A Roman Officer.
He had heard about the teacher out in the country from some members of his household who were Jewish. It was rumoured that he was also a great healer of people. Now the officer and his small escort were out in search of the man on horseback. They were told that they might find him nearby, and went and looked in a grove of cypresses where they found him and his company.
The birds were singing merrily high up in the branches of the treetops, and the wind blew gently. The grass was short, green and freshly hewn all around.
The officer dismounted and came and spoke to the teacher and said, “My daughter is very ill and we fear that she may die. She has been lying incapacitated in her bed for the last few days after a severe illness. I know that you are a man of authority as I am, because I send that one and he goes, and I call the other and he comes to do my bidding. I believe that you have the power to heal my daughter just by saying the words, will you do this for me?”
“I have never seen such faith before, not even among the Jews,” said Jesus “Go, and may it be as you believe…”
The officer was filled with wonder and amazement, and deep in his heart he wished this to be true. He remounted his horse and left with his small company of fellows. At each stride that his horse took, his faith in the man and his words grew, all the more because this was what he wanted to believe.
He wanted nothing more than to see his young daughter well again, and as the horses galloped on this feeling inside of him of faith in his fellow human being, and help from a greater power, spurred on his hopes. Surely the words of this kind, wise man and the help of his god would vanquish the illness that had befallen his daughter.
Still the horses trotted on the narrow dirt road, and still the hope and faith in him grew…
