Bible Reading: Matthew 8: 1-13 1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant
5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. |
| Following the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was abruptly brought face to face with human need on the one hand and beautiful, pleading faith on the other. Leprosy seemed to have been tragically common in Palestine in our Lord's time on earth and it seems there was no known cure. Lepers were isolated, neglected, and even shunned. This man somehow learned of the remarkable miracles Jesus had performed. His only hesitation was whether Christ would be willing to help him. There was faith and petition in his words, "Lord, if you want to, you can make me well again." You can almost hear the sadness and the longing in his heart as he approached Christ. Christ's answer? He reached out and touched the sick man. No one had done that since the day he discovered his illness. Then came the wonderful words, "I want to. Be healed!" Christ recognized both the faith and the desire of this unfortunate Jewish man and immediately helped him. The other man Christ met later that day was not a Jew but a Roman, officer from Capernaum some distance away from the site of Christ's sermon. He also came with a serious need, not for himself but for his servant. Most Romans were hated by the Jews but in Luke's account of this incident, the Jewish leaders spoke warmly of this man. For some reason or another he had built them a synagogue. It would seem he may have been like Cornelius, a man who knew the God of the Jews but had not yet met Christ. The interchange of words in verses 8-10 may seem a little strange to us. As a Roman officer he knew what instant obedience meant. He was saying in effect, "I recognize that you too can give orders which are instantly obeyed, even at a distance from where you are." Christ saw faith in both these men - the leper and the soldier - and the requests of both were granted. As we come to Christ in prayer, is our faith what it should be? If not, perhaps that is why some of our prayers are not answered. Let's think about that today. |
