After the cleansing of the leper, the Lord Jesus is met by a Roman officer, a representative of the Gentile power that held the Jews in bondage. In general the Jews despised their Gentile masters. The centurion recognized the power in Jesus, but, unlike the leper, he does not doubt His willingness to heal. He comes to Jesus, beseeching Him and saying, “Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.” The Lord expresses His sympathy and willingness in His response, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion realizes that as a Gentile he had no right to Jewish privileges, and so states that he is not worthy to have Jesus enter his house. He says to the Lord, “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 my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.” He expresses the confidence that Jesus need only speak the word and his servant would be healed. The Lord marvels at the man’s faith and says to those who followed Him, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
Blessing to the Gentiles
The Lord goes on to say, “That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.” If Israel rejected their Messiah, then they as a nation would be rejected. In the meantime blessing has come to the Gentiles.
“And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”
Unceasing Love
Next we find the Lord Jesus in the house of Peter. There He saw Peter’s wife’s mother sick with a fever. “And He touched her hand, and the fever left her.” Usually a fever leaves one very weak, but here it tells us, “She arose, and ministered unto them.” It was divine power that healed her.
The Lord was unwearied in His love, for we read that “When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick.” This, the Evangelist records, was a fulfillment of that which the prophet Isaiah had spoken of Messiah, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” Some have said that the Lord Jesus did this on the cross, but here it is shown to be in His life that He accomplished this. The Messiah was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities and we are healed by His stripes. This the New Testament speaks of His having done on the cross (Rom. 4:2525Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:25); 1 Pet. 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)).
“Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave commandment to depart unto the other side.” The Lord does not seek the admiration of the crowd, nor would He satisfy mere curiosity. It is His Father’s work that He has before Him, so He withdraws.
Further Meditation
1. What made the centurion’s faith different from the faith of the leper in the previous verses?
2. What details show that the Lord healed by His divine power?
3. You would likely find Faith by H. P. Barker to be an excellent resource in considering that subject further.