Posted by (Here’s what I recently shared in our local church.)
We are going to talk about soldiers today.
Before I dreamed of becoming a doctor, I dreamed first of becoming a soldier. Hanging on the wall of my father’s ancestral home is a portrait of a granduncle who was dressed in full military uniform. He fought in WWII against the Japanese occupation in the Philippines.
Perhaps it is the uniform, or maybe it is the gun that I fantasized of why I wanted to become a soldier.
When I turned 3, on my birthday, I was garbed in combat uniform complete with a rank badge and an army hat. My cake was full of toy soldiers, and one of my gift was a toy machine gun. Before Sylvester Stallone and Rambo became famous, I was already playing with a toy machine gun.
When I got a little older, I was involved in a scout-like club and learned marching and survival skills. In high school, there was a compulsory military training program in the Philippines called Citizen’s Army Training for high school students. I trained to become an officer and became the commander of the model platoon of our school. My parents even thought I would enroll to Philippine Military Academy after high school, but at that time, I don’t want to be a soldier anymore, after realizing I don’t want to die in combat.
In college, there was again a compulsory military training program for male college students, so I did 2 years of Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). I actually tried to evade it, but my father told me to just go with it as I may learn something from it. And I did. I learned self discipline that guided my life.
Today, we will study about 2 soldiers in the Bible. Specifically, the 2 Roman centurions who came to encounter Jesus while he was on this earth.
Centurion: An Elite Soldier
What is a centurion? During the New Testament era, a Roman centurion was a professional military officer commanding a platoon of troops called a “century.” This could be anywhere from one hundred to a few hundred men.
How do they become a centurion? Soldiers were appointed as centurions by virtue of their bravery, loyalty, character, and prowess in battle. Centurions were held to high standards of conduct and were expected to fight on the front lines with their men. In fact, the centurion’s designated place in formation was at the end of the very front row.
As a result, Roman centurions were well paid and held in high esteem, but they experienced high rates of injury and death during war. The combination of wealth, power, and prestige made them influential in society.
During the Roman occupation of Judea and Jerusalem, it was centurions who took on the roles of brutal “peacekeepers” and executioners.
Centurion Who Loves Jews
Let’s look at our first story, which is found in Luke 7:1-10.
Jesus came down from the mountain just outside of Capernaum. He just delivered a message, that will become the most famous sermon, known as the Sermon on the Mount. Capernaum is Jesus’ adopted home. If you visit it today, you will see a sign that says, “Capharnaum, the town of Jesus.”
When Jesus entered the town, he was met by a small delegation of Jewish elders. Wait a minute…. the Jewish leaders came to Jesus? They don’t like Jesus! But because of their friend, the Roman centurion, they were obligated to come to Jesus.
They had an urgent request. Their friend, this Roman centurion, has a servant who was so sick that he was about to die. So this certain centurion, had asked these elders to go to Jesus on his behalf, to see if Jesus might be willing to heal his servant.
Now, this was very unusual. Jewish leaders were not fond of Roman soldiers.
They must have felt awkward on their request that one of the elders quickly added, “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.”
This was unusual too. Roman soldiers were not fond of Jews either.
Jesus must have caught this unusual relationship. Most of the time Romans hated the Jews, and Jews hated the Romans. But this Roman centurion is different. He love the Jews. He even built a synagogue for the Jews.
So what can we say about this centurion? He is kind, charitable, loving, even those who are considered his enemies. He must be wealthy too. Building a synagogue is not a cheap project.
Several years ago, we visited Capernaum. All that is left on that place are ruins. But even in the ruins, you can still identify where the synagogue was. In fact our group specifically stopped at that synagogue. While we were standing on the floor of the synagogue, and looking at what remains of its walls and pillars, our guide gave us insight about that place. Looking back now, I must have stood at the floor of the synagogue (photo below) that this centurion built. Jesus himself came many times in that synagogue.
What else can we say about this centurion? He love his servant. Even though servants have no social status, and they are the lowest of the lowest, and most of the time they are treated like properties. But this centurion cared for his servant. He wants his servant to be healed and live.
Then he heard about Jesus. He heard how Jesus made the blind men see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and those who were sick were healed. He wanted his servant to be healed too by Jesus. And that’s why he sent these Jewish leaders to plead to Jesus on his behalf.
How do we treat other people? That old man who mops the floor in your office? Or the lady who takes your order in the cafeteria? Or that man who stands in the street holding a sign “Homeless Veteran.” We probably treat our boss or our superiors with respect, but how about people who we feel is under us? And how about our enemies?
