Verse: Matthew 8:5-8
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, ”Shall I come 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.”
Devotion:
Humans learn by analogy. Compare and contrast. Relating the understood to the unknown. If we notice and understand a pattern in one area, we’ll often spot it in other areas. It’s a smart way of learning and allows our brains to take some good shortcuts.
It’s fascinating to me how astute this centurion is in finding an analogy that he understands to relate to what he believes it’s possible for Jesus to do. He uses his own background and expertise, which is grounded in administration, military structure, and command, and he relates that to what he’s observed in Jesus, and correctly infers that the underlying structure of Jesus healing people is that he has command authority over nature itself.
Nowadays we have the benefit of hindsight and being able to read all this in the Bible where it’s explained. We take that knowledge for granted. This guy is wildly intuitive and apparently a genius. Not only is he observing a pattern, he’s doing so outside of his own culture, outside of his personal perspective, and maybe most importantly he’s doing it on behalf of someone else.
There are SO many lessons to learn from this short yet remarkable interaction. Do you like lists? Let’s make a list:
Recognition of Authority
I love this part. The centurion immediately shows Jesus respect by calling him Lord. It’s the first recorded word out of his mouth. Amazing.
Recognition of Expertise
The centurion lays out the problem that he’s having, and then leaves room for Jesus to take the next step. He doesn’t tell Jesus what to do. He doesn’t expect that the solution is going to be what he has personally envisioned. He doesn’t force something into existence. He’s patient and waits for the expert—Jesus—to take the next step.
Jesus Shows Respect
Importantly, Jesus treats this man who is not part of the same social circles and would probably be considered a social enemy by other Jews with respect. He addresses him respectfully and doesn’t resent him for his request. A Roman gentile? Not the usual friendly conversation partner for Jews at the time.
Deference to Authority
In response to Jesus’s offer to heal the servant in person, the centurion instead recognizes that Jesus can choose to heal his servant effortlessly and honors that authority.
Discernment of Jesus’s Source of Power
This to me is still so crazy and I can’t get over it. How did this centurion figure out that Jesus could perform miracles remotely? Most “miracle healings” at the time, and even Jesus’s previous healings were done in person, using touch. It’s apparent that personal touch and connection was a key to healing, yet this dude figures out that the power is something greater, and is the real deal—that Jesus actually has authority and power over nature, analogously to how the centurion has authority to command his soldiers.
This is a WILD leap of inference. May we all have this kind of faith, that we seek to understand not just that God acts a certain way, but how and why he does it at a deep level, to the point where we say “well of course God can do that”.
What a challenge this is for me personally too. This couple chapters in Matthew is basically a record of Jesus speedrunning every miracle. Healing flesh-eating diseases. Healing paralysis. Stopping storms. Kicking out demons. Resurrecting a dead girl. Healing more sick people. Making a blind man see and a mute man able to speak.
There’s a crazy sentence at the end of Matthew 9, that says Jesus goes through all towns and villages, healing every disease and sickness. WHAT?
We should all be like this centurion who figured out that Jesus has absolute authority over this creation.
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, because we have little faith. I won’t pretend that I have the answer to this, but it sure seems to me like we’re missing the mark of how we Christians are supposed to be Christlike, and that he’s given us authority. May God help us have faith.
Here’s a little prayer or cry out to God for today, taken from Mark 9:24 where yet again Jesus is healing people, and the father of the epileptic boy being healed cries out: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Author: Jordan Ambra
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