What was a Roman centurion?

An officer over (about) 100 men: they were promoted to this office because of their good conduct and trustworthiness, and it is to be remarked how often centurions are favourably noticed in the Gospels and the Acts. Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 23:47; Acts 10:1, 22; Acts 27:6, etc.

In the N.T. a few references are made to the Roman army. A 'Legion' was a body that contained within itself all the gradations of the army. It might be called under the empire, in round numbers, a force of not more than 6,000 men. Every legion at times contained 10 cohorts of 600 each; every cohort 3 maniples of 200; and every maniple 2 centuries of 100: hence the name of centurion or commander of 100 men, as found in Acts 10:1, 22, etc. Each legion was presided over by 6 chiefs, χιλίαρθος, each commanding 1,000 men, mostly translated 'chief captain,' as in Acts 21:31-37, etc.: it is 'high captain' in Mark 6:21; and 'captain' in John 18:12; Rev. 19:18. A cohort, σπεῖρα, is translated 'band' in Acts 10:1; Acts 21:31, etc. A 'quaternion' embraced 4 soldiers. Acts 12:4.

The head quarters of the Roman troops was at Caesarea, with a cohort at Jerusalem; but at the time of the feast, when, alas, the mutinous disposition of the Jews was sure to appear, additional troops were present in the city but without their standards of the eagle, etc., which were especially obnoxious to the Jews. Though the Romans were God's rod to punish them, their stiff necks could not bow, nor receive the punishment as from Jehovah.

The centurion answered, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed." I suppose he had a good dwelling, he seemed to be pretty wealthy; but there was the sense of his unworthiness, and of the Saviour's dignity. He recognised that here was an omnipotent One, and that no word of His could be void of power. He says, "I am a man" — not in but — under authority." A Roman captain over 200 men, he was a long way from being the head of the Imperial army; but even so he had this power to order the soldiers under him. There is something very sweet about that. His argument is that the Lord had all the authority in Himself. He had a glimpse of the Lord's glory such as Nebuchadnezzar had, when he said, "He does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?" (Daniel 4:35). This is a sample of what is to be. The blessing in the millennial earth will not be confined to Israel; Gentiles will be blessed too, though not as now with the middle wall of partition broken down. Then they will be blessed through Israel. But the Lord here had not found so great faith in Israel. Faith is the gift of God, but where it is found the Lord commends it. The Syro-phoenician woman's faith is called "great"; the disciples' "little." The only two cases of faith which the Lord commends are Gentiles! There are only two, also, to whom the Lord gives Himself away, so to speak the woman of Samaria and the blind man of John 9.

The second case was that of the Gentile centurion and his servant; a case illustrating the impotence which is induced by sin. Here again is emphasized the power of His word. The centurion himself emphasized it, for he knew the power of an authoritative word as exemplified in the Roman military system. The rank of a centurion was not a high one, yet those under him at once obeyed his instructions, and his faith discovered in Jesus One whose word could accomplish the miraculous. The Lord acknowledged his faith as great, and beyond anything He had found in Israel: He spoke the needed word and the servant was healed. He also prophesied that many a Gentile from a distance would enter the kingdom with the fathers of Israel while those who had considered it theirs by prescriptive right would be cast into outer darkness.

In Capernaum, a city by the sea of Galilee, Jesus is approached by a centurion, a Gentile officer, who intercedes for his servant who was suffering badly from a case of paralysis. This strikingly illustrates the case of Gentiles in the helplessness of their sin, without hope, without God in the world. The Lord assures him that He will come and heal his servant.

However, this serves to bring out a beautiful picture of Gentile faith in the present day of grace. The centurion feels himself unworthy to even have the Lord enter his home, and asks that the Lord may only speak the word that will heal his servant. For in reality of faith he reasons that if he, being a man under authority, is able to give orders that are promptly obeyed by those under him, how much more will creation itself (being under the hand of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God) obey the words of its Creator. Sickness, though resulting from the sin that had corrupted the world, was still subject to Him. Of this the centurian had no doubt. He simply believed that Jesus is the Son of God.

An Italian cohort of which Cornelius was the centurion. It was doubtless so called because of the men being recruited in Italy. Acts 10:1.

[38] "The Italian band consisted of Italians, not of natives of the country, like many other Roman troops in Syria. Such a Roman auxiliary corps was appropriately stationed at the place where the Procurator had his residence, for the maintenance of tranquillity (Meyer). Julius, the centurion to whose custody Paul was committed to sail for Rome, was of the Augustan band (Acts 27:1).

