In the Greek Scriptures we are told about two centurions, both extraordinary. The account of the first one is recorded in Matthew chapter eight and Luke chapter seven. It is Luke’s account that is most complete and interesting.
Jesus is in Capernaum. We are told that an army officer had a slave who was dear to him and very ill. He sent some Jewish elders to Jesus and they pleaded on his behalf that Jesus attend upon this slave. Jesus complied but when near to his house, friends told him not to bother to enter but to just say the word and the healing would happen. Jesus was amazed at this man’s faith but there’s more to be amazed at.
Firstly, this man is presumably a Gentile. Not only that but he is an army officer, and that of an occupying force. That’s two reasons why Jews would hate him. But they love him! He sent them and they went. They pleaded for him. They gave reasons why they love him. He loves them and their nation, and he built their Synagogue.
Not too many years later, in 36 C.E., Peter is given a vision in which he sees all sorts of four-footed animals, reptiles and birds on a giant tablecloth. He is commanded to slaughter and eat these creatures. He recoils in horror. ‘I have never eaten such defiled and unclean things’ he protests. Shortly after, he is introduced to Cornelius, an army officer. On entering his house, Peter states that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or approach a man of another race. Clearly the defiled and unclean things in the vision represent the Gentiles. How is it then that the army officer who sent for Jesus in Capernaum was able to send, not just any Jews, but the elders? Why were they willing to swallow their pride, their disgust, their superiority complex, to break their law, to help this disgusting Gentile? With the caveat that high principles often get swept aside in favour of political or financial expediency, nevertheless he must have been a truly extraordinary man. He, a Roman soldier, loved his slave and loved the Jews, and they loved him!
Here is a striking thing. Returning to Cornelius, we are told that he was a devout man who feared God, and made many gifts of mercy to the people. So much so that he was well-reported-on by the whole nation of the Jews. Jehovah also held him in great esteem. He was visited by an angel and given directions. Later his entire household was to receive holy spirit, and that even before they were baptised.
One has to wonder whether the army officer in Capernaum and Cornelius were one and the same man. Capernaum and Caesarea were not too far apart. Both are described as army officers, or centurions in some translations. Both were loving and generous, both were loved by those who should have hated them.
Could they have been one and the same man? We don’t know, but it makes for a pleasing possibility. The man who had unshakable faith in, yet felt unworthy to meet, Jesus in the flesh, rewarded with the privilege of being the first Gentile Christian. I wonder…
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