The Faith Of A Roman Officer

The Faith of a Roman Officer

Q: A Roman officer asked Jesus to heal

• a. his wife.
• b. his daughter.
• c. a young servant.

One day a centurion, a Roman army officer who had control over 100 soldiers, approached Jesus. Many Jews hated the centurions because Rome occupied the Jewish nations, and the Romans often treated the Jews unkindly. Despite this, the army officer came to see Jesus because his servant was very ill, and the centurion believed Jesus could heal him.

Jesus told the officer he would come and heal the servant. But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.”

Jesus was amazed at the man’s faith. The centurion was not even a Jew, yet he believed Jesus could heal the servant from far away just by speaking the words. Jesus told the Jews who were gathered that many of them would not be in heaven because they didn’t believe in him. They trusted in their traditions and rituals, but they didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God, the promised Messiah.

Many Jewish leaders believed the Messiah was still to come and that he would provide salvation only for the Jews, but Jesus offered salvation to anyone who believed in him. The same is still true today. God’s message isn’t for any certain group. It’s for everyone who believes in Jesus and asks him to be their Savior.

For You

Some of the Jews in Jesus’ time trusted in their own laws and traditions, not in Jesus. Only faith in Jesus saves. Make sure you have accepted Jesus for yourself rather than counting on your church attendance to save you.

Answer: c

Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.   Matthew 8:13

(The Whole Story: Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10)