When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.’ And he said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man 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 the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.I want you to try and place yourself in the boots of the Roman centurion. Jesus is not one of those people he's supposed to be talking to, after all the centurion is a Gentile and they knew exactly where they stood in the eyes of the Jews. Not only was the centurion a Gentile but he was also a Roman; that's like being a double-Gentile.
What I find interesting is where this story is placed in the Gospel of Matthew. It's the second example of Jesus healing someone after the beginning of his ministry. Until this point we only have stories of Jesus' birth, return from Egypt, baptism, temptation and his Sermon on the Mount. It's also interesting that the first two instances of Jesus healing in Matthew have it being done to a leper (considered "unclean") and this centurion's servant (a Gentile).
Anyway, back to my original thoughts...
The centurion must have been nervous and yet courageous enough to approach Jesus and ask for that healing. In my opinion he had to have stepped way outside of his comfort zone to humble himself (remember biblical humility) enough to do just that. In fact, in his act of humility the centurion both lowers himself, being a Roman centurion, and he raises himself, being a Gentile, as he recognizes Jesus' gifts. Matthew, in one swift stroke of the quill, shows us what it means to be humble and how we are to treat each other as equals.
Today's challenge is for us to do the same. Are you up for it?
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