I would like to reflect a little more on the centurion depicted in the San Damiano Crucifix. As I wrote last time, the Gospel of John devotes considerable space to the exchange between Jesus and Pilate. We can see Jesus solemnly fulfilling the Father's will in his last moments as he engages with Pilate, the Roman governor. If we assume that Jesus’ way of coping with this scene was a result of his aim to make Rome the capital of Christians, everything seemed to become clearer. 

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman he met at Jacob's well, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father" (John 4:21). The place that was “neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” was consequently Rome. It is clear that Jesus, knowing Jerusalem would fall, had planned a new city in Rome from the beginning for the sake of the Church, which Jesus would bring forth, and the Holy Spirit would establish on the New Covenant. 

The episode of the centurion is found in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke. As the centurion in Matthew that we discussed last time, the centurion in Luke, who wished for the healing of his servant, also faced a situation where he did not want Jesus to come to his house. That was because not only Jesus and the elders had come with him, but also the "multitude" (cf. Luke 7:9). So, when they had come to "not far from the house" (7:6), the centurion sent his friends to refuse Jesus' coming, saying as follows. 

"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 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 he does it" (Luke 7:6-8). 

This message sounds as if it came from Rome. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith" (Luke 7:9), for the centurion, a Roman soldier, spoke as if he were a prophet. The centurion's words could be directly applied to the future of the Roman Empire. Jesus never stepped on Roman soil, as the centurion says, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof." It would never have happened that the Roman Empire would receive Jesus, who was to die on the cross. However, the words, “But say the word, and let my servant be healed,” were fulfilled. The Word had reached Rome and was already encouraging its people before Paul (cf. Romans 1:6-7). 

In addition, the words uttered based on the centurion's military service experience may seem ordinary at first glance. However, behind those words was the rational system of law and military affairs that the Roman Empire had at the time. Therein lies the reason why God sought Rome as the capital for the Church to live out the New Covenant Jesus had achieved on the cross. The culture, traditions, and temperament of the Romans had the capacity to receive the rapid progress of mankind that would come with the coming of the Son of God to earth. The Christian community found a hope in Rome to grow in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, guided by him. Now, after history, we know that a new prophecy is in the New Testament. 

Jesus' words of surprise reached the centurion's servant, and the servant was in good spirits. The centurion's faith in Jesus was intuitive and pure. It was like Naaman, the military commander of the king of Aram, whom Jesus quoted as saying, "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Eli'sha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Na'aman the Syrian" (Luke 4:27). Just as he believed in the prophet Elisha after hearing about him from his wife's servant, an Israelite girl, so the centurion believed in Jesus after hearing about him from the elders. 

Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me" (John 6:44-45). These words testify to the fulfilment of Old Covenant prophecy. The people with whom Jesus was involved at that time were those who could come to him through the Father's drawing power. The centurion was one of them, and his faith was an extension of the faith of the people of the Old Covenant. 

However, the centurion could not remain in that faith. As Jesus later testified, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself" (John 12:32), he came to say to Jesus on the cross, drawn by Jesus together with those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus: "Truly this was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:54). In Luke's Gospel, it is written that "he praised God, and said, 'Certainly this man was innocent!'" (Luke 23:47). 

The centurion who came to Jesus, drawn by the Father, said, "I am not worthy to have you come under my roof ... But say the word, and ..." It was a faith supported by the prophecies of the Old Covenant people. Eventually, he was drawn to Jesus on the cross and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" which was directed precisely to the New Covenant, which Jesus had just fulfilled. So, what faith does the centurion depicted on the San Damiano Crucifix confess this time after the descent of the Holy Spirit? Jesus on the cross calmly gazes ahead. 

(This article is the one I contributed to a Japanese Internet magazine, Catholic AI.)

Maria K. M.