Lessons from the Roman Centurion at Jesus' Crucifixion ( Mark 15:39) Our desperation and humble trust is what puts us in a position to receive God’s grace. Both receive help and healing, because it is not our worthiness that puts us in a position to receive God’s grace. The centurion is cast as one who “deserves” redemption because of his having built them a synagogue.īut the poor widow woman has nothing to offer. In fact, Luke will highlight this point by pairing this centurion with a poor widow woman. The servant is healed because Jesus is working to overcome evil. The healing happens not because he is worthy, due to his position, but the healing happens because of the goodness of Jesus. It is this posture, driven by the centurion’s faith, that leads to the healing of his servant. It is also interesting to note that the centurion approaches Jesus as one who is under Jesus’ authority than the other way around. But this centurion seemed to know and believe that Jesus could accomplish whatever he desired. This is rather astonishing because up to this point in the narrative Jesus has not healed anyone from a distance. He has faith that Jesus is able to speak a word and his servant will be healed. In Matthew 8 this centurion understands that Jesus is a man of great power and authority. Even today we have lessons to learn from these Roman centurions. For a first-century reader, particularly those with a Jewish background, the redemption of a Roman centurion would have been shocking.īut the gospel writers, Mark especially, place the centurions in key positions within their narrative as wonderful examples of faith. Yet, centurions were also among those of whom Jesus is in the business of redeeming. One did not become a centurion without having your mettle tested in the throes of battle. It is almost certain, then, that each of the centurions we meet in the battle would have engaged in several instances of hand-to-hand combat. The discipline and efficiency of the legion as a fighting unit depended on them.” Most centurions were men who had been in the military for 15-20 years and had earned this position of leading troops on the front line of battle.Ī centurion, as the name indicates, was in charge of a regiment of at least 100 men. Gealy says, “the centurions were the actual working officers, the backbone of the army. The word, centurion, “occurs 4 times in Matthew, 3 times in Luke, 13 times in Acts, and nowhere else in the New Testament a synonym is found 3 times in Mark.”īut what was a centurion and what can we learn from the Roman centurions in the Bible?į. One of these words is centurion.įrom some of the context in which the word appears, the reader may be able to discern that a centurion has something to do with the military. The Bible is filled with words that can be confusing to a 21st-century audience.
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