Matthew 8:5-10 "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."
A centurion was an officer in the Roman army. He was most likely a Gentile and, therefore, outside the law covenant that God had made with Jews. Even before Jesus had completely torn down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:14), there were Gentiles who had heard about and believed on Jesus. While the Jews did not often have any deep fellowship with Gentiles, this centurion openly sought out Jesus.
The centurion was obviously a compassionate man since he approached Jesus about a man who was a servant. The word translated as palsy indicates paralysis according to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary, and Thayer’s Greek Definitions indicates what might be a stroke. Whatever the exact case, this man’s servant was in serious condition. Notice that the man did not have to state his case before Jesus declared that He would come and heal the servant.
Jesus made two positive declarations to the centurion. Jesus said, “I will come,” and “I will heal him. This scene plays out in a manner that did not have Jesus physically visiting the centurion’s home. Nonetheless, it is obvious that Jesus did come to the servant (in the same manner that He comes to you and me) and heal him.
Dear ones, if we are not careful, we can slip into thinking that if people are not like us then they cannot approach Jesus. Our Lord demonstrated clearly here that He would not turn away from those that come begging for His aid. Even when we clearly understand that we are not worthy, He is still merciful and knows our need even before we ask. Let us exercise our G0d-given faith to show our compassion for one another and our trust in the promise of our Lord and Saviour.