By: Jack Wyman

It is one of the more riveting scenes in the Bible. One of its most compelling stories.

Nothing grips us like irony. Nothing charms us as much as the unlikely.

The Bible pulsates with surprise. That’s one of its greatest attractions and a key of its unsurpassed and enduring power. 

Jesus has just returned to Capernaum after having delivered his Sermon on the Mount. “Great multitudes followed him” and he has healed a leper. The people are not only impressed by Jesus’ miracles but by his teaching.

Matthew explains that they “were astonished” by his words “for he taught them as one having authority”—in sharp contrast to the teachers of the day, who were apparently underwhelming in their presentations. (Mathew 8:28-29)

A Roman centurion comes up to Jesus as he is teaching. A murmur ripples through the crowd—perhaps a gasp or two. This soldier of Rome represents Caesar and all that the Jewish people resent in his oppressive rule. For years they have longed for a Messiah to set them free from this cruel and arrogant yoke. 

Here is their arch-enemy, symbolized in this one man who stands now before the Rabbi.

It’s worth noting that Luke tells us this Roman soldier, according to some Jewish friends, “‘loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.’” (Luke 7:5) Still, he is a soldier. He is a Roman. He is a Gentile. He’s not one of us, the Jews knew. An outsider. A pagan.

This centurion, so named because he commanded a battalion of one hundred soldiers, speaks clearly but softly. Jesus detects a glistening in the commander’s eyes. He is humble. He seems kind.

“Lord,” he says, “my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” (Matthew 8:6)

Jesus, moved with compassion, doesn’t wait to be asked. He stands up and tells the centurion, “I will come and heal him.” (verse 7) But the centurion raises his hand and shakes his head gently in protest.

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.” (verse 8) Jesus listens to the soldier intently. This is quite unexpected. The centurion compares Jesus’ authority to his own over his soldiers: “I only need to say, ‘Go’, and they go, or ‘Come’ and they come.” (verse 9) 

Here is faith—impressive, simple, practical, and highly unlikely. In its quiet confidence, it is a bold faith. Jesus “was amazed.” (verse 10) The King James Version says “he marveled.” In the Greek, that means amazed.

How could Jesus be amazed at anything or anyone? Could he ever be surprised?

Jesus said and did some amazing things but seldom, if ever, was he himself amazed. Only one other time in scripture is that word used to describe the reaction of Jesus: when, in his hometown of Nazareth, he is “amazed at their unbelief.” (Mark 6:6)

Faith—or the lack of it—was the thing that amazed Jesus most.

Was this soldier’s faith something Jesus didn’t know? He’s God and knows everything, including what’s in the heart of a man. Was he amazed because he was impressed with this man’s extraordinary faith—and his genuine humility? That’s probably true.

We don’t know for certain what it was about this Roman soldier that amazed Jesus, but it had to be something special.

This rough centurion was no theologian. He hadn’t studied or analyzed faith. He probably had never struggled with it as an idea or a way of life. He was just a practical man who simply believed that Jesus didn’t need to come to his house to heal his servant. All Jesus had to do is “just say the word”.

When he heard the Roman centurion’s simple explanation—and his interesting analogy—Jesus turned to the crowd behind him. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” (verse 10)

A Gentile pagan—one of Caesar’s lieutenants—is publicly commended for his faith before Jewish people, in a Jewish land, by the Jewish Messiah. This outsider—suspect and alien—is embraced by Jesus. This Roman’s faith is held up by the Son of God as an example of a simple trust greater than any in Israel.

Amazing. Ironic. And just like Jesus to say and do the unexpected.

Jesus smiled at the centurion. “Go home,” he gently tells him. “Because you believed, it has happened.” (verse 13)

“Because you believed.”

The Jewish leaders and the zealots were perhaps stunned that a Roman soldier would display such faith and confidence in Jesus; and even more shocked that Jesus would publicly praise him as he did. Jesus bypassed the religious establishment and lifted up the remarkable faith of a pagan. 

Christmas embraces us all. When we think about how Jesus came to earth and to whom his birth was announced, we are reminded that God turns away no man, no woman and no child who places his or her faith in him.

“For God so loved. . .” transcends every barrier man has erected against man. Neither race, nor color, nor religion; nor age, nor nationality, nor class, nor geography, nor money, nor politics, can separate any of us from the pure, vast, and eternally unchanging grace of God.

In the midst of our bitter national divisions, God’s love conquers even our partisanship and polarization. This is what Christmas is, what it does, and why it matters.  

It's why Christmas is amazing. It’s our annual reminder of God’s unbounded love for humankind. Christmas unites us. This is the greatest story ever told—the story of three imperishable things: faith, hope and love.

There may be some unlikely Roman centurions in our lives, and in our world. Jesus came for them too. He loves them.

In the miracle and mystery of this beautiful season, we too might be amazed at the faith of a pagan.

To order Jack Wyman’s book, “Everything Else: Stories of Life, Faith and Our World”, go to amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors or barnesandnoble.com. It is also available on Kindle and eBooks.

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