5/7/2023 0 Comments Centurion and jesus![]() ![]() ![]() And he was lucky enough to have access to all the good works Jesus did in the area. Of course there must have been bad reports and good reports. Imagine one hundred soldiers stationed in Capernaum gathering all the intelligence information sensitive to the interest of the Roman government, and making reports to him. The Roman Centurion was in such a position. The information included which Catholic priests met what kinds of criminals in what suspicious areas, or which government official went into which motel with what category of women. Then, even without myself having to go out and see, I could understand exactly what was going on in the area. During this period of time, as I was seated at my office together with my assistant, a whole bunch of agents from different government agencies kept making reports to me in regard to what was going on in the area: informants from the local CIA, detectives from the police department, and secret agents from army units in the area. While I was working as the public prosecutor in one of the jurisdictions nearby Seoul, Korea, every once in a while they assigned me to a night duty at one of the local offices of the justice department. His office gave him a better access to the information about Jesus. A Centurion had charge over one hundred soldiers in the Roman army. Next, let us think about his position as a Centurion. By God's providence, the Roman government assigned the Roman Centurion to Capernaum, so that while he was serving the military duty there, Jesus the long awaited Savior of the world came to this area, performing great miracles, teaching great number of people with life giving word! In Matthew 11:23 Jesus said of Capernaum, "And you, Capernaum! … If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day." This Bible passage indicates that in Capernaum Jesus performed the most number of miracles. It was the center of Jesus' Galilean ministry. What is special about Capernaum? We know the answer. Here we see the little expression "The Centurion heard of Jesus." Associated with this expression are two words that help us better understand how this man came to have such great faith in the Lord: 1) Capernaum and 2) Centurion. In what respect is his faith so great? And more importantly than this, how did he acquire such great faith? He said that the Centurion had such great faith. In the passage Jesus spoke highly of his faith. If we learned the faith of the Centurion, we can turn all the miseries of our life into the blessings of God. Just as a mother gives birth to a child, so also strong faith such as the faith of the Centurion gives life to men. In many ways the Centurion described in the passage is like a faithful mother, so we would like to dedicate this Bible study to the mothers of this nation. Today we would like to think about the faith of a Roman centurion. 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." Why did Jesus bother to say this to them? Is there any message(s) that we can apply to ourselves? What does verse 10 reveal about the way Jesus blessed the centurion's faith? ![]() Consider what Jesus said to his followers in verse 9. What does this passage tell us about: 1) the centurion’s view of (or attitude towards) Jesus 2) his view of himself before Jesus and 3) his faith in (the word of) Jesus? What does verse 8, especially the word "authority,” indicate about the way he came to have such faith?ħ. Who were they? What does the word "friends" tell us about the centurion?Ħ. Verse 6 indicates that the centurion had "friends". What moved Jesus? What does this teach us about the kind of prayer that moves the heart of the Lord?ĥ. Verse 6a reads, "So Jesus went with them." The word "So" points to the reason Jesus started towards the house of the centurion. What does the Centurion's example teach us about the way to overcome barriers that might exist (or develop) among us?Ĥ. Yet, the centurion overcame this barrier. In those days a wall of hostility existed between the Jews and the Gentiles. Verses 3-5 describe some elders of the Jews praying to Jesus on behalf of the Roman centurion. Verse 3 includes the expression "heard of Jesus." What does this expression indicate about: 1) the Centurion's relationship with (or his level of knowledge of) Jesus 2) the significance of people hearing "of Jesus" and 3) the right way to help people hear "of Jesus" in our day?ģ. What can we learn from the servant? What can we learn from the centurion?Ģ. Think about: 1) the position of the centurion stationed in Capernaum 2) the social status of a servant under the rule of the Roman Empire of Jesus' day and 3) the relationship between the two (1,2).
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