(Matthew 8:5-13)
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, begging Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, terribly tormented.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.TODAY'S TAKEAWAY
This Roman centurion (a captain of one hundred men) had somehow heard of Jesus and knew - believed - that He was a Man of great authority who was able to heal from a distance. We're not told that he was indeed a believer, but his actions and words seem to indicate this. First of all, he actually cared about his servant and was willing to go out of his way to seek out a solution.
This centurion was most likely originally a Syrian who became a Roman citizen. The people of Israel already saw Rome as their enemy for invading their homeland, but centurions and soldiers were known for their abusive behavior, and therefore, the people hated these men. Yet, this centurion called Jesus "LORD", which often was used as a term of respect, much like "sir". But verse 5 says that he came to Jesus to beg. From the original Greek word, one could also say he went to Jesus to beseech, intreat, implore and/or pray . Therefore, it would seem that his respect for Jesus was much more than just social.
Jesus' statement about going to the gentile's home to heal the servant inferred that He was willing to cross cultural boundaries, which would have been socially unacceptable among pious Jews, since most gentiles were pagans. But then Jesus amps up His message to demonstrate His willingness to associate with gentiles, by saying that many from all over the world will one day recline and eat at HIs table (in the Millennial kingdom as well as in heaven). This statement would also indicate that the centurion was probably a believer.
After all, God created ALL of mankind, and came in flesh to die for ALL the world, because of His great love and desire that ALL come to know Him! The only way anyone reclines and eats at the Lord's table of such intimate fellowship, is to have a personal relationship with Him, through His salvation. To believe in the Lord is to trust that everything He says is truth, and to strive in obedience to live in His will and righteousness, while fully depending on Him for our healing, comfort, strength, guidance, wisdom, peace, joy, hope...
The heavenly Father of this family table of love invites everyone to come - to be part of the family - to be born again and become a child of God for all eternity! To repent of one's sins in order to receive His forgiveness and indwelling Holy Spirit who changes us from the inside out. This is for everyone, and God asks us to NOT be prejudiced, but help spread that good news of this invitation. And God asks us to have faith in knowing that He is able to do all things, even things that are "distant". To understand all of this should cause us to have the utmost respect for the Lord!
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