The Word
Catholics will recognize the words of the centurion as the prayer said at the Offertory when the priest raises the sacrifice.
After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “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 only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also 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 slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!” This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. - Luke 7:1-17
All it takes is the word of Christ to change reality, in this case from death to life.
The centurion changed the way we understand the power and authority of Jesus. His approach was to send elders to Jesus to represent him, and to have them ask Jesus to just say the word from afar, and have his slave healed.
Yes, the slave meant something to the man. He was a valuable slave, Luke tells us, which means he was vital, if not loved by the centurion.
Now Jesus had been healing people brought to him, so it took great faith to believe just having Jesus be made aware of a man in need of healing would be enough to heal him.
It was a prayer, a request of God, sent with deep faith.
This is why Jesus says in all of Israel has he not found such faith.
What happens next should reinforce our faith even more. Jesus does not even need to be asked to raise the dead man. He just needs to have compassion for the mother who is weeping.
If we are suffering or troubled, we should take heart that He sees and hears. All we need to do is believe.
“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 only speak the word, and let my servant be healed."
More to come...