8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having 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.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” Luke 7:8-9
Americans sometimes have a problem with authority. Humbling ourselves before our Lord and master can be a difficult thing.
This centurion from Capernaum had a sick servant. He heard of Jesus and sent Jewish elders to Him asking Him to come heal the servant. The elders pointed out how much the centurion had done for the Jews in the city.
A convinced Christ started toward the centurions home when He was met along the way by servants of the centurion. They were sent by the centurion with the message that he was not worthy to have Christ enter his home. Also that he understood authority and knew Christ only had to speak the word to heal his servant. (vs8) Christ then marveled at the understanding and faith of this Roman centurion.(vs9)
This Roman understood Christ’s authority. He was not puffed up or arrogant like he could of been considering his station, instead he humbled himself before that authority, and asked others to intervene on his behalf.
Do we approach the savior with our requests in the same way?
If we humble ourselves before the Lord and share our requests with fellow believers, so they can agree in prayer with us, we can follow the example of this centurion who garnered the respect of the Lord through his humility.