seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 8:5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
I think Matthew, the tax collector, would notice a government official asking for help. I think he would be aware of those in authority around him.... especially after the beheading of John the Baptist. There are a couple things that talk to me in these verses. The authority the Centurion had, compared to Jesus..... was the first. People knew the Centurion had been put in charge by Ceasar or maybe just Herod... but the centurion was "assigned" his authority. Matthew says Jesus spoke with authority. That didn't mean he spoke "with" someone in authority who "was" the authority.... it means his word carried the same or more weight than the centurion. Jesus was just a Jew from Nazareth..... and the centurion treated Him with the respect afforded to one "appointed".
Secondly.... Jesus didn't say the man would be healed. Jesus said the man would be healed "just as the you believed it would". In other words... this healing was based on the value of the respect the centurion "assigned" to Jesus. I think most of the Jews from Nazareth would have moved away from the Roman Centurion. After all they were a conquering force over the Jews. Jesus didn't move away or cower. I think that's "showing authority".
Jesus also talks about the "Christians" who will be tossed out for "pretending" to Believe. So.... from this story.... the question is.... are you going to be in Heaven.... or in Hell watching everyone gnash their tongue?
To quote a true authority...... "Let it be done as you believed it would."
