The Promise To The Centurion

Matthew 8:5-13 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” 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. 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.” When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.  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. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

The above passage from Matthew 8 is titled “The Faith of the Centurion.” Truly, this is a beautiful example of faith in Christ being displayed from an unlikely source. The Roman Centurion should have, by his very job, not accepted Jesus as the Messiah. As a Roman Centurion he should have been placing his faith in the false gods of Rome. With a little research I found the centurion should have been paying homage and making sacrifices to the Roman goddess Angita who was the goddess of healing and witchcraft. Seems like an odd combination - healing and witchcraft, but then again this was an invented goddess. Flawed systems yield flawed results. But the Centurion shows his faith in Christ. And the faith shown is greater than any other Jesus has found in Israel. The promise made to the Centurion to heal his servant is fulfilled in that very hour. Some may say it was faith rewarded. But surely this illustrates the faithfulness of Jesus, and His reaching out beyond the Jews to share the love of His Father. How wonderful of an example for you and I. When we make a promise to a nonbeliever it should carry the same weight as a promise made to a fellow believer. We love all, not just those that agree with us in our faith. That is the take away lesson from of the Promise to the Centurion. We love all because Christ loves all.

PRAYER: Lord the promise made and honored to the Centurion stands as a wonderful example of how we are to share Your love. Help us to have the faith to live that kind of love. Help us to share that kind of love. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit. This we ask in the name of the Son who loves all - Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.