A ROMAN'S PARALYZED SERVANT
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, 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. 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 amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, 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! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Infirmity: Paralysis
Patient: Roman Centurion’s servant (military occupier, foreigner, political and social outcast)
Initiation: The Centurion approached Jesus in person rather than sending a servant: “‘Lord’, he said, ‘my servant lies at home in terrible suffering” (Matthew 8:6)
Response: “I will go and heal him” or “Shall I come and heal him?”[2] – Immediately the man is healed (v.8). The Centurion (though he is powerful and a master of both soldiers and servants) publicly initiates a confession of his unworthiness of Jesus to come to his home. He confesses a belief in the power of Jesus to even heal from a distance (v.9). Jesus heals his servant and pronounces that the Kingdom of God is open to all who have faith and are faithful; whether they are outcasts of society or not. Conversely, not everyone who is currently part of the ‘in group’ of our society will be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Directive: “Go! It will be done…” (v.12).
One of the important pieces of this miracle is the patient. The patient is the servant of a Roman Centurion. The Romans, we remember, are an occupying military. They are as popular in Palestine then as the Americans are in the countries they are invading and occupying today. Some of Jesus’ followers themselves even identify with the terrorist (sicarii, zealots) and their struggle against the Romans. Jesus still delivers this man’s servant from being paralyzed. The Roman Officer: he could have sent a servant for Jesus but he went himself. Jesus asked or even offered to come to his house to heal the servant but the Officer – who is a powerful man – declares that 1) he is unworthy of Jesus’ entering his house; he acknowledges that Jesus is so much more than even he is; and 2) he publicly declares that he has so much faith in the power of Jesus that even from a distance, without ever even seeing the girl, Jesus can heal her. This is amazing. If only we all had the faith of this Gentile, military adversary of the independence-seeking Jews.
This brings us to another very important point. Through this exchange Jesus pronounces to all that the Kingdom of God is open to all who have faith and are faithful; whether they are outcasts of society or not. Conversely, Jesus tells us that not everyone who is currently part of the ‘in group’ of our society or our churches be a part of His eternal Kingdom. Some will be cast out (TSA Doc. 9).[3] It is not ‘who you are’; it is not ‘what you do’, like so much in this life it is simply a matter of ‘who you know’.
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