When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”  Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”  The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith… Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

Matthew 8:5, 6, 7, 10, 13

Having healed an outcast (a leper,) probably a Jew, Jesus then does this!  He heals a Centurion’s servant.

A Centurion?  Yes. What in the world is a Centurion?  Surprise!  He is an officer in the Roman army that was stationed in Palestine, to guard that nation from being conquered by an eastern power.  He was not even a Jew.  Living in Palestine he heard of Jesus as a Jewish healer so when his servant was paralyzed he confronted Jesus with a strange request, for healing for his servant.  Remember, this Centurion is a Roman, from who knows where?  He was stationed in Palestine as a Roman soldier, a commander of a group of 100 Roman occupying soldiers.

This Roman soldier was in trouble so, having heard that Jesus healed people, when Jesus passed by the soldier implored Jesus to heal his deathly ill his servant. The Roman acknowledged that he is impertinent, for who is he to think that God might heal his servant?  What he said is amazing, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Jesus turned toward him and said, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”  Jesus, impressed with his faith, reached out to him, across cultural walls and healed the servant!

First an outcast leper, now a Roman soldier’s servant – what is happening here?  Do the Jews not have greater access to God than Gentiles?  It sure looks like that.