Jesus discerned that God’s hand was in this unusual relationship between the centurion and the Jewish elders, and so he went with them to the centurion’s home. As they neared the centurion’s house another group of friends intercepted them. There was a brief huddle with the elders. The elders seemed confused. Some thought the servant must have died.
Then a representative of the intercepting group stepped over to Jesus and said respectfully, “Teacher, I have a message for you from my Roman friend. He says,
Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, “Go” and he goes; and to another, “Come,” and he comes; and to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.'”
Jesus’ expression turned thoughtful. He pondered on the words, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” This centurion, even though his Jewish friends think he is worthy and deserving, yet in his own eyes, he felt unworthy for Jesus to come to his home.
Jews, especially Rabbi, will not enter a Gentile’s home. Gentiles are considered unclean, so coming to their home would make them ceremoniously unclean. But Jesus was willing to go, for in His eyes all are equal, including Gentiles, and yes, even the Samaritans.
Jesus pondered more on what else the centurion said: “I too am a man under authority with soldiers under me.”
This Roman soldier understands how ranks and authorities work, for he himself is subject to that. He believes that Jesus has the authority – the authority over sickness, the authority over life itself – and He can just say the word and it will happen.
This centurion understands the power of the spoken word. That power that when God said during creation “Let there be light,” and there was light. That is the same power that when Jesus said, “Peace, be still” and the storm quiet down. That is the same power, that when Jesus said, “Lazarus come forth,” and Lazarus was resurrected and came out of the tomb.
Do you believe in the power of the spoken word? Do you believe in the power of the word of God?
Jesus looked back at the friend and then to the elders. Then he turned and scanned his eyes over his disciples and the small crowd gathered around him. Then he said, loud and clear for everyone to hear, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith”
Both Luke (Luke 7:9) and Matthew (Matthew 8:10) use the Greek word thaumazo which we translate “marveled” or “amazed” to describe Jesus’ response to the centurion’s faith. The only time this word was used to describe Jesus’ response to others’ faith is in Mark 6:6, when he marvels at the lack of faith of people in Nazareth, the town where he grew up.
The centurion was one of unlikely persons to amaze Jesus. He was a Gentile. He had a pagan upbringing. He was a Roman, stationed in Palestine to subject the Jews to the Emperor’s rule. He was a man of war. He distinguished himself above others in his prowess in battle. Not exactly the résumé you’d expect for becoming one of the Bible’s great heroes of faith.
But there he was, he believed in Jesus with faith, unparalleled to no other man in Israel.
When the messengers of the centurion came back to the house, they saw that the servant was healed. Why? Because his master, the centurion, had faith in Jesus. With our faith, someone else can be blessed.
Is there somebody that you are pleading for Jesus to heal? Perhaps your mother whose health have been declining? Or a son who have gone wayward? Or a spouse whose faith has gone cold? If we have faith, like this centurion’s faith, they could receive healing too.
Centurion At The Cross
Let’s look at the other centurion who also encountered Jesus. This centurion did not come to Jesus for help. He was sent to carry an execution.
We have very little information about this man except that he was present during Jesus’ crucifixion. This Roman centurion, was sent to be a “peacekeeper”.
He was probably highly respected, but a hardened solider. In all likelihood, he presided over the crucifixion of many convicted criminals and must have become accustomed to their agony.
It is also likely this centurion was present from the time Jesus was brought before Pilate, and right until His body was lowered from the cross and given to Joseph of Arimathea. This man would likely have accompanied Jesus when the Jewish leaders brought Him at Praetorium. He probably ordered his men to torture Him, caring little for who Jesus was, but just another man in the line of people he was commanded to execute.
(Photo above is where archeologists believe as the place of Jesus’ trial.)
He would have been there when his men dressed Jesus in a purple robe, pressed a crown of thorns onto His head and walked Him to Calvary. He would have given the order to proceed with the crucifixion. He would have stood and supervised, while his soldiers drove those iron nails into Jesus’ hands and feet.
Having seen so many crucifixions, the centurion knew what to expect from the condemned criminals. He had heard them scream in pain while being whipped and nailed to their crosses. He heard them shout curses to men and blasphemies to God.
But perhaps it was during this time that the centurion began to notice that there was something different about this Jesus. Where most men cursed and swore, Jesus, as His hands were nailed to the cross, prayed for God to forgive those who were causing His suffering. He heard Jesus forgive even him and the soldiers under his command. He perceived, this man is different.
