The Word of Faith
by Ivan Ho 02 Sept 2025
Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
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. 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.”
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! 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. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
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.
In the story about the miraculous healing of the centurion’s servant, we can learn some key principles.
- The centurion took the step of faith
Who initiated the miracle? Who made the first move?
Jesus had never met the centurion before the man approached him. The centurion took the first step to come to Jesus to seek for healing of his servant (According to gospel of Luke, the Centurion sent servants to Jesus). Instead of just staying at home to pray for his servant, the centurion took the initiative and effort to approach Jesus. He must have heard that Jesus was in town and the news of Jesus healing multitudes of people from all kind of sicknesses and diseases. At the time, there was no TV, no social media, and news were spread only by words of mouth. Faith arose in the centurion’s heart when he heard about Jesus. He knew that Jesus, being sent by God, had the power to heal his paralysed servant. Staying at home and hoping for God to show up wouldn’t have led to the miracle. Instead, faith led the man to meet with Jesus where he was.
Faith without action is dead.
- The centurion had faith that Jesus was God and acknowledged Him as his Lord
Notice that when the centurion came to Jesus, he called Him his Lord: “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
The centurion confessed Jesus as His Lord who had the power to deliver his servant from the paralytic condition.
Having faith in Jesus isn’t a private, selfish belief involving only God and self. We want to bring Christ to others, knowing that God who saves us can also save the people around us. The faith of the centurion wasn’t for God to bless him but for the healing of his servant.
And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him“. Jesus was about to go to the centurion’s house to heal his servant.
- The power to heal in the spoken word of God
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. 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.”
The centurion had the revelation that Jesus had authority over all sicknesses and diseases and the power to heal is in the spoken word of God. He said to Jesus his Lord “But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” Jesus didn’t have to go to the servant and touch him physically, and only spoke the word of life with the divine authority of healing. Jesus didn’t have to pray and fast for three days, but only spoke the word, and the servant was healed!
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! It was the word of God mixed with the faith of the centurion that made the miracle possible.
The same healing power of Jesus is available to us today, for Christ is risen!
Some preachers have the erroneous belief that divine healing is no longer for today, that only the first century apostles had the power to perform miracles. First, the power to heal wasn’t in the apostles but in Jesus Christ who dwelt in them through the Holy Spirit. Second, the centurion wasn’t an apostle nor was he any religious leader, but he had faith that Jesus would heal his servant. According to his faith in Jesus, his servant was healed. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead now dwells in us who are born again believers of Jesus Christ. We too, through our faith in Jesus can heal the sick and perform miracles in the name of Jesus our Lord!
The power to heal is not in man (nor in so called faith healers) but in Jesus. We just have to speak the word of faith in the name of Jesus and we will see miraculous healing powers manifest.
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
- Faith in Jesus lead us to heaven
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!
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The centurion, who commanded hundreds of troops under him, was a humble person. He said to Jesus “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.” A humble person before God doesn’t demand God to show up or else he won’t believe in God’s existence but rather, seeks after Him in faith and humility. A prideful or fearful person, on the other hand, won’t approach God. It takes a humble person to seek after the presence of God.
Did the centurion develop his faith in God after he saw the healing of his servant? No, he already had faith in Jesus which led him to approach our Lord Jesus. It was his faith in Christ that led to the healing of his servant. Jesus said to him: “As you have believed, so let it be done for you.”
Faith will lead us to approach God whereas fear makes people to shy away from Him.
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, due to their sin, felt shameful and tried to hide from the presence of God, and God said to them “Where are you?“. God knew where they were but He wanted to speak to them despite of their sins.
Although we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, God wants to reconcile our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23-24)
No matter how sinful we are, we can approach Jesus in faith and ask Him to cleanse us from all our sins. Through His death on the cross and His resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so we can now approach Him without fear.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
The “children of the kingdom” refers to the people of Israel, the natural descendants of Abraham, Issac and Jacob who were given the laws of Moses. They were expecting a king to come as their Messiah. Sadly many Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah and that’s why they ended up in hell (cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth). The same destiny will await all who refuse to repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus.
By contrast, the Roman centurion, who was a Gentile, had faith in Jesus. Our Lord Jesus commended his “great faith”, faith that not only led to the healing of his servant but more importantly faith that would lead him to heaven.
“That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven”.
That means people from everywhere, from all walks of life (that includes you and I) are coming to Jesus in faith. Those who have faith in Jesus are the true spiritual descendents of Abraham sharing the same inheritance in the kingdom of heaven!
P.S. If this word blesses you, please share it with people connected to you so that they too will hear the saving grace of Jesus!