Luke 7:4-5

And when they came to Jesus, they besought Him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom He should do this; v. 5. for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagog.

These men carried out the centurion's wishes in a very able manner. They not only stated the earnest prayer that the Lord would come and restore to full health the servant, but they also added some reasons why Jesus ought to grant the request.

They declared the centurion to be worthy of help, since he was not one of the proud Romans that vexed and oppressed the Jews upon every occasion, but rather loved the nation. He had lived among them for so long that he had conceived a genuine liking for their doctrine and for their religious institutions. This affection had taken the form of building a synagog for the Jews as a token of regard.

"The Deutsche Orientgesellschaft, which was carrying on excavations in Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria, undertook the investigation of the remains of ancient synagogs in Galilee and the Jaulan. Among these they excavated the ruins of the synagog at Tell Hum on the Sea of Galilee, the probable site of Capernaum.

"Here they found the remains of a once beautiful synagog which was probably built in the fourth century A. D. Beneath this is the floor of a still older building. The last is probably the synagog in which so many of the incidents of the ministry of Christ in Capernaum took place, the one built by a Roman centurion" (Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, 98).