A.J. Castellitto
March 23, 2015
The Roman Centurion: 'I am not worthy'
By A.J. Castellitto

"Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue."

Grace.... This one word encompasses so many vital truths: Love, Mercy, Forgiveness, Propitiation, Redemption. In modern culture there is a widespread lack of humility and knowledge of our standing before a Just, Righteous, Longsuffering and Holy God.

In Chapter 7 of the Book of Luke we hear of a man who was favored among the Jews. He was not of them but he possessed a deep reverence and love for their God. He was a Roman Centurion and his belief and humility rightly offered unto the King of Kings and Lord of Lords infinitely surpassed anything the chosen people of that day could muster.

"And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying 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 say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too 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 servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

The Roman Centurion deeply understood something that so many in his day and our day are completely blind and ignorant of. The most essential and favorable position we may ever experience is to be in a state of grace and humility before God (in which all our sins and miseries have been paid for by the shed blood of the precious Savior). His Righteousness must be imputed unto us.

All true rights and liberties are bestowed via a restoration only made possible by the greatest act of love in the history of mankind. To know and experience the saving grace of God is to be free from the bondage of sin. This is the divine justice, deliverance, and transcendence that surpasses all of mankind's feeble and futile attempts toward utopia.

Grace is the starting point and the full completion. Without grace human civilization will perpetually chase its tail until it wholly collapses once and for all.

"When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well."

* This essay was inspired by a sermon from former military chaplain Christopher H. Wisdom.

tinysa.com/sermon/322151148303

http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2015/03/special_worship_service_march.html

© A.J. Castellitto

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)

Click to enlarge

A.J. Castellitto

A.J. Castellitto is a freelance writer who resides in NJ with his wife and five children. He holds a B.S. in Counseling and Human Services from the University of Scranton and his writings have been published at The Center for Western Journalism, The Christian Post, Intellectual Conservative and Reformed Perspective Magazine.

Tweets: @AmericaLost2014

Subscribe

Receive future articles by A.J. Castellitto: Click here

Latest articles

 

Alan Keyes
Why de facto government (tyranny) is replacing the Constitution (Apr. 2015)

Stephen Stone
Will Obama be impeached now that Republicans control both houses of Congress? (Nov. 2014)

Bryan Fischer
The shallowness of Donald Trump on abortion

Cliff Kincaid
The real one percent strikes again

Robert Meyer
Wisconsin's Supreme Court election is about judicial philosophy

Bryan Fischer
Losing America one cowardly governor at a time

Jerry Newcombe
The answer to Muslim violence: Jesus

Marsha West
Evangelicals divided, a movement fractured Part 1

Michael Bresciani
Trump takes but gives nothing back to America -- three clear examples

Judie Brown
Planned Parenthood is the classic bully!

Ellis Washington
Obama and ISIS, O'Reilly and Da Capo

Michael Gaynor
Megyn Kelly ignores key facts to champion faux victim Michelle Fields' bogus criminal battery charge

A.J. Castellitto
Theocracy rising

Alan Keyes
Can the people regain the power to elect the president?
  More columns

Cartoons


Michael Ramirez
More cartoons

RSS feeds

News:
Columns:

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Russ J. Alan
Bonnie Alba
Jamie Freeze Baird
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites