Image: see footnote
If your first guess is a miracle of healing, you’d be correct. But there’s something else the Messiah and the Roman soldier had in common.
A church.
The city of Capernaum was situated on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, over one hundred miles from Jerusalem. The village was a fishing community known as “Nahum’s village”, in honor of an Old Testament prophet. Jesus used this fishing village as a home base during his ministry. It is in Capernaum that Jesus drove an evil spirit out of a man in the synagogue (Mark 1:21) and where the paralytic was lowered through the roof of a home to be healed by Jesus (Mark 2:1).
In Luke’s gospel (Luke 7:1-10), when Jesus and his disciples entered Capernaum a group of Jewish leaders met them. The Jewish leaders tell Jesus that the centurion’s servant is sick and dying. The centurion cares about this servant and wants Jesus to heal him. Interestingly, the Jewish leaders say of this Roman soldier, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue” (Luke 7:4-5).
What a fascinating portrait of a Roman soldier! He loves the country that is considered an undesirable outpost in the Roman military. He cares about his slave and wants to take care of him. He is a Roman soldier who built a Jewish synagogue!
Leaving a Legacy
We aren’t given much more information about this Roman soldier. Was he in Palestine during the trial and crucifixion of Jesus? Was he sent to other Roman outposts carrying the gospel of faith with him? We don’t know. What we do know is that he believed that Jesus could heal his servant. We know that Jesus was amazed by his faith.
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel” Luke 10:9.
If you travel to Israel today, you can visit the archeological excavation of this ancient synagogue. It would have been the only synagogue in the village of Capernaum. The God of the universe came to earth in human form and attended church in a building built by a non-Jewish Roman soldier.
It is amazing to think of the legacy that this unknown Roman centurion left behind. He built a church where God in the flesh worshipped and taught from the scrolls. He had more faith in the Son of God than God’s own people. He cared more for the people of Israel than some of the Jewish leaders. His faith was such that he is mentioned in all four gospel stories.
The apostles would later be credited with carrying the gospel of Jesus to the gentiles (non-Jews). But here we have a gentile that has been given “eyes that see and ears that hear” (Matthew 13:16). The ability to understand who Jesus is and believe that He is the risen savior is a gift of God through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Roman centurion who built the church that God visited probably had little understanding of the impact of his actions. As the song says, little is much when God is in it (Suffield, 1924).
May we be faithful to go where our faith moves us and to do as our God-given compassion compels us. May our legacy be the love and power of our risen Savior working in our lives.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
Copyright @ TA Boland 2023
Image: Bibleplaces.com The white basalt structure was a 4th century synagogue that was built over the remains of the first century stone synagogue.
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