The Selfless Centurion

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him,

“Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.

Jesus and the Centurion

I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!

Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.
Matthew 8:5‭-‬10‭, ‬13 NLT

The above verses narrates an interesting account of a Roman officer who came to seek the help of Jesus to heal his servant who was paralyzed and in pain.

I have observed that whenever this passage is read the only thing most people if not everyone take notes of is the uncommon faith of the Roman officer which our Lord Jesus Christ also commended.

But apart from his faith is an attribute exhibited by the roman officer which I would like to talk about and that attribute is compassion.

The Centurion

You see even as a high ranking roman officer he humbled himself and showed love and compassion to his servant not just by words but by consciously and deliberately taking it upon himself the task to find Jesus for the sake of his servant.

This singular act shows a touching concern for people and their weakness.

The roman officer could have sent any of his other servants or soldiers to go look for Jesus but instead he went by himself not considering his status simply because of the love he had for his servant.

It was compassion and selflessness that moved the roman officer to action before he demonstrated his uncommon faith which was lauded by Jesus Christ.

Now let’s bring it back to us, as a boss in the office how do you treat your subordinates, how do you treat your driver or the security man.

As a custodian or care giver how do you treat those under your care? How compassionate and selfless are you when dealing with your domestic workers?.

2Kings 5:1-19 present an interesting narration of how a young maid brought about the healing of her master Naaman.

I’m very sure this gesture by the young maid was as a result of the love and compassion she got from her custodian.

The way and manner she was taken care of motivated her to inform her master’s wife about the prophet in Israel.

As humans, be it custodians or a boss in the office, the way you treat and deal with those around or under you is very important and it will tell how compassionate you are and the value you place on others as a person.

Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
Matthew 7:20 NLT

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Many thanks for stopping by, until I come your way again. Do have a fabulous week ahead.