Matthew 8:5 – 13

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,

6 Saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Jesus' fame had reached all corners of the area of Palestine. This man who pleads with Jesus is an officer in the Roman army. He was the commander of 100 soldiers. He was not a Jew. He believed that Christ would heal anyone.

This Roman soldier addresses Jesus as Lord, not as a follower would address Christ but as one who recognizes Jesus as a superior human being to him, both in wisdom and power.

This man's servant is sick of the palsy, which means he is paralyzed and suffering pain.

Jesus is willing to heal the individual, but the Roman shows a complete faith in Christ's power by his confession of his belief that all Christ needs to do is speak the miracle and it will happen.

The centurion shows his belief in the power of Christ as he uses his own authority as an example of authority, he may not have understood the power of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Spirit in conjunction and cooperation with God the Father, and the Son, but he understood Christ did not physically need to be with the ailing individual to heal him.

Jesus was not surprised at the faith of the Roman soldier, but he did admire his faith, He states this idolatrous Roman had a stronger faith than the Jews his ministry was working on.

Many from all parts of the world will be invited into the everlasting kingdom of heaven. This verse refers to the reward of salvation which is given to the faithful after life on earth has ended.

Verse 12 refers to the people of the earthly Jewish kingdom who refuse to accept Jesus as the Son of God. They will receive their punishment in the eternal lake of fire as all nonbelievers will.

After concluding His thoughts on the current faith of the Jews, Jesus promises the centurion that his wishes will be fulfilled. His servant will be healed. The servant was healed immediately as the scripture verifies.