'And when it was determined that we should sail away for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius of an Augustan cohort. And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium about1 to sail to2 the places along Asia, we put to sea, Aristarchus of Macedonia, a Thessalonian, being with us. And the next day we arrived at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and permitted [him] to go to the (or, his3) friends and receive attention. And thence putting to sea we sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. And having sailed across the sea that is along Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra [a city] of Lycia. And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and put us on board. And sailing slowly many days and coming with difficulty abreast of Cnidus, as the wind did not further suffer us, we sailed under the lee of Crete abreast of Salmone, and coasting it with difficulty, we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near to which was [the] city of Lasaea. And much time being spent and the voyage being already dangerous because the Fast was already past, Paul admonished them saying, Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives. But the centurion believed the master and the ship-owner rather than the things said by Paul. And the harbour being ill-suited to winter in, the most gave counsel to put to sea thence, if by any means they might arrive at Phoenix to winter in, a harbour of Crete, looking north-east and south-east. And when a south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and coasted close by Crete' (vers. 1-13) {1 μέλλοντι (i.e. the ship) ℵAB, some 30 cursives, and the ancient versions. μέλλοντες (i.e., we) Text. Rec. with which agrees HLP and most MSS. 2 εἰς is doubtful, but the sense remains. 3 The article is genuine, though omitted in the Text. Rec.}

We see at once that Luke is with the apostle on his voyage, and Aristarchus also. 'One' (ver. 1) in this case is quite uncalled for, as in all the Protestant English Versions from Tyndale. The fact is that he has been before us from time to time in this Book as the companion of the apostle. See Acts 19:29; Acts 20:4; as he is afterwards named in Col. 4:10; Philemon 24. Neither appears to have been at this time a prisoner. Both became partakers with the one that was so used. Love led these to join him in the face of shame and danger. They did not therefore cast away their boldness which has great recompense of reward.

Of Julius the centurion nothing more is certainly known than what is here recorded, but we are enabled to see at least his amiability, and the moral respect inspired by the apostle from first to last, hindered, one may say perhaps, at one point which must in the sequel have increased it more and more as we shall observe. It would seem that there was no special Augustan cohort, nor does the text say more than that he commanded a cohort which bore that designation. It is known that the emperor Nero had a body-guard organized at this very date, consisting of veterans specially called out for service. Julius may have been an officer among them. They were called Augustani (Tacitus Annales xiv. 15). Why he was in Palestine does not appear: if there, we can readily understand the prisoners and soldiers being under his charge on his return to Rome.

The first trophy of grace among the Gentiles was this remarkable centurion, Cornelius by name. Evidently he was an Italian, for he belonged to the Italian band. He was a Roman centurion, and a man of remarkable character, but then living in Palestine, at Caesarea, which was a most important military post, viewed from the standpoint of the Romans. He was there in charge of a company of soldiers. Somehow or other this man had a great longing to know God's salvation. He was a man seeking light, and no person can read this scripture without being impressed that this man was in downright, dead earnest; absolutely, red-hot earnest, as I might say. His character was quite unique for a Roman soldier, for he was "a devout man, and one that feared God, with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway" (ver. 2).

This is a striking witness to the character of the man. Cornelius was a Roman soldier, an officer, a man used to command, accustomed to enforce the strict military discipline which characterised the Roman army; but, in spite of the stern habits of his military life, he was a man who had been touched in his heart and conscience. He had seen and felt the follies and abominations of idol worship. He had been stationed in Palestine, the favoured land of Jehovah, where prophets had testified of God and His worship. He had been serving in that same land so recently trodden, as it had been, by the feet of the Son of God. And will it be too great a stretch of our imagination to suppose that he learned from that other fellow-soldier of his, that centurion of Capernaum, who loved the nation of the Jews, and had himself come to the lowly Prophet of Nazareth, and besought Him, with faith, such faith in his heart as had never before been known in Israel, that he might receive the words that would heal his sick one — would Cornelius have learned something of Jesus of Nazareth from him? And may he not also have heard some report from that other centurion whose duty it was to attend the crucifixion of the Lord of glory, and see that all was done according to the law of that mighty Gentile empire which was holding God's people in a grip of iron at that time? This man was a personal witness of the extraordinary events of that day. He saw a meek and patient Sufferer, lifted up between two malefactors, and yet so different from them. He was indeed always so different from all men, but with what distinction did the Holy Son of man stand apart from those two robbers. This centurion was a witness to the supernatural darkness that covered the land at noonday. He heard, too, that bitter cry of anguish, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and the officer was smitten in his conscience, and confessed at the close that Jesus was a righteous man the Son of God.