        But again, this intelligent and humble faith was active. He first sent the elders of the synagogue, which he himself had given to the people. It may be on the human level he imagined they would have more influence with Jesus than he personally could possibly have. Then when he found the Lord was approaching his dwelling, he sent some of his friends, most probably of his own friends and family, with the request that He would speak the word of healing. All this was faith in action. We repeat, then, his faith was intelligent, modest, and active; and of this faith our Lord said: "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

        Thus in observing the method of Christ with the man, we notice first that He recognized his faith, understood it, and appraised it at its full worth. Necessarily no appeal can be made against His finding. We have already seen the faith of Andrew, and the faith of Simon, the faith of John, the faith of others; but our Lord distinctly said among all these, He had not found faith as great as that of the centurion. It is in this connection that we are told He marveled. We must not read into that word the element of surprise. He wondered with a wondering approval. Here once more it is arresting to remind ourselves that we are only twice told in these Gospel narratives that Jesus marveled. This, of course, is one of the cases where He marveled at faith. The other is recorded by Mark when he tells us that in the synagogue at Nazareth He marveled at their unbelief. Two things so stupendous that they created marvel in the mind of our Lord; the faith of this centurion, and the unbelief of His fellow-townsmen at Nazareth.

        Then it is arresting that He not only recognized the greatness of this man's faith, but drew the attention of the crowd to it. He thus manifested His appreciation of the value of his faith, and proclaimed it. If as we have surmised, Luke's account is strictly correct, the man was not there as to bodily presence, but our Lord expressed to the people round about Him His appreciation of his faith.

        He then laid a command upon the centurion. Matthew records His word to him as being: "Go . . . as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee."

        Here there is great significance in that first little word "As." The man's intelligent humility and active faith was now called upon to rest in the assurance that what he desired was granted to him. Our Lord was accepting the man's estimate of His secret of authority. He called upon him to put that faith into practice. As he had confessed His authority as being vested in His submission to Eternal authority, let him now carry out the philosophy of his belief, and seek for his servant as healed.

        This is another of the accounts in which the name of the man does not appear. We do not see him again in the narrative. What we do know is that Jesus acted, and because He was under authority He spoke with authority and the disease from which the slave was suffering was dismissed.

        The enduring value of an article like this is self-evident. Its first element is that of the philosophy of life which was revealed by this man as that of the Lord Himself. We see our Lord ratifying it, accepting it, acting upon it. We hear Him moreover calling upon the man who professed that philosophy, to an action harmonious with it; and upon the man's obedience, granting him the desire of his life.

        Every man and woman is living by that philosophy. Each one is in authority in some degree. Each can say, Go, and be obeyed; Come, and thus command answer. Each can say do this, and find it done, either to persons or ideas. We are all in authority.

        But it is equally true we are all under authority, and always behind the order Go, is the order obeyed. There is always the authorizing Throne. It is of the utmost importance that we recognize this to be an explanation of life. We know that it applied to the whole Roman Empire, and in the last analysis revealed the secret of the greatness of that empire. Then it may immediately be said that the Roman Empire proved at last to be a disastrous failure. What was the reason of this? The answer is self-evident. It was because the ultimate authority was rotten. However obedient the soldiers were, however obedient the centurions were, the throne was occupied by one who was self-centered, a tyrannical despot, lustful and impure. The authority of that throne ultimately percolated through all submitted to it, until the whole empire, living by a true and necessary philosophy, became corrupt and defiled, and was blasted and ruined.

        Such consideration reminds us immediately of the fact that the true ultimate authority for human life, whether individually, socially, or nationally, is that of the Kingship of God. When men are submitted to that Authority, they remain in authority; but the authority they exercise will be the result of the authority they obey.

        The question, therefore, that must always confront us is that as to whether we are submitted to the Authority of that eternal Throne. It is not enough to hold it as an accurate conception. It is not enough to confess it theoretically. The question abides as to whether we are really under this Authority.

        If we are not under the Authority of the Throne of God, we are still in authority, but the authority we are exercising over our children, over our friends, over those with whom we come into contact, is the authority that we obey. If that authority is debased, then ours is depraved. This is surely the dear light that is shining upon our lives from this narrative of the centurion. Let us always keep in mind the words of Jesus concerning him: "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."