And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. (4-6)
This story is very touching on so many levels. If you read beyond the quoted text above, you find that this Gentile, whom everyone loved, was a man of great faith. He trusted that Jesus could heal his servant, even from a great distance. He reasoned that if people did what he said, even with his limited earthly authority, there could be no limit to what the Messiah could do with His divine authority. Jesus remarked that He had not found such faith among all those who lived in Israel. In fact, it says, “He marveled.” I am not sure that anyone else ever made Jesus marvel. The very people who longed for the Messiah did not trust Him, but this centurion had perfect confidence in Jesus.
Yet, what is most impressive to me about this centurion is his self-awareness. All the Jews thought he was worthy because of his love for them and what he had done for them. But, the centurion knew the truth; he was not worthy compared to Jesus. We need to remind ourselves of this today. Other people are not the standard, and our actions will never make us worthy. Jesus alone is worthy, and He deserves all the glory. The life we live, we live because of Him. The things we have, we have because of Him. The things we do for others are only the Son of God working through us. This unworthiness is why grace is so essential. If not for grace, we would all be hopeless, yet grace means that no one is beyond hope. He can use you and work through you if you trust in Him.
