The Faith of the Centurion by Noemie Mutumbo

Before diving into this short blog post please read this passage of the Bible by clicking here: Luke 7:1-10

This story, like other stories in the Bible, has completely shifted my perception and conviction of believing in our invisible God. For me it is a perfect example of what faith means; faith in a time of need, faith in despair, and faith in The Almighty and His power. If I have to be honest this has shown me how shallow my faith could have been in the same time and circumstance.

“.. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Growing up in the Catholic church, the verse above was a part of our eucharistic ritual, and I, as other believers, gave the meaning to the sentence, but I did not comprehend it totally until visualizing this passage. This master, with his political power, came close to the great opportunity of meeting the Lord, and inviting him into his house, yet declined it. Even with his societal position, he knew the limit of his power, and only thought of yielding to the One more powerful than him, and when he did, he did it quite deeply. 

“for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof”

In his despair he tells the Lord that not only is he not worthy to receive him into his home, but that he believes in the word of God from a distance to heal him, even when Jesus was close to entering his household. Although that can seem pretty practical and obvious for you, this would not have been my thought process at first. Let me explain. I strongly believe in the omnipresence of God and His power to heal from a distance. But if I lived in his time and had the humbling opportunity to be physically present with Jesus, and welcome him into my home, I would surely beg for him to come and rescue. I would have impatiently waited for him and have prayed to witness a miraculous intervention. What would have been the motive behind my thought process in that time of despair? Maybe to be more convinced? I don’t know. All that I know is that my faith in those circumstances would have been weaker than this centurion. Looking at the mindset of the centurion, he did not even wait to see the miracle with his own eyes or to be a present witness of healing. His faith and knowledge of the power of Christ knew how capable our Lord is, even in such unimaginable circumstances. He knew the everlasting power of our Lord’s words. Thank God we have his holy words accessible to us every day.