Jesus was in the region of Capernaum standing amongst a group of Jews when a centurion walked up to him. A centurion was a roman soldier. The man said to Jesus “Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” The Romans were the enemies of the Jews; therefore, for the soldier to walk amongst a hostile crowd was an act of faith. He also loved his servant very much. These things pleased Jesus.

Jesus said to the man, “I will go and heal him.” Jesus was happy to go and help the man because Jesus loves to help those who are suffering.

The soldier then said to Jesus, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority with soldiers under me; I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and that one come and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this’ and he does it.”

This statement makes a couple of points. The soldier was humble because he said he didn’t deserve to have Jesus in the same room as him; and secondly, that he knew Jesus didn’t even have to come over in person because Jesus had the power to heal simply by his thoughts.

He then told Jesus how he was a man who was under authority, and how he also had power and could order others to do what he wanted, to which Jesus responded, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

This means Jesus told the people he had never seen this kind of faith and said that in heaven there would be many people sitting and feasting with the great people of Israel, but others would weep and gnash (grind) their teeth in agony because they wouldn’t be allowed into heaven.

Jesus then told the soldier to go home because the man’s servant was healed. It is through faith that we please God, and it is through faith that we receive what we ask for.