Pentecost 2 (3)
1 Thessalonians 5:25–27
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.
2 Thessalonians 3:1–5
3 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
Hebrews 13:18–19
18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
CENTURION [sĕn tōōrˊĭ ən] (Gk. hekatontárchēs).† The commander of a “century”—one hundred soldiers—the smallest unit of the Roman army. (In New Testament times there were ten centuries in a cohort and sixty centuries in a legion, making about six thousand soldiers per legion.) The centurions, often called the backbone of the army, were responsible for keeping discipline, for inspection of arms, for commanding the century in both camp and field, and for the command of the auxiliaries.
Luke mentions two centurions by name: Cornelius, the first Gentile convert (Acts 10:1, 22, 30, 44–47) and Julius, the officer charged to secure Paul’s arrival at Rome (27:1, 3, 43).
Though the names of other centurions are not given, they are treated favorably. The centurion stationed at Capernaum was praised by Jesus for his faith, and his servant was healed (Matt. 8:5–13 par. Luke 7:1–10). Another who supervised the crucifixion of Jesus and the other two men confessed, after Christ had died, that he truly was the “Son of God” (Matt. 27:54 par. Luke 23:47; Gk. hekatóntarchos “leader of one hundred [men]”; Mark 15:39, 44–45, Gk. kentyríōn).