Who Was This Guy?!

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them.  He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.  Luke 7:1-10

This account is detailed in both Luke and Matthew.  Matthew’s account says, “there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching him…” This may have been done by proxy, or it’s possible that both situations occurred.  Maybe the centurion met Jesus on the way, to prevent him from entering the house of a gentile.

Regardless, this behavior from a Roman imperialist was very unusual.  So who was this guy anyway?

A Centurion was a Roman officer who commanded 100 men.  “The lowest position an equestrian might hold was also the highest an ordinary soldier could expect to achieve – centurion. These men commanded centuries (groups of ~100 men) in the legions or the auxiliary…These were the officers who commanded men on a day to day basis, both in war and in camp…Some men started their careers as centurions, either because they were wealthy or because they were equestrians who could not find a praefecti (higher) role. Others were experienced soldiers, usually having served for 15-20 years, who had proved themselves in a more junior position of authority.”¹  There were junior and senior centurions which could equate to lieutenant and captain resp. in today’s military.  The implication is that this Centurion in Capernaum may have been more than a commoner, and wielded some financial influence in the community.  He had “built their synagogue”:  (Bible Hub, Gill Commentary) at his own private charge, and by the assistance of his soldiers under him, whom he might employ in this work: sometimes a single person built a synagogue at his own expense, and gave it to the citizens; of which the Jews say, “if a man builds an house, and afterwards devotes it to a synagogue, it is as a synagogue.”

The Centurion may have been a man of substance—but there were no maybe’s about the fact that he loved the nation of Israel.  Not only had he taken the time to learn about the Jewish culture and religion, but he also respected their no-coexistence-with-gentiles practice.  As a Roman military officer, his compassionate treatment of the subjugated Jewish population had earned him influence with their religious hierarchy in Capernaum.  He actually had the elders petition Jesus on his behalf.

In addition to his compassion for the subjugated population, he had compassion on his servant (or young house slave).  He was genuinely concerned about the young man’s pain.  (“Lord, my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in terrible agony.” Matt 8:6) and he wasn’t too proud to beg (a centurion came and pleaded with Him. Matt 8:5).

The Centurion’s treatment of Jews in general, and Jesus in particular, didn’t fit the norm.  But neither did Jesus’ reciprocal treatment of the Centurion.

Picture this.  You’re in a crowd of people listening to Jesus’ words of truth, life, and freedom.  Suddenly a wet blanket spirit of heaviness and oppression descends upon the people;  they begin muttering in hushed tones and pointing at…the enemy…a small detachment of intimidating Romans that is approaching the crowd…and Jesus.

So was that really the prevailing climate in Capernaum?  “(The Romans had set up) some as provinces, and some as client kingdoms. Judea happened to be one of these client kingdoms run by its own independent, or semi-independent, King…For the ordinary people of the Jewish homeland, Rome was a kind of dominant political factor. Although they might not have seen Romans on a day-to-day basis, the imposition of Roman power was certainly there. In the case of the client kingdom, Judea, Herod’s rule and Herod’s forces would have been the political entity. But everyone knew that Rome was the power behind the throne.” ²

“Augustus, who was hailed as the bringer of Pax Romana, ironically sustained the so-called peace of Rome through instilling fear within the conquered territories.  The only way for Rome to acquire the huge amount of grain needed to feed its population so generously was through heavy taxation of the conquered territories…In addition to the grain toll, there were also taxes on produce, sales taxes, temple taxes, occupational taxes, custom taxes, transit taxes, and many others. Taxation was the means by which the Roman elite were able to provide gifts for its citizens and build up the Mother City…The demand for tribute to Rome and taxes to Herod in addition to the tithes and offerings to the Temple and priesthood dramatically escalated the economic pressures on peasant producers, whose livelihood was perennially marginal at best.“³ 

A 2006 movie, The Nativity Story, portrayed the Roman occupation in a way that I had never considered before—and showed what it may have been like for the Jewish people who were living under Roman imperialism/occupation.  It wasn’t a climate of overt oppression or violence, as long as the Jews did not cross the line.  But their lives were dictated by the unrelenting pressure of having to earn money to pay taxes—and the fear of never having enough.  In one scene in the movie, a couple’s teenage daughter is conscripted into slavery to pay their debt. She is scooped up and whisked away on a galloping horse as the townspeople watch in stunned despair.

Even the so-called fraternizers were still under an incredible amount of pressure.  As we discussed a few blog entries ago, shortly after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, was hauled back to Rome—and may have even been executed en route.  His crime: he had dared to petition Rome to restore oversight of the Temple furnishing to the priesthood.  And his co-conspirator, Herod Antipas, ran into probs with the Roman Emperor Caligula; In a career-destroying move, Herod was exiled to the barren outpost of Gaul for the remainder of his life—which, legend says, may have been cut short by suicide. Eventually everything came off the rails when the Zealots declared mutiny on Rome in 70-ish A.D.  Estimates were that over a million Jews were murdered.  Crosses with crucified zealots covered the landscape.  Whereas an occasional Jew had been conscripted into servitude, now every Jew who survived the Jerusalem massacre was exiled into slavery in foreign nations.

So Jesus—Who understood how this story was going to end—had suddenly encountered the enemy in His path. Though the Centurion was begging, he was nevertheless a Roman compelling a Jew to help him.  How did Jesus react?  He didn’t see a Roman conqueror/occupier.  He saw a desperate, needy man with a really good heart, a man with incomparable faith which was fueled by compassion.  And Jesus responded immediately in kind, with infinite compassion, expressing His willingness to drop everything and race to Gentile Land with the enemy—to heal a house slave.  Jesus knew that the slave was “in terrible agony,” and that’s all He cared about.

What can we learn about the triune God from this healing account?  He is able to succor (instantly run to the cry) of those who are afflicted by evil.  Heb 2:18  And He’s an Equal Opportunity God. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:28

Next week—incomparable “τόσος” faith—what is it? How do we get it?

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¹War History On Line Website:  /ancient-history/12-ranks-roman-military

² PBS Website:  /wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/jews

³ Theology Curator Website:  /romanempire-during-time-jesus/