Or maybe He noticed the tender mercy in Jesus’ voice when He spoke to the repentant thief beside Him, promising that he would be with Him in paradise. Perhaps the centurion was amazed that during such suffering Jesus could look down at His mother and ensure that her future was secure by telling John, one of his disciples, to take care of her. Certainly, this man is different.
The centurion also witnessed the three hours of darkness that accompanied Jesus’ suffering, and recognized that it was definitely an extraordinary occurrence.
Then the centurion heard Jesus cried out “It is finished!” And just before Jesus died, the centurion heard Him said “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Truly he concluded, this man is different.
That very moment when Jesus died, an earthquake shook the land, so violent that rocks were split open.
Matthew 27:52 tells us “when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
In Luke’s account in Luke 23: 47, it said that “The centurion glorified God and declared, “Certainly this man was a righteous man”.
In the moment when Jesus appears most defeated, the centurion sees most clearly. Where others see a criminal, he sees a King. Where others see weakness, he sees divinity. Where others see death, he sees a revelation.
The man who watched Jesus be scourged, who watched his soldiers mock and abuse Him, suddenly cries out in terror, realizing that He has killed an innocent man. But his cry of terror is also an expression of faith as he confesses his new-found knowledge that Jesus was the Son of God.
Are we also accepting that Jesus is the Son of God? Are we acknowledging that because of our sins, this innocent Man died, so we can live?
Two Centurions, One Christ
As we look at both these centurions, the first centurion teaches us to trust Jesus’ word. The second teaches us to trust Jesus’ sacrifice.
Both centurions did not have the right background. Both were not born to God’s covenant people of Israel. But both came to believe.
One came to Jesus to ask for help; one was ordered to Jesus to carry an execution; but both came to believe.
One came during the height of Jesus’ ministry and His miraculous healings; the other one came during the lowest point of Jesus’ ministry as he hung on the cross; yet both came to believe.
One acknowledge Jesus has authority over sickness; the other one acknowledge Jesus has authority even when He is dead; both came to believe.
One felt unworthy; the other one enforced his Roman sovereignty; yet both came to believe.
One had faith even from a distance; one developed faith after a close encounter at the cross; both came to believe.
I don’t know where you are on your faith journey. Are you well-established with your faith like the first centurion? Or you just received the light and just starting your walk like the 2nd centurion? Jesus is calling you and me to come and believe.
From A Nazi Soldier To A Christian Pastor
I want to end with another story of a soldier.
Jürgen Moltmann was 7 years old when Adolf Hitler came into power in Germany in 1933. When he was 16, he and his entire class were drafted into the German Army where they were indoctrinated with the core belief of the Aryan racial superiority and the need for racial purity. At the age of 18, he was sent to fight in the front lines of WWII.
But in 1945, only six months after entering the battlefront, Jürgen was captured and then he spent three years in Belgium as a prisoner of war (POW).
While he was a POW, he and his fellow prisoners were shown pictures of concentration camps and extermination camps at Belsen and Auschwitz where the Nazi German regime systematically killed millions of Jews. The initial disbelief among the German soldiers soon turned to a grave realization that they had indirectly participated in these horrors. As Moltmann recounts in his book The Source of Life, “The depression over the wartime destruction and a captivity without any apparent end was exacerbated by a feeling of profound shame at having to share in this disgrace.”
(Photo below is Auschwitz Camp)
At that point, many of the prisoners gave in to despair and lost any desire to live. But Moltmann received an unexpected source of hope when one day, an American chaplain gave him a Bible. He was confused at first of what he read, but he found himself transfixed as he came across the psalms of lament and the passion narrative of Jesus.
As he read about the suffering of Jesus on the cross, Moltmann writes that he was encountering a God who could identify with his own suffering. “I began to understand the assailed Christ because I felt that he understood me,” he recounts. “This was the divine brother in distress, who takes the prisoners with him on his way to resurrection. I began to summon up the courage to live again, seized by a great hope.”
That hope not only enabled Moltmann to press forward, but it also changed the course of his life.
After his release from POW camp, Moltmann pursued graduate studies in theology. He served as a pastor for a number of years before accepting a teaching post at a prestigious university in Germany, where he spent the rest of his career as a professor in Theology, enlightening young minds to learn more about God.
From a Nazi soldier, Jürgen Moltmann became a dedicated Christian pastor and educator. He passed away on June 3, 2024, at the age of 98, serving the God he met while he was a POW.
Are you a prisoner too? A prisoner of sin? Are you feeling unworthy to be loved by God? We are all unworthy to be loved by God.
But it says in Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
May the love of God find you today.
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(*photos taken from